Now, tonights program is unlike any other president ial debate in history were making history now and its pretty exciting. An independent polling firm has selected an audience of 209 uncommitted voters from this area. The candidates will be asked questions by these voters on a topic of their choosing anything they want to ask about. My job as moderator is to, you know, take care of the questioning, ask questions myself, if i think there needs to be continuity and balance, and sometimes i might ask the candidates to respond to what another candidate may have said. Now, the format has been agreed to by representatives of both the republican and democratic campaigns. And there is no subject matter that is restricted anything goes, we can ask anything. After the debate, the candidates will have an opportunity to make a closing statement. So, president bush, i think you said it earlier, lets get it on. Pres. Bush lets go. Ms. Simpson and i think the first question is over here. Yes, id like
Next tuesday is election day. Before going to the polls, voters want to understand the issues and know the candidates positions. Tonight, voters will have an opportunity to hear the Major Party Candidates for the presidency state their views on issues that affect us all. The league of women voters is proud to present this president ial debate, our moderator is howard smith. Thank you. The league of women voters is pleased to welcome to the cleveland, Ohio Convention center music hall president jimmy carter, the Democratic Partys candidate for reelection to the presidency, and governor Ronald Reagan of california, the Republican Partys candidate for the presidency. The candidates will debate questions onto mecca on domestic, economic, foreign policy, and National Security issues. The questions will be posed by a panel of distinguished journalists who are here with me. They are marvin stone, the editor of u. S. News world report, harold ellis, william hilliard, assistant managing editor
Tonights 90 minute debate coming from the university of richmond in richmond, virginia. Tonights program is unlike any other president ial debate in history. Were making history now and its pretty exciting. An independent polling firm has selected an audience of 209 uncommitted voters from this area. The candidates will be asked questions by these voters on a topic of their choosing. Anything they want to ask about. My job as moderator is to, you know, take care of the questioning, ask questions myself if i think there needs to be continuity and balance, and sometimes i might ask the candidates to respond to what another candidate may have said. Now, the format has been agreed to by representatives of both the republican and democratic campaigns. And there is no subject matter that is restricted. Anything goes. We can ask anything. After the debate the candidates will have an opportunity to make a closing statement. So president bush, i think you said it earlier, lets get it on. Lets g
[ cheers and applause ] for the next 90 minutes we will be questioning the candidates following a format designed and agreed to by representatives of the two campaigns. However, there are no restrictions in the questions that my colleagues and i can ask this evening, and the candidates have no prior knowledge of our questions. By agreement between the candidates, the first question goes to governor dukakis. You have two minutes to respond. Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable Death Penalty for the killer . No, i dont. I think you know i opposed the Death Penalty during all of my life. I dont see any evidence that its a deterrent. I think there are per and more effective ways to deal with violent crime. We have down so in my own state. Its one of the reasons why we have had the biggest drop in crime of any industrial state in america, why we have the lowest murder rate in any industrial state in america. But we have work to do this nation. W
Michael dukakis. Candidates took questions on taxes, the budget deficit, defense spending, and each candidates choice of running mate. Good evening, on behalf of the commission on president ial debates, i am pleased to welcome you to the second president ial debate. Im bernard shaw of cnn, cable news network. My colleagues on the panel are and cotton of abc news. Margaret warner of newsweek magazine. And Andrea Mitchell of nbc news. The candidates are Vice President george bush, the republican nominee, and governor michael dukakis. [applause] for the next 90 minutes will be questioning the candidates in a format designed and agreed to by representatives of the two campaigns. However, there are no restrictions on the questions that my colleagues and i can ask this evening. And the candidates have no prior knowledge of our questions. By agreement between the candidates, the first question goes to governor dukakis. You have two minutes to respond. Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and