Thursday at 9 p.m., from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, presidential candidates George W. Bush and John F. Kerry will meet in the first of three televised debates.
The two candidates and the moderator, Jim Leher, anchor and executive editor for The News Hour on PBS, will be seated at the same table.
The candidates will present their agendas to the American public, along with what they believe is the wisdom needed to guide this nation over the next four years. The ultimate decision will be made by voters on Nov. 2.
The debates have been scheduled by the Commission of Presidential Debates, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that has sponsored general election presidential debates since 1987.
Per the CPD’s rules, each debate will have a single moderator and last for 90 minutes.
The first presidential debate will focus on foreign policy and homeland security, a change from the original format. The second presidential debate will be held in a town meeting format, in which citizens will pose questions to the candidates.
The vice presidential debate will cover both foreign and domestic policy topics.
Because of the last minute changes of topics for the first presidential debate, the topics for the third and final presidential debate have not yet been announced.
There will be no opening statements, and each candidate will give a two-minute closing statement.
The order of questioning and closing statements will be determined by a coin toss.
The moderator’s job in the first and third presidential debates and the vice presidential debate will be to introduce and change topics, ensure that the participants have equal time, and encourage some direct exchange among the candidates. The moderators select all topics and questions.
In the second presidential debate, the town meeting participants will pose their questions to the candidates. Participants will review their questions with the moderator before the debate for the sole purpose of avoiding duplicate questions.
The participants in the town meeting, to be chosen by the Gallup Organization, will be undecided voters from the St. Louis metropolitan area.
The moderators will have the ability to ask follow-up questions in all debates.
Each debate will take place before a live audience.
The vice presidential debate will be held Tuesday, Oct. 5. The second presidential debate will be held Friday, Oct. 8, and the third presidential debate will be held Wednesday, Oct. 13. Each debate is scheduled for 9 p.m.
Participation in the debates is subject to the application of the CPD partisan candidate selection criteria for 2004.
To be eligible, a candidate must meet the requirements as set forth in the U.S. Constitution.
In order for a candidate to debate, he or she must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to have a mathematical chance of securing an Electoral College majority in the 2004 general election.
The candidate selection criteria will be applied before each debate. If a presidential candidate is eligible for the first presidential debate, his or her running mate will be automatically be included in the vice presidential debate.

Author