EVENING UPDATE:
I am moderating a discussion with several other elders during the presidential debate tonight. To watch the ABC News/Yahoo! News Elders Response Hangout live at YouTube or to view the archived video later when you have time later, click this link.
You can also watch right here:
From Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, tonight President Barack Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney have a second go at explaining themselves to the American voter.
The moderator is CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley and the debate, in the format of a town hall meeting, will cover both foreign and domestic issues. Questions will come from audience members:
“There are strict time limits and rules,” explains The New York Times. “After the audience member asks a question, his or her microphone will be immediately shut off.
“The candidate will have two minutes to answer. The other candidate is then given two minutes to respond. Then the moderator will be able to pose a follow-up question of her choosing, with each candidate allowed one minute to respond.”
That audience will consist of 80 people/questioners selected by the Gallup Organization from residents who live near Hofstra on Long Island – all of them to be undecided voters.
Undecided voters. Much has been made of them during recent weeks of this presidential campaign. In fact, some say they are the only ones who count which is why millions in partisan dollars are being spent in the so-called swing states.
But as much as these voters are courted, they are also much maligned and I admit that I am of the second camp. What more does anyone need to know?
It’s not like there isn’t a vast difference in the candidates’ world views. And it’s not as if there is any other news being reported in the U.S. these days (to the shame of the media).
Given that and the information overload environment we inhabit, it’s damned hard to be a low-information and/or undecided voter unless perhaps you are living off the grid entirely and I don’t believe there are enough of those to make a difference in the election outcome.
Here is the Saturday Night Live take on undecided voters:
It will be fun to see if any of those will be questioning the candidates tonight.
Also fun, at least to me, is that I, along with several other elders, will be commenting online during the debate.
Last week, ABC-TV asked me to participate in and moderate a conversation with elders during tonight’s debate in a live, video presentation. It will be available online, if you care to watch, although you’ll need a TV nearby to also see/hear the debate itself.
Four or five minutes after the debate begins, at 9PM eastern time, 6PM Pacific, I will post a link at the top of this story to the YouTube site where you can view the elder discussion and I will also embed the live video stream here. I’m giving you two choices because live streams, as we know, can sometimes be a bit dodgy.
So if you’re interested in the reaction of a bunch of old folks to tonight’s debate, please join us. Among some others and me, elderblogger Frank Paynter, who some of you may know, will participate.
If you arrive here tonight and don’t see the video or the link, give it a couple of minutes because the internet address and video are not generated until we go live and it will take me a minute or two to get them posted.
The Medicare series begun on Monday will resume tomorrow, Wednesday.
At The Elder Storytelling Place today, Mary Hertslet: A Twice-Written Memoir
