MSNBC will carry the first televised presidential debate of the 2008 race when Democratic hopefuls square off in South Carolina on April 26.
Debate, scheduled nearly six months earlier than the first debate of the 2004 presidential race, stretches the campaign 18 months before Election Day in 2008.
An NBC News personality, likely Brian Williams, will both moderate and anchor the debate, which will air in primetime and be streamed on MSNBC.com. Network will announce the moderator and other details later.
Republicans aren't waiting much longer to get their first debate under their belts. Fox News Channel will air the GOP's first televised debate, also in South Carolina, on May 15 at the Kroger Center in the state capital of Columbia.
With its diverse electorate and early primary, South Carolina is emerging as a key battleground state for both parties. South Carolina holds the third presidential primary on the schedule, after Iowa and New Hampshire.
As it stands, there are only three declared candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden.
The heavy-hitters, Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), have not yet declared their intentions.
The Democratic debate will be held on the campus of South Carolina State U., a historically black college with a significant past in the civil rights movement.
Three were killed and 27 injured in 1968 when the South Carolina Highway Patrol fired on demonstrators against segregation, an event known as the Orangeburg Massacre.
Goodness gracious -- I thought it was a little crazy to post the countdown clock two years out but this is something else. The media is beginning to treat elections like the first snow event of the season in the Ozarks: there's anticipation days and weeks out of something big happening, a lot of repetition, plenty of predictions that inevitably turn out to be wrong and one may very well believable this is the biggest event EVER based on what you're hearing on television. Then the actual event itself arrives and things unfold much slower than you imagine, no one seems sure what's going on, and most folks go to bed secure that the world will still be there the next day and the morning news will them sort out what happened. Then there's the aftermath, the pictures, the fallout, and more repetition.
Kudos to the media and the candidates for pushing the campaign so early. It's said every election, but this time it's more true than ever - "This is the most important election of our lifetimes." No incumbency, no obvious choices, no front-runners - it's wide open. We've got lots of time to engage in the civic practice of public discourse, in which we decide what will truly make our country a better place to live and whose vision exists to get us there. This can only help stimulate and advance the process.
At the same time, let's be honest: it's in the media's interest to get this party started as soon as possible. We love money (who doesn't?) and candidates are very generous when they are running for election. Money that would otherwise flow into TV station coffers in 2008 may get ramped up in 2007 because of all this early media attention.
2 comments:
It isn't really all about the horse race. That is the part of it the media seems to want to cover and the part most journalists seem to understand but that isn't what it really is about. It is really about people, their problems, issues and solutions. It is about principles, values and ideas.
Early commencement of campaigning should not be encouraged or celebrated. It is very bad for the system. It serves to make the cost of campaigns beyond the reach of most citizens and the personal sacrifice of pubic service beyond what most reasonalbe people will make. Those most motivated by power are most willing to make the long run. They are the easiest to corrupt. They are too interested in power and too disinterseted in principle. Long campaigns may be good for journalists who want to cover the horse race and the personalities and are certainly good for the campaign consultants, pollsters and speical interests trying to buy influence with politicians but are bad for the system, bad for working people and bad for our country.
We would be better off if in 2007 the media would be required to talk about problems and solutions rather then the horse race. It can wait till 2008.
Brad- Have you any idea what the expected expenditures for media buys in 07 will be? This will no doubt be the most expensive ever.
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