link here at:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/031201/usnews/1debate.htm<snip>
(Tom Brokaw)He will moderate and be the sole questioner of the candidates in Des Moines. Though some of the rules and format of the debate have been negotiated among NBC, the Democratic National Committee, and the presidential campaigns, Brokaw intends to do pretty much what he wants to do. And he has set an extremely high goal for himself and the 100 or so NBC employees who are actively working on the event. "I want," Brokaw tells the group, "to try to make it memorable."
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"I want it as free form as possible," Brokaw says at the meeting. "If you get into a metronome and buzzers and `It's Mr.
Kucinich's turn; it's Carol Moseley Braun's turn', then it's not engaging." Elizabeth Wilner, 33, the NBC political director, who has obtained three debates for NBC this year, asks Brokaw whether the candidates should be told that they, too, have the ability to interject and be free form. "They should trust me to run the show," Brokaw says. "I don't want it paint-by-numbers. I want to break out of that."
Later, in his comfortable but modest-size office, filled with family pictures, awards, and memorabilia, Brokaw recognizes that candidates do hate surprises. "But, you know," Brokaw says, "that's part of the risk that they have to take. I mean, part of our job is to act as the advocate of the audience and the voters and try to draw them out so that voters don't get just an infomercial. Why give up two hours of your time as a viewer if you think you are going to get one canned campaign speech after another? It's hard to convince campaigns of this, but it's in their interest, frankly."
You guys really ought to read this article---it'll tell you what kind of a debate this is going to be....god, is it going to be ugly!