Would Obama have had to struggle at all to correct the negative image had it not been for that initial debate and his inept ability to neutralize Romney? Probably not.

Calling Mitt Romney the winner, as so many pundits did the next day, would be a misnomer and would ignore the substance of the presentations. The term 'bully' would have been more accurate.

During a 2008 Republican primary debate, moderator Tim Russert asked Mitt Romney, "Will you do for Social Security what Ronald Reagan did in 1983?" A disembodied whisper of "He raised taxes" followed. Romney appeared to take note before answering Russert, "I'm not going to raise taxes."

Last week, I spoke with Kathleen Hall Jamieson, founder of FactCheck.org, about what Americans deserve to hear from Obama and Romney during the debates, as well as why she considers the debates "all that we've got left" to spread truth and knowledge.

WASHINGTON -- The committee that sponsors presidential debates during the general election has chosen Denver, Hempstead, N.Y., and Boca Raton, Fla., a...

As we watch the debates on CNN, we too are influenced by the response lines, and after the debate is over, the influence of these small groups increases disproportionately.

That's right -- from the people who wiretap your phones and are praying for a government bailout comes the totally fair and nonpartisan vice presidential debate!

This debate underscored the central question that each of us must ask ourselves before choosing our next president: Will our children and our children's children fare better than us?

With the fate of tonight's first presidential debate still uncertain, it is a good time to look back at when the tradition of holding presidential deb...