OXFORD, Miss. – The topic has changed for the first 2008 presidential
debate, to be hosted Sept. 26 at the University of Mississippi, but the
slate of debate-related events and classes already planned around the
original topic will continue.
The McCain and Obama campaigns announced this week that they have
agreed to a change from initial plans that called for the UM-hosted
event to focus on domestic issues. Instead, the first debate is to
center on national security and foreign policy. The face-off on
domestic issues is expected to take place Oct. 15 during the debate
scheduled at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
“(The change in topics) was requested by both of the campaigns, and we
are assuming it is related to the recent military conflict between
Russia and Georgia as well as conversations going on with Iran,” said
Andy Mullins, executive assistant to the chancellor. “It seems foreign
affairs have taken center stage, and the change in topics seems to
reflect that.”
The university was alerted to the change just before 8 a.m. Thursday. The plan is to continue with the more than 50 debate-related events and 16 debate-centered classes scheduled this fall, which have been planned mainly around domestic issues.
Plans for hosting the debate, which is sponsored and operated by the Commission on Presidential Debates, began late last year after UM was notified that it had been selected as the site for the first debate.
The university community remains excited about the opportunity to host this historic event, Mullins said.
Although many of the planned events and classes focus on domestic issues, the commission has advised the university to go ahead with its plans since the issues discussed will continue to be topics of the presidential campaign, Mullins added.
In an e-mail to faculty and staff following the announcement, UM Interim Provost Noel Wilkin said the change in topic is “an unavoidable consequence of being involved in a dynamic election process.”
He added that the events planned to supplement the debate will not change.
“Domestic issues will still be important and significant issues in this election, and our efforts to bring those issues to the forefront are not in vain regardless of what will be discussed,” he said.
PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer is still set to moderate the Sept. 26 debate, which is set for 8 p.m. at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. A joint statement from the campaigns said the debate at UM will be broken into nine, nine-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate two minutes to comment. After the initial answers, another five minutes will be allotted for an open discussion.
For more information on the debate and debate-related events, visit http://www.debate.olemiss.edu .