The first presidential debate will be broadcast live Wednesday where President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney will go head to head on hot-voter issues.
The debate time is 9 p.m. EST, 6 p.m. PST and will be broadcast live from the University of Denver. The first nationally televised debate that will give millions of Americans a chance to size up two fierce competitors in a moment of high-risk theater.
The debate will be streamed online on YouTube and on AOL. It will also be live on CBS, NBC, PBS, MSNBC, Fox News, CSPAN and CNN.
The central role of the economy in this election is evident in the topics selected for the first three of the night's six debate segments: The Economy I, The Economy II and The Economy III. The last three segments will focus on health care, the role of government and governing.
Obama and Romney will debate for 90 minutes, with the event ending at 10:30 p.m. EST. Jim Lehrer of PBS NewsHour will serve as moderator.
The general format for the presidential debates involves the moderator asking the candidates questions on issues which they are then given a set period of time for responses and rebuttals.
The debate will focus on domestic policy and be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on topics to be selected by the moderator and announced several weeks before the debate.
The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the topic.
