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I found several errors in the available transcripts so, for those who are interested, I posted this corrected version.

This is a live presidential debate thread.

Once again Rasmussen Reports presents evidence that more and more Americans are coming to the realization that the media is biased to the left. This time Rasmussen's polling results shows that more Americans than ever think the folks chosen from amongst the Old Media to moderate the upcoming presidential debates are biased in favor of Barack Obama. Earlier in the month, Rasmussen found that 50% of their respondents feel that the media is trying to help Obama get elected while only 11% felt the media was trying to help McCain win. This time Rasmussen finds that 56% feel that the...

If Barack Obama doesn't do well in Friday's first presidential debate with John McCain, he won't be able to blame a lack of preparation. In fact, over-preparation could be more of a problem for a man who is a fine orator but a less skilled debator. The Democrat has already headed to Tampa, Florida, to hole up with his advisors for several days of prepping on foreign policy and national security matters - the subject matter for the Mississippi debate. The Republicans are already mocking Sen Obama's "foreign policy camp". In fact, I'd think there's a real danger that all...

Saturday, November 17, 2007 CNN's six "undecided voters" were all Democratic operatives    UPDATES BELOW - CNN hits bottom and digs: All six debate questioners appear to be Democratic Party operatives. So much for "ordinary people, undecided voters". To paraphrase Junior Soprano, CNN is so far up the DNC's hind end, Howard Dean can taste hair gel. In a nutshell, CNN's six "undecided voters" were: A Democratic Party bigwigAn antiwar activistA Union officialAn Islamic leaderA Harry Reid stafferA radical Chicano separatist Wow. This looks "rather" like a scandal. Hot Air: ...You’d think the network’s audience might want to know who...

Media Matters has issued a list of "don'ts" for tonight's CNN debate: Don't contradict your own reporting and suggest that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "cash[ed] in" on a stock deal in which he lost $13,000.

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Coming off the worst two weeks of her campaign, presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton returns to the debate stage today with hopes of regaining her footing. But the topic that knocked her off stride in the last debate — driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants — is back in the news and likely to resurface when the Democratic candidates face off in Las Vegas. < snip > “This campaign is about issues, not on who we can bring down and destroy,” a senior Clinton aide told cyberjournalist Matt Drudge. “Blitzer should not go down to the levels...

Seven Democratic presidential hopefuls are scheduled to gather at UNLV's Cox Pavilion this evening for another debate. The event is sponsored by the Democratic National Committee and will be aired live on CNN and KLAS-TV, Channel 8. Despite the appearance of spontaneity, it will be a highly scripted affair in terms of who is allowed to ask what of the candidates. That's unfortunate. (See our lead letter to the editor, at right.) Voters, regardless of their political affiliation, deserve honest answers to pressing issues, not rehearsed responses to pre-determined queries. For instance, it would be instructive to watch the Democratic...

WASHINGTON — The pressure will be on Senator Clinton at the Democratic presidential debate tomorrow as she tries to bounce back from a weak performance last month that has cut into her lead in the polls. Her top rivals, Senator Obama and John Edwards, head into the Las Vegas forum confident that their increased criticism in recent weeks finally has begun to inflict damage on Mrs. Clinton's campaign, which had seemed unstoppable earlier in the fall. Messrs. Obama and Edwards have painted her as a creature of a corrupt corporate culture in Washington who is more concerned about her political...

What are we to make of a presidential candidate who portrays herself as strong and independent, a courageous exemplar to the members of her gender -- but at the first hint of criticism collapses as the pitiable victim of gender politics? Last Tuesday Hillary Clinton delivered a horrendous performance at the Democratic debate. She claimed she wanted to end the war in Iraq -- and in the next breath explained that as president, she would continue to guard our embassy, provide training, and continue to wage the fight against Al Qaeda. As far as allowing illegal aliens to get a...

A presidential election must be approaching: liberals are playing the Republicans-are-evil-racists card. People will recall the notorious NAACP commercial from the 2000 campaign suggesting that, for the sin of failing to adopt a hate-crimes law to its liking, George W. Bush was the equivalent of someone who dragged a black man behind his car on a chain.On today's "View," Joy Behar [file photo] offered a similar slur: GOP = KKK.Talk had turned to the fact that most of the Republican presidential candidates declined to participate in two Latino-oriented debates held earlier this year. The leading candidates have now indicated that...

DARTMOUTH, New Hampshire (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama said Monday that he expects his performance in next week's presidential debate to improve from his first head-to-head match-up with the other Democratic contenders last month in South Carolina. "I assume it will get better as time goes on," the Illinois Democrat answered after being asked whether he expects to receive better reviews at the New Hampshire Democratic presidential debate being held Sunday, June 3rd at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. The South Carolina Democratic presidential debate was the Illinois senator's first such event and his performance was rated by political analysts...

Do We Really Want a President Who Is Afraid of a Cable Network? April 10, 2007 Fox News is Democrat Kryptonite. They run from this monster like Michael Moore from an approaching salad bar. Why? Democrats say that Fox News is biased. Fine, let’s run with that assumption for a moment. If Fox News is such a politically biased joke, then you’d think the candidates would relish an opportunity to appear on their air and demonstrate that fact to the world. After all, somebody who wants to be president can’t be seen running from a tough challenge — can they?...

The third shoe drops: Hillary's not doing the Fox News/CBC Debate either. Clinton spokesman Blake Zeff emails, "We're going to participate in the DNC-sanctioned debates only. We've previously committed to participating in the SC and Tavis Smiley debates." No word yet from Kucinich and Gravel, or the other campaigns, or from Fox, which could presumably do an empty podium hour and confirm to its viewers that Democrats are, in fact, the cowards it's often portrayed them as. Sounds win-win to me.

Both Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama said they would not participate in a presidential debate sponsored by Fox News Channel, throwing the event in jeopardy. The two senators joined former Sen. John Edwards, who announced on Friday he would not participate in the debate, one of four being held by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. The Congressional Black Caucus contracted with Fox to co-sponsor two of its debates -- one Democratic and one Republican -- and gave the two others to CNN. But now the top three Democrats in the race have said they will not participate in...

Drudge ran a story that this morning after shooting a goose, Kerry said he was too lazy to carry his kill because he was "giddy" over the Red Sox and couldn't focus. I could not help but remember the second Presidential debate when he said this in response to the environmental question..... GIBSON: Senator Kerry, minute and a half. KERRY: Boy, to listen to that -- the president, I don't think, is living in a world of reality with respect to the environment. Now, if you're a Red Sox fan, that's OK. But if you're a president, it's not. He basically said that...

In his speech, John Kerry uses the word "but" a lot, which has the effect of negating whatever he has just said. Here are a couple of examples from the debates: John Kerry: "No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America.But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you‘re doing what you‘re doing and...

Beverly Hills - Canyon News staff went out into the streets of Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and Westwood to see what readers had to say of tonight’s debate between John Kerry and George Bush in Missouri. Three staff members talked to 30 people who (1) saw or knew of the debates… (2) but did not watch the after-debate analysis by the media and (3) wanted to talk to us. Out of 30 people, 21 people said Bush won tonight’s debate. 6 people said Kerry won. 3 people thought it was a tie. “Who won tonight’s debate, will it change your vote,...

In honor of the baseball playoffs, I've borrowed the metaphor of a ninth-inning rally to describe the Democrats' October comeback. In the first presidential debate, John Kerry got the lead-off hit. In the vice-presidential encounter Tuesday night, John Edwards singled him to third. I guess they substituted a pinch runner (that's the problem with metaphors), because tonight Kerry was back at the plate. It was a long at-bat, with lots of hanging sliders thrown by President Bush. Kerry fouled off a few, whiffed a couple, and struck out looking. Bush did well. He botched a few answers—at one point, he...

After having been widely seen as the loser of the first presidential debate last week, President Bush enters a friendlier town-hall format for tonight's second debate, where Democrats say he badly needs a win to boost his campaign. "Given the president's performance in the first debate, I would submit he not only has to have a good debate, but an extraordinary debate," said Kerry campaign adviser Michael Donilon. The Bush campaign, which is hoping for a better performance out of the president this time, has tempered its expectations — at least publicly.

The power of the media's spin: Newsweek's Evan Thomas and NBC's David Gregory conceded on Imus in the Morning this week that they thought George W. Bush won the debate last week, but changed their mind in the face of the media line. "I was quickly informed I was wrong and that Kerry had won," Thomas quipped Monday morning. Thomas said that while "Kerry did well," he "didn't think that Bush was as terrible as everybody else did." Gregory stated that he "initially" saw Bush as the winner, but then "there was kind of a debate in the press corps,...

Despite slamming President Bush for leading what Kerry calls the coalition of the "bribed and coerced," John Kerry says that HE would just lead a coalition of the bribed. (More) www.whatsinthenews.com

Here are the specific frames from the debate video shoqing most clearly what Kerry had in his hand as he took it out of his pocket and placed it on the podium. I have taken two of the frames, lightened them, zoomed in, and sharpened the pics. No other enhancements have been made: Cropped, lightened original of Kerry pulling item from pocket. Enlarged and sharpened. Cropped, lightened original, of Kerry putting article down. Enlarged and sharpened.

one of the Bush-Gore debates from 2000 will be shown on C-Span at 11:35 PM EDT. I believe this is the town meeting style and the one where GW gave Al Gore "The Nod" when Gore came up close behind GW when he was speaking.

ON the day of the most im portant debate in their political lives, President Bush was in shirt sleeves consoling Florida hurricane victims, patting some on the back, hugging others and shaking hands with the tired relief workers. John Kerry had a manicure. If ever there was a metaphor for the difference between these two candidates and their respective relationships with the American people, it was this.

After months of circling each other, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry touched down in South Florida on Wednesday on the eve of their highly anticipated encounter -- a 90-minute debate that could be seen by as many as 50 million people and set the tone for the campaign's final stretch. With national polls showing Bush with a slight lead, the stakes tonight are immense: The first debate is perhaps Kerry's best opportunity to convince voters that he could be president, that Bush blundered his way into Iraq and that the Democrat can better protect the United States against the...

Sen. John Kerry and President Bush tested their best debate lines yesterday, mixing dashes of humor with cutting criticism in a preview of their Thursday night encounter in Miami. Kerry, preparing in the quiet hills of south-central Wisconsin for the debate, accused the President of "not coming clean" about the war in Iraq and the state of the U.S. economy. He acknowledged that some voters questioned whether it was prudent, in the middle of a war, to "change horses in midstream," but he said, "When your horse is heading down toward the waterfall, or when your horse is drowning, it's...

One of the reasons John Kerry is going to lose the foreign-policy debate Thursday night in Coral Gables, Florida, is that he is a pessimist and a defeatist. His recent broad-side attacks on President Bush’s war against terrorism are right out of the Vietnam-era: Blame America. Blame the commander-in-chief. Blame the military. Assume we will lose. Prime Minister Allawi of Iraq seemed to grasp the danger in this when he spoke in the Rose Garden last week: “When political leaders sound the siren of defeatism in the face of terrorism, it only encourages more violence.” Compare that line to the...

The first of the presidential debates will be held this Thursday, September 30. The Pew Research Center reports that 4 in 10 Americans say they are sure to watch that first debate, which would give it a far greater audience than four years ago when the ever-underestimated George W. Bush was believed to have bested the well-known debater V.P. Al Gore. Debates have a big tradition in presidential politics. They fell into disuse for many years. Their modern-day rival occurred 44 years ago when Democratic nominee Senator John F. Kennedy upstaged V.P. Richard M. Nixon. I say "upstaged" because I...

Reprinted from NewsMax.com Saturday, Sept. 25, 2004 2:07 p.m. EDTKerry Taps Controversial Elian Attorney The Elian Gonzalez controversy was the single most critical factor giving George Bush the presidency in 2000. It may prove to be a critical factor this year as well – thanks to John Kerry who just tapped a key figure in the Elian controversy for his campaign. Kerry must have forgotten that after the Elian brouhaha record numbers of Cuban Americans in Florida voted against Al Gore – ceding the closely contested Florida race – and the presidency to George Bush. The Miami Herald reported Saturday...

The Commission on Presidential Debates asked President Bush (search) and Democratic Sen. John Kerry (search) to meet for their first debate next week. The commission also invited Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John Edwards to a single debate on Oct. 5. Invitations were based on nonpartisan selection criteria adopted last year: that participants be constitutionally eligible for election; that their names appear on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning enough electoral votes for election; and that they receive at least 15 percent in an average of five national polls to show support for election.

Just hours after CBSNEWS admitted it cannot prove the authenticity of documents used in a 60 MINUTES story about President Bush's National Guard service, top Bush advisers are recommending a CBS reporter be removed as moderator of a planned presidential debate, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

Paul G. Kirk, Jr. and Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., co-chairmen of The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), today announced sites and dates for the 2004 general election debates. They are: First presidential debate: University of Miami Coral Gables, FL Thursday, September 30 Vice presidential debate: Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH Tuesday, October 5 Second presidential debate: Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO Friday, October 8 Third presidential debate: Arizona State University Tempe, AZ Wednesday, October 13 The CPD also announced two back-up sites, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY and the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC....

Open Debates, National Press Building, 529 14th St. NW, Suite 1201, Washington, DC 20045 February 19, 2004 Contact: Chris Shaw (202) 628-9195 Today, Open Debates filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). The complaint contains previously unreleased, secret documents that reveal how the major party candidates collude with the CPD to dictate the terms of the presidential debates and exclude third-party and independent challengers. “FEC regulations require presidential debate sponsors that accept corporate contributions to be `nonpartisan' and to employ `pre-established objective' candidate selection criteria. The CPD, which accepts millions of...

I was thinking last night about how to describe a Democratic presidential candidates' debate using a song title. My choice was "Send In The Clowns". Anybody else care to contribute?