Jim Lehrer (PBS), Candy Crowley (CNN) and Bob Schieffer (CBS) will host three debates between President Barack Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney.
Martha Raddatz (ABC) will host the debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Representative Paul Ryan.
For the first time in two decades, women have been selected by the Commission on Presidential Debates to host debates!
“We picked the people we thought were the best…,” said Co-chairman on the Debate Commission, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. “This is a two-year process, and all the way through we looked at new ideas, new people. But historically, we have stayed with television journalists, because the moderators have to be experienced.”
Janet Brown, the executive director of Commission, declared: “You have to look at how journalists handle pressure, how they think on their feet. There is a very fine art to mastering the material, moving in real-time while a producer is in your ear, and having the confidence to tell presidential candidates they’re over time or not answering the question. That takes a lot of skill, and the people best-suited to do this are people with experience. Without it, in real time, moderators are taking a significant risk, which is a disservice to the American people and the candidates.”
Selecting moderators voters can trust is becoming increasingly tricky.
As racial and ethnic diversity continues to grow and a younger demographic comes of age, all decisions become more complex when representing the viewing public.
The Commission strives to select moderators who “have nothing left to prove and are not moving to make a name for themselves.”
Today, women constitute more than half of the electorate and over ninety percent of women are online. AAUW hopes to hear candidates discuss: health care, childcare costs, pay equity and access to higher education.