News chief anchor Lester Holt will moderate the first scheduled presidential debate on September 26.
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Washington University in St. Louis will host the presidential debate on October 9.
Fox News’ Chris Wallace will moderate the third debate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on October 19.
CBS journalist Elaine Quijano will moderate the single vice presidential debate on October 4 between Republican Indiana Governor Mike Pence and his Democratic rival, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, the commission said. Sum these data points with the fact that, once registered, Latinos turnout at equal to or higher rates than other voter groups, and the conclusion is obvious: “candidates must engage and speak directly to these voters”.
Any Latino moderator would also likely have come under fire from Trump supporters – or the candidate himself – due to Trump’s frequent derogatory remarks about Mexicans and other Hispanics during the campaign. The relative newcomer to this venue is less known.
Among Fox News anchors, Megyn Kelly was thought to be the strongest candidate to moderate a general election debate. It nearly sounds like it is this temperament that Hillary Clinton is hoping to draw out, and she has been posting a lot of Instagram message and tweets about the very topic to drop some hints to her voter base. Moderators are not supposed to take sides; they are supposed to be objective.
With less than a month to go until the Presidential debates, the organizers of the four separate events have released who will moderate each event. They’re not that buddy, buddy.
Vice-presidential debate moderator Elaine Quijano also represents a couple of milestones.
CBS’s John Dickerson, CNN’s Jake Tapper and ABC’s Jonathan Karl are front-runners for a moderator spot. Dickerson is known for fair and balanced questions.
This made the Commission even more cautious than usual in researching potential moderators, sources said. While the grousing over debate moderation and timing from Republican nominee Donald Trump throughout this election cycle had given rise to much speculation over what moderators his campaign might agree to, this list is about the most auspicious anyone interested in TV fireworks could hope for.
Watch Hillary Clinton talk Elections 2016 debate prep strategy here with Jimmy Kimmel and how she thinks certain things Donald Trump says are “aiding and abetting” terrorists overseas. Questions perceived as too soft or too hard-hitting can earn a day’s worth of headlines.
Though most voters could be already decided by then – and two states, Minnesota and South Dakota, start early voting three days before the first debate – the debates might be Trump’s best chance to narrow the lead that Clinton has opened in most polls since the party conventions. She led the RCP average by almost 8 points at times in August.
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Only if they become lots more popular, and quickly.
