Tonight’s presidential debate is a “Town Hall”-style format in which everyday voters, not journalists or politicians, will put the questions to President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney. The interlocutors are all pre-screened and the debate moderator, CNN’s Candy Crowley, has selected the questions but still, these will be real, live and apparently undecided voters quizzing the candidates.
This presents a bit of a risk for any politicians. You never what the “real voter” will say and you never what the politicians might say. Here’s two moments from previous town-hall-style debates that both candidates hope they don’t repeat.
Obama: “Tired of defending you”
From a CNBC Economic Town Hall in 2010, Obama rambles awkwardly for 4 minutes after an African-American woman complains she is tired of “defending” him:
Obama Backers Tired Of Defending Him by GWHH19
Romney: “Corporations are People”
During the primaries, Romney gets heckled at the Iowa State Fair …