TVSquad

John McCain wanted ten town hall style debates with Barack Obama, but after 22 Democratic debates, Barack said, "Thanks, but no thanks." So now the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates will meet three times: two traditional, one-on-one debates with a single moderator for each, and one townhall-style session with questions from the crowd.

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced that NBC's Tom Brokaw, PBS's Jim Lehrer, and CBS's Bob Schieffer will be the moderators, with Gwen Ifill, the host of PBS's Washington Week handling the chores for the one vice presidential debate.

What's interesting here is that of the big three, ABC is not represented. Among the cable news crowd, Fox News and MSNBC were equally snubbed as was CNN.

I can't say why ABC was left out of the loop. However, George
Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson were both roundly criticized for their work on the Democratic debate they helmed.

Would America be ready for an African-American president, which is now a 50-50 proposition with Senator Barack Obama the presumptive Democratic candidate, if actor Dennis Haysbert hadn't done it first on 24?

A lot of people have wondered if Haysbert's brave, commanding President David Palmer influenced the way people are thinking about Obama. Dennis Haysbert has now weighed in, and he believes that his role on 24 made a difference.

"My portrayal of David Palmer may have helped open the eyes of the American people," he told the AP.

"I mean the American people across the board - from the poorest to the richest, every color and creed, every religious base - to prove the possibility there could be an African-American president, a female president, any type of president that puts the people first," he goes on to say.