The third and final presidential debate for the 2012 election cycle is set for next Monday with the theme of foreign policy.
The final debate will be moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS News and was chosen to moderate by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) back in August. Schieffer has previously moderated the final presidential debate in 2008 between then-Senator Barack Obama and Arizona Senator John McCain.
Schieffer joined CBS News in 1969 and has been covering for the network in Washington D.C. from Capitol Hill, the State Department, the Pentagon, and the White House.
He started anchoring the morning news program Face the Nation since May 1991 and served as interim anchor for The CBS Evening News from March 2005 to April 2006.
The CPD has selected Schieffer to decide on the six topics the candidates will debate on as well as the questions.
The specific questions have not been released to the public but the topics have. Although it is noted the topics are subject to change as the news develops.
The topics are:
- America's role in the world
- Our longest war - Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Red Lines: Israel and Iran
- The Changing Middle East and the New Face of Terrorism I
- The Changing Middle East and the New Face of Terrorism II
- The Rise of China and Tomorrow's World
The topics and theme for the debate is a contrast to the first presidential debate this month moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS, which focused on domestic policy.
Although the second presidential debate, which followed the town hall meeting format and moderated by CNN's Candy Crowley, featured both domestic and foreign policy, the majority of the questions are domestic-based.
The final debate will have a heavy emphasis on the Arab World (the Middle East and Northern Africa) as five of the six topics affect the region. The situation in Libya, leading to the death of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens will likely be brought up and how the Obama administration handled the series of events, which has been criticized by the Romney campaign and Republicans.
According to the CPD, the format for the debate will be "divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on topics to be selected by the moderator ... 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."
The 90-minute presidential debate is set for next Mon., Oct. 22 at 9 p.m. from the battleground state of Florida. It will be seen on all major broadcast networks and cable news channels.
Latinos Post will provide live stream as the debate date approaches.
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