Kristy's Blog

The 2008 Democratic Presidential Debates are political debates prior to the 2008 Democratic Primaries. The debates began on April 26, 2007, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Each debate will be moderated and broadcast by one of the major media new2008s networks.

Above image of Electrol College Votes for 2008

Election 2008
Main article: United States presidential election, 2008

United States presidential election, 2008

2008 presidential election characteristics
First election without incumbents in the primaries since 1928
When a United States President leaves office, his vice president is usually considered a leading candidate and likely nominee to succeed him. In 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney announced that he would never run for president, a statement he reiterated in 2004. While appearing on Fox News Sunday, Cheney stated: "I will say just as hard as I possibly know how to say... If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve."[1] The 2008 election therefore marks the first time since the 1928 election in which there is neither an incumbent president nor an incumbent vice president running for their party's nomination in the presidential election.[2] The 1952 election was the last time neither the incumbent president nor incumbent vice president ran in the general election, after President Harry S. Truman bowed out following his loss in the New Hampshire primary and Vice President Alben Barkley then sought but failed to win the Democratic nomination.[3] (Truman's name was on the New Hampshire primary ballot but he did not campaign. He lost to Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver and formally withdrew his name from consideration.)
In the three most recent presidential administrations featuring an outgoing two-term president — those of Eisenhower, Reagan, and Clinton — the incumbent vice president has immediately thereafter run for president. (Richard Nixon lost the 1960 election, George H. W. Bush won the 1988 election, and Al Gore lost the 2000 election.)[4][5]
In the 1968 election, Lyndon B. Johnson initially decided to seek re-election. He entered the New Hampshire primary and won. However, he had a national poll conducted, which yielded results not in his favor. In a nationally televised speech, Johnson announced to the public that he would not seek re-election. Incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey ran instead and was the eventual Democratic Party nominee.
During this period, several former vice presidents have sought the office of president as non-incumbents. Henry A. Wallace was the Progressive Party nominee in 1948. Nixon was elected in 1968. Walter Mondale received his party's nomination in 1984. Dan Quayle was unsuccessful in bids for nomination in 1996 and 2000.[5]
Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic frontrunners Barack Obama as well as Hillary Rodham Clinton are all sitting senators, of Arizona, Illinois and New York, respectively, and there is an overwhelming chance that the victor of the 2008 election will be the first sitting senator elected to the Presidency since 1960, when John F. Kennedy was elected.

The long campaign
The 2008 nomination campaign can be divided into four phases: the pre-primary campaign, January, Super Tuesday, and the Spring.

The pre-primary campaign
"Front runner" status is dependent on the news agency reporting, but by October 2007, the consensus listed about six candidates as leading the pack. For example, CNN listed Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Rudolph Giuliani, Barack Obama, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney as the front runners. The Washington Post listed Clinton, Edwards and Obama as the Democratic frontrunners, "leading in polls and fundraising and well ahead of the other major candidates".[6] MSNBC's Chuck Todd christened Giuliani and John McCain the Republican front runners after the second Republican presidential debate.[7]
Three candidates, Clinton, Obama, and Romney, raised over $20 million in the first three months of 2007, and three others, Edwards, Giuliani, and McCain, raised over $12 million, the next closest candidate was Bill Richardson, who raised over $6 million.[8] In the third quarter of 2007, the top four GOP fund raisers were Romney, Giuliani, Thompson, and Paul.[9] Paul set the GOP record for the largest online single day fund raising on November 5, 2007.[10][11] Hillary Clinton set the Democratic record for largest single day fund raising on June 30, 2007.[12]

Primaries and caucuses
Main articles: Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008 and Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008
Delegates to national party conventions are selected through direct primary elections, state caucuses, and state conventions. The process continues through June, but in previous cycles, the Democratic and Republican candidates were effectively chosen by the March primaries. This is due to winning candidates collecting a majority of committed delegates to win their party's nomination. Most third parties select delegates to their national conventions through state conventions.
Both parties have adopted rules to prevent early primaries and have acted to strip some or all delegates from states that have disobeyed. Several, including larger states such as Florida and Michigan, did so, setting up possible credentials fights at the conventions late in the summer.

January 2008
Around the first of the year, the longstanding consensus that the so-called "chattering classes" had agreed to began to fall apart. Support for Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama began rising in the polls, passing longtime front runners Romney and Clinton for first place in Iowa, and suddenly John McCain displaced Rudy Guiliani and Romney as the front-runner in New Hampshire. When Iowa held its caucuses at last, the two upstart campaigns were triumphant.
While Huckabee had little money and was hoping for a third place finish, Obama was suddenly the new front runner in New Hampshire and the Clinton Campaign was struggling. However, in a turning point for her campaign, Clinton's voice wavered with emotion in a public interview broadcast live on TV.[13][14] By the end of the day, Clinton won the primary by a couple of points, contrary to the predictions of pollsters who had her as much as twelve points behind on the day of the primary itself. McCain also staged a turnaround victory, having been written off by the pundits and in single digits less than a month before.[15][16]
With the Republicans stripping Michigan and Florida of half their delegates, the Republican race was based there, while the Democrats focused on Nevada and South Carolina, which were given special permission to have early contests. In South Carolina Obama got 55% of the vote. Meanwhile, McCain managed a small victory in South Carolina, setting him up for a larger and more important victory in Florida soon after.

February 2008
On February 3 on the UCLA campus, celebrities Oprah Winfrey, Caroline Kennedy and Stevie Wonder, among others, made appearances to show support for Barack Obama in a rally led by Michelle Obama.[17] Though Obama's poll numbers increased after this event, putting him only 2% behind Clinton, he ended up losing California by 10%. Analysts cited surprisingly large Latino turnout as the deciding factor.[18]
By February 4, it was apparent that McCain might be able to wrap up the nomination quickly while the 22 primaries and caucuses on the Democratic side might lead to a virtual tie in the delegate count, which to some extent is what happened.
Super Tuesday: On February 5, 2008, the largest-ever simultaneous number of state U.S. presidential primary elections was held.[19] Twenty-four states and American Samoa held either caucuses or primary elections for one or both parties on this date, leaving the Democrats in a virtual tie, and John McCain just short of clinching the Republican nod.[20]
Louisiana and Washington voted for both parties on February 9, while Nebraska and the Virgin Islands vote for the Democrats and Kansas for the Republicans. Obama swept all four Democratic contests, as well as the Maine caucuses the next day,[21] and Huckabee also came out on top in Kansas, winning by an even greater percentage. The District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia voted for both parties on February 12 in the so-called Potomac primary. Obama won all three for the Democrats (giving him eight consecutive victories after Super Tuesday) and McCain took all three for the Republicans.
Obama carried both Hawaii and Wisconsin, the last two states that voted for the Democrats in February, on the 19th.[22] Wisconsin and Washington (primary) voted for the Republicans on February 19th; John McCain won these states.[22] The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico closed February for the Republicans, on the 23rd and 24th.

March 2008
For the Republicans, on March 1 American Samoa voted. March 4 was dubbed by some as this year's Mini Tuesday,[23][24] when the delegate-rich states of Texas and Ohio, along with Rhode Island and Vermont, voted for both parties. Wyoming then voted for the Democrats and Guam voted for the Republicans on March 8. Mississippi votes on March 11.
In what some considered a surprise upset of Barack Obama on March 4[25], Hillary Clinton carried Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island in the Democratic primaries.[26] John McCain clinched the Republican nomination after sweeping all four primaries, Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island, putting him over the top of the 1,191 delegates required to win the GOP nomination.[26] Mike Huckabee finally conceded the race to McCain.[27] In the Wyoming Democratic caucuses, Obama edged out Clinton to gain 7 delegates to her 5, and three days later he beat her again, 59%-39%.

Final primaries and caucuses, April through June 2008
Only one state votes in April: Pennsylvania (considered the last chance for Hillary Clinton to catch up with Barack Obama), which will hold a primary for both parties on April 22. Indiana and North Carolina have primaries on May 6. Nebraska's Republican primary will be on May 13, as will the West Virginia primary for Democrats. Kentucky and Oregon hold primaries for both parties on May 20. Idaho votes for Republicans only on May 27. The primary season ends in June, with contests on June 3 in New Mexico (Republican), Montana (Democratic), and South Dakota (both parties). The final primary will be on June 1st in Puerto Rico for the Democrats. Revotes in Michigan and Florida are possible.[28] Michigan Democrats are suggesting a date of June 3.[29]

Later events
April 23-26, 2008: 2008 Constitution Party National Convention, to be held in Kansas City, Missouri.
May 23-26, 2008: 2008 Libertarian National Convention, to be held in Denver, Colorado.
July 10-13, 2008: Green Party National Convention, to be held in Chicago, Illinois.
August 25-28, 2008: 2008 Democratic National Convention, to be held in Denver, Colorado.
September 1-4, 2008: 2008 Republican National Convention, to be held in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
November 4, 2008: All 50 states and the District of Columbia will hold elections to select members of the Electoral College.
December 15, 2008: Members of the U.S. Electoral College meet in each state to cast their votes for President and Vice President.
January 6, 2009: Electoral votes officially tallied before both Houses of Congress. If a member of Congress wishes to object to the certification of a state's electoral votes as was originally reported on Election Night, he or she must do so at this point, even if recounts or lawsuits to require a recount are already in progress.
January 20, 2009: Inauguration Day.

Election 2008
See also: Republican presidential debates, 2008
The 2008 United States Presidential Election is November 4, 2008. The debates, campaigns, primaries, and conventions occur several months before Election Day. The new President and Vice-President are sworn in January 20, 2009. It is the first Presidential election lacking incumbents since 1952, and is projected to be the largest and most expensive election in U.S. history.

2008 Democratic candidates
Main article: 2008 Democratic presidential candidates
Already, eight Democrats had formally filed papers with the Federal Election Commission, making them formal candidates for the Democratic Nomination and the Presidency. The candidates who attracted the most media attention include Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards. Other candidates included Dennis Kucinich, who has withdrawn, and Mike Gravel, who has been excluded from recent debates. Tom Vilsack, one of the earliest candidates to announce a campaign for President, has since withdrawn. Christopher Dodd and Joe Biden dropped out of the race following the Iowa caucuses, and Bill Richardson dropped out after the New Hampshire primary.

Candidates in debate
Senator Hillary Clinton - New York.
Senator Barack Obama - Illinois.

Withdrawn candidates
Senator Chris Dodd - Connecticut (withdrew January 3, 2008)[1]
Senator Joe Biden - Delaware (withdrew January 3, 2008)[2]
Governor Bill Richardson - New Mexico (withdrew January 9, 2008)[3]
Representative Dennis Kucinich - Ohio (withdrew January 24, 2008)[4]
Former Senator John Edwards - North Carolina (withdrew January 30, 2008)[5]
Former Senator Mike Gravel - Alaska (withdrew from Democratic Party March 25, 2008)[6]

Debates

April 26, 2007 – Orangeburg, South Carolina
The first Democratic debate was in the evening of April 26, 2007, in Orangeburg, South Carolina, at South Carolina State University. State party chairman Joe Erwin said that he chose South Carolina State because it is a historically black college, noting that African-Americans have been the "most loyal" Democrats in the state.[7] The debate was 90 minutes with a 60-second time limit for answers, and no opening or closing statements.[8] It was broadcast via cable television and online video streaming by MSNBC.[9]
The debate was moderated by Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News. Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire sent two students to cover the debate on location who gained spin room access.
The major issue discussed was the Iraq War, with all candidates strongly criticizing President George W. Bush.[8] Although there was some initial hype,[10] the debate was seen by pundits as unspectacular, with no single "breakout" candidate.[10][11] A poll of 403 South Carolina debate watchers indicated that they believed Senator Barack Obama won the debate with 31% to Clinton's 24%. [12] However, Tom Baldwin of The Times and Ewen MacAskill of The Guardian both reported that Clinton appeared to retain her frontrunner status.[13]
Political pundits such as Chris Matthews, Howard Fineman, Keith Olbermann and Joe Scarborough declared that Clinton was the most "presidential", in that her appearance and answers were succinct, within the time limit and thorough, leaving no second-guesses. They effectively called her the winner.
With regards to the solid third-polled candidate Former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), pundits varied, with some asserting that his performance was weak and not the usual energetic performance that he portrayed in 2003, when he first ran. Howard Fineman also opined that questions regarding his $400 haircut and his "Two Americas" theme are under fire because of severe discrepancies, threatening his main campaign theme.
MSNBC Transcript
Fox News Video
Video with Closed Caption

June 3, 2007 - CNN 7:00pm EDT - Manchester, New Hampshire
WMUR-TV, CNN, and the New Hampshire Union Leader hosted both Democratic and Republican debates in Manchester, New Hampshire, at Saint Anselm College. The Democratic debate was Sunday, June 3, starting at 7 PM EDT and lasting two hours, commercial free. The moderator was Wolf Blitzer, host of Late Edition and The Situation Room.[14] He was joined by Tom Fahey of The Union Leader and Scott Spralding from the local NH television station WMUR. The first half of the debate was a directed question and answer, with candidates at podiums, as in the first debate, responding to questions from Fahey and Spralding. Participating candidates were: Barack Obama, John Edwards, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, Christopher J. Dodd, Bill Richardson and Joseph R. Biden, Jr.[15] [16] [17]
For the second half, candidates sat in chairs, while audience members in New Hampshire, mostly undecided Democratic and independent voters, asked questions which were then deflected by Wolf Blitzer to specific candidates.
CFR Transcript
CNN Transcript
CNN Video
Video with Closed Caption

June 28, 2007 - PBS - Washington, D.C.
PBS held and televised a debate at Howard University, a historically black college. The moderator was Tavis Smiley. All eight candidates discussed various topics including education, poverty, unemployment, racial discrimination, and health in the black community.[18][19] The debate drew a record crowd of who's who celebrities such as Harry Belafonte, Al Sharpton, Dorothy Heights, Jesse Jackson, Terry McMillan, Judge Hatchett, Mark Ridley-Thomas, amongst other celebrities.[citation needed] This was the first debate to give equal time to all the candidates. The earlier debates were heavily biased towards three candidates.[citation needed]
PBS Transcript
PBS Video, Audio and downloadable Podcast
New York Times Transcript
CFR Transcript
Video with Closed Caption
Fox News Video

[edit] July 12, 2007 – Detroit, Michigan
Attended by all eight candidates.
This was held during the NAACP convention. John Edwards and Hillary Clinton were overheard -- on stage, over microphones -- talking about weeding out non-frontrunner candidates from participating in future debates.[20]
Webcast from NAACP web site (click on Democratic Candidates forum)

[edit] July 23, 2007 - CNN - Charleston, South Carolina
Main article: CNN-YouTube Presidential Debates
CNN and YouTube held this debate on the campus of The Citadel. All questions were selected from, and posed as videos submitted via, YouTube by members of the public; the debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper of Anderson Cooper 360. YouTube and Google streamed the event live.[21] It was also simulcast on CNN en Español.
CFR Transcript
CNN Transcript
CNN Video
Video with Closed Caption from Taudiobook.com

August 4, 2007 – Chicago, Illinois
The Yearly Kos Presidential Leadership Forum was an informal discussion attended by seven of the eight presidential candidates, with Biden not attending due to votes in Congress. New York Times Magazine writer Matt Bai and DailyKos Contributing Editor and Fellow Joan McCarter moderated. The debate was broken down into Domestic Policy, Foreign Policy, and Philosophy and Leadership. Candidates were alloted 90 seconds for each question with 45 second rebuttals, although the time limits were not strictly enforced. After the debate, breakout sessions were held where convention goers could question each candidate individually.
YearlyKos Video

August 7, 2007 – Chicago, Illinois
The AFL-CIO Working Families Vote Presidential Forum was held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois in front of approximately 15,000 union members and their families. The questions in the debate will be used to determine if and whom the AFL-CIO will endorse in the Democratic primary. MSNBC host Keith Olbermann hosted the debate, which featured seven of the candidates. Mike Gravel was excluded because he failed to submit a written questionnaire by the August 6 deadline. Gravel claimed that the questionnaire "fell through the cracks" and requested to be invited to the debate anyway, which was rejected by the AFL-CIO. Questionnaires were also sent to Republicans but no candidates responded.[22]
CFR Transcript
Chicago Sun-Times Transcript
New York Times Transcript
MSNBC Video
Video with Closed Caption

August 9, 2007 – Los Angeles, California
LGBT network Logo hosted this debate focusing on LGBT issues, moderated by Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese and singer Melissa Etheridge. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel participated. Mike Gravel was originally to be excluded from this debate, it being cited that his campaign had not raised enough money to qualify for participation. Rallying from Gravel's supporters reversed this decision. Dodd and Biden both stated scheduling conflicts prevented them from attending. Logo invited the Republicans presidential candidates to a similar debate, but all the candidates declined. [23]
Chicago Sun-Times Transcript
The Visible Vote '08 Video

August 19, 2007 – Des Moines, Iowa
ABC News in conjunction with the Iowa Democratic Party held a debate streamed on This Week moderated by George Stephanopoulos.[24] ABC has been accused of spinning the results of the debate due to extreme differences in the time alloted to candidates. ABC also deleted poll results when they showed Dennis Kucinich in the lead.[citation needed]
ABC Transcript
ABC Video (incomplete, edited, and out of chronological order) [rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/rwh/rwh081907.rm C-SPAN Video]
Video with Closed Caption

September 9, 2007 – Coral Gables, Florida
Univision hosted a forum, Destino 2008, in Spanish at the University of Miami's Bank United Center in Coral Gables, Florida and moderated by Univision's anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas.[25] [26] Joe Biden did not participate in the debate.
Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd objected to the debate being conducted in English with simultaneous translation in Spanish. Both are fluent in Spanish but it was perceived to cause an unfair advantage for the two. The TV audience of 2.2 million was also the debate season's youngest, at an average of 36 years old. [27]
Official web site
Transcript of debate

September 12, 2007
Yahoo!, in partnership with The Huffington Post, produced a "mashup" debate with Charlie Rose interviewing the candidates. Segments were recorded on September 12th, with the "mashups" posted on September 13th.[28]
interactive mashup site

September 20, 2007 – Davenport, Iowa
PBS held a forum focused on domestic issues, specifically health care and financial security. It was moderated by Judy Woodruff, and was a joint venture between IPTV and AARP.[29] Obama rejected PBS's invitation, and Gravel and Kucinich were excluded from the debate because they did not have at least one paid staff member or office space in Iowa.
AARP - Divided We Fail debate page
Fox News video
Iowa Public Television video
IPT on YouTube video

September 26, 2007 – Hanover, New Hampshire
MSNBC held a debate at Dartmouth College in conjunction with New England Cable News and New Hampshire Public Radio.[30] The moderator was Tim Russert.
MSNBC video
Video with Closed Caption
CFR transcript
iPol transcript
New York Times transcript

October 30, 2007 - NBC 9:00pm EDT - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The debate was held at Drexel University and was televised by NBC News. All candidates except former Alaskan Senator Mike Gravel attended the debate. It was announced on October 19th that Senator Gravel did not meet the polling requirements for the debate, though the DNC did not specifically say what the requirements were; Gravel has suggested that GE, which owns NBC and is a "war-profiteer," conspired to exclude him from the event after, during the previous debate, he questioned Hillary Clinton's signing a resolution that would possibly facilitate entering war with Iran. Instead of attending the debate, Senator Gravel staged an event at the nearby World Cafe Live.[31]
Seven Democratic presidential candidates participated in a two-hour debate starting at 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday (0100 GMT Wednesday) and telecast on MSNBC and streamed live on msnbc.com.[32] The moderators of the debate were Tim Russert and Brian Williams.
Democratic rivals focused their attacks on Senator Clinton, and were particularly critical of her response to a proposal from New York Governor Eliot L. Spitzer which would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.[33] After the debate, moderator Tim Russert was criticized for asking a misleading question to Senator Clinton regarding the release of her records as first lady. Tim Russert raised the issue of a letter which Bill Clinton wrote in which the former president ordered "a ban" on the release of his records by the National Archives. However, it was later revealed that Tim Russert misrepresented the letter, as it turns out that President Clinton was actually requesting for the National Archives to speed up the release of the records, despite the National Archive's backlog. [34][35]
NYT transcript from the Federal News Service
MSNBC Video
Video with Closed Caption from Taudiobook.com
The Creepy Sleepy podcast from Twitter and behind the scenes at the debate.

November 15, 2007 - CNN - Las Vegas, Nevada
The Nevada Democratic Party hosted a Democratic debate aired on CNN. The moderator was Wolf Blitzer. Former Alaskan Senator Mike Gravel was excluded from the debate[36], and so held a debate alternative, online at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/senator-mike-gravels-alternative-democratic-debat where a TiVo system is used to screen the official debate simultaneously. According to Nielsen Media Research, the debate drew a record Cable TV audience for a presidential primary debate, an estimated 4.04 million viewers.[37]
The candidates present at the debate were Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, and John Edwards.
Some commentators have attacked CNN for the debate, calling it biased and poorly handled. Their accusations include claims that the final audience question was planted,[38] that moderator Wolf Blizter was overly favorable to Hillary Clinton, and that the use of James Carville, a long-time adviser to the Clintons, as a debate commentator was biased.[39] It has also been claimed that some of the "undecided voters" showcased by CNN during the debate had ties to the Democratic party.[40]
New York Times transcript and video, from the Federal News Service
Chicago Sun-Times transcript, from CNN
Video with Closed Caption, from Taudiobook.com

December 4, 2007 - NPR (radio only) - Des Moines, Iowa
National Public Radio, in conjunction with Iowa Public Radio, hosted a "radio-only" Democratic Debate. NPR hosts Steve Inskeep, Michele Norris, and Robert Siegel moderated the debate. The debate broadcasted from the State Historical Society of Iowa in Des Moines to NPR stations around the country and was streamed online. All of the major candidates were present other than New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson who was attending the funeral of a Korean war casualty.
Senators Obama and Edwards were given the most speaking time; Senator Gravel, the least.
Debate recap with audio and transcript
Transcript

December 13, 2007 – Johnston, Iowa
The Des Moines Register and Iowa Public Television hosted a Democratic debate in Johnston, Iowa. Six of the eight candidates were invited. Dennis Kucinich was excluded because he had not rented office space in the state. The Register determined “that a person working out of his home did not meet our criteria for a campaign office and full-time paid staff in Iowa.” Mike Gravel was excluded for presumably the same reason.[41]
This debate was originally scheduled for January 6th 2008, but because the Iowa Caucus was moved up to January 3rd, 2008, the Des Moines Register moved the debate up to December 13th.
Iowa Public Television video (in full and by segment) and transcript
NPR Election 2008 - Podcast Direct link to download podcast
Des Moines Register video (in full and by segment)
Fox News video (in full only)
Video with Closed Caption
CNN Transcript

January 5, 2008 - ABC 8:45pm EST - Manchester, New Hampshire
ABC, WMUR-TV and Facebook jointly hosted back-to-back Democratic and Republican debates from Saint Anselm College on Saturday, January 5, just three days before the official first-in-the-nation primary the following Tuesday, January 8. Charles Gibson moderated.[42] According to Nielsen Media Research, the debate drew the largest televised audience of the primary season with an esimated 9.36 million viewers.[43]
At 8:47 p.m. EST, between the two debates, Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Bill Richardson joined the Republican candidates on the stage at St. Anselm College in Manchester. This was the first time all of the major candidates from both parties had been together on stage, as defined by ABC News. ABC News eliminated Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel from the debate because they did not place first through fourth in Iowa, poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major New Hampshire surveys, or poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major national surveys.
Major topics were introduced with a short news-clip-style video produced by ABC and the candidates were encouraged to interact with each other. One question, "...how much you would spend with the programs you've proposed and the promises you've made.", was inexplicably withdrawn by Gibson at the last second after its introductory video had been shown. Aside from that, the debate ran smoothly. There were commercial breaks before and after each debate. The candidates were seated during the debates.
During the debate, Obama, Clinton, and Edwards all battled over who best exemplified the buzzword of the campaign, "change".[44][45] In one noted exchange, Edwards said that Clinton could not bring change, while he and Obama can. "Any time you speak out powerfully for change, the forces for status quo attack." He made clear that he was referring to Clinton, adding, "I didn't hear these kind of attacks from Senator Clinton while she was ahead. Now that she's not we hear them."[45] Clinton passionately retorted: "Making change is not about what you believe; it's not about a speech you make. It's about working hard. I'm not just running on a promise for change. I'm running on 35 years of change. What we need is somebody who can deliver change. We don't need to be raising false hopes."[45] Obama replied that "The truth is, actually, words do inspire. Words do help people get involved."[46]
At another point in the debate, when one moderator asked Clinton why polls showed she was less "likeable" than other candidates, particularly Obama, she joked tongue-in-cheek, "Well that hurts my feelings ... but I'll try to go on."[44]
Video with Closed Caption
Fox News video
NY Times transcript

January 15, 2008 - MSNBC 6:00pm PST - Las Vegas, Nevada
The Nevada Democratic Party partnered with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and IMPACTO, 100 Black Men of America, and the College of Southern Nevada to hold the second Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas. The debate was telecast live by MSNBC and held at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm Pacific Standard Time.[47][48]
Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama took part in the debate. Dennis Kucinich was originally invited to the debate after meeting publicly announced criteria, but the invitation was retracted after NBC changed its criteria shortly before the event. Kucinich sued for the right to participate in the debate, but after lower courts sided with Kucinich, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in favor of MSNBC.[49] [50]
Video with Closed Caption
Las Vegas Sun transcript
New York Times transcript

January 21, 2008 - CNN 8:00pm EST - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
The Congressional Black Caucus and CNN hosted a debate in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at 8:00 pm EST. This debate set another record for a Cable TV audience with an estimated 4.9 million total viewers, according to Nielsen Fast Nationals Ratings. The participants were Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. The debate, chaired by Wolf Blitzer, had an unusual format; for the last forty minutes the candidates sat down and the debate took a much more casual tone.
Official website

Video with closed caption
CNN video and transcript
New York Times transcript

January 31, 2008 - CNN 5:00pm PDT - Hollywood, California
The Los Angeles Times, The Politico, and CNN hosted a Democratic debate in Hollywood, California, at the Kodak Theatre.[51][52] The debate set another Cable TV viewing record for a presidential primary debate, with 8,324,000 million total viewers.[53]
This was the final Democratic party-specific debate before Super Tuesday on February 5th, 2008. This debate included two candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and started at 5 PM Pacific, ending at 6:30 PM. Topics in this cordial debate included health care, the Iraq War, and immigration.[54]
CNN transcript
CNN video
Video with Closed Caption

February 2, 2008 - MTV 6:00pm EST - MTV Myspace Debate
MTV and Myspace hosted a cross-party debate Live on February 2nd, 2008 at 6PM EST/3PM PST on MTV. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ron Paul, and Mike Huckabee attended the debate. John McCain and Mitt Romney were invited but did not attend. Mike Gravel was not invited to attend due to little support in the state primaries and caucuses.
MTV Video

February 21, 2008 - CNN 7:00pm CST - Austin, Texas
CNN, Univision and the Texas Democratic Party jointly hosted a debate between Obama and Clinton on February 21 at 7:00 CST on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. The debate was rebroadcast at 10:30 in Spanish. Questions focused heavily on illegal immigration and the economy, among other issues [55].
CNN transcript video
Video with Closed Caption

February 26, 2008 - MSNBC 9:00pm EST - Cleveland, Ohio
NBC News held a debate between Clinton and Obama on February 26 at the Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State University. The debate was broadcast live at 9:00 EST on MSNBC. It was moderated by Brian Williams with Tim Russert [56]. CNN had proposed with the Ohio Democratic Party a debate on February 27 which was cancelled.[57]
Official web site
MSNBC Video
New York Times Transcript
Video with Closed Caption

April 16, 2008 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Both Clinton and Obama have accepted a debate proposed by ABC News on April 16, 2008, at the National Constitution Center.[58]

April 18, 2008 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The American Association for the Advancement of Science, Council on Competitiveness, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine have proposed a debate on science and technology, to be held on April 18, 2008, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to look specifically at "the issues of The Environment, Health and Medicine, and Science and Technology Policy." Currently, offers have been extended to both candidates.[59]
Official web site

References