In ohio. Later, more like a Campaign Coverage as a Vice President joe biden travels to lynchburg, virginia. This weekend, booktv is will be in austin, texas. From 11 006 00 eastern, you can hear from Douglas Brinkley and others. Sunday from noon6, a book about ulysses s. Grant, infiltrating drug cartels and inside the house of representatives. The texas book festival, live this weekend, on booktv, on c span 2. Next, we will talk about covering president ial campaigns with political journalists who have moderated president ial debates. They talk about the impact of conventions, Television Ads and voters this campaign cycle. This is one hour, 10 minutes. [applause] thank you very much and a warm welcome to you. We are so pleased that you joined us, and Judy Woodruff, thank you for serving on our board. [laughter] i would like to ask each of debates that we just went through. We were not sure you would make it through the traffic on time. We decided to start off with one of the clips from the second president ial debate that you moderated. In other words, there was no coin toss. We could have done alphabetically and come up with the same order. Lets take a look at a couple of clips from the second romney. Roll the clips, please. Let me mention Something Else the president said a moment ago when he was describing chinese investments and so forth. Hold on a second. Speaking. Hold on a second. Speaking. Governor romney, of these people have been waiting. Any investment i have had have been managed by a blind trust, and i do understand they include investments in chinese companies. Your pension . I did not look at my pension. It is not as big as yours. I do not check it that often. That me give you some a device, but get your pension. He also invests in chinese companies, and outside of the United States. We are way off topic here, governor romney. [laughter] governor romney, thank you. I think it is interesting the president said something that on the day after the attack he went to the rose garden and said this was an act of terror. He said the day after the attack that it was an act of terror, not a spontaneous demonstration . Please proceed, governor. I want to make sure we got the for the record, because it took him 14 days. Get the transcript. He did, in fact, sir. Can use it got louder, server. Candy . It did as well take two weeks or so for the idea of there being a right which it right out there. Youre correct about that. The administration indicated this was a reaction to a video and it was a spontaneous reaction. It took them a long time to say it was a terrorist act by a terrorist group, am i incorrect in that regard . On sunday, the investor to the United Nations went on the Television Shows and spoke about and faster to the United Nations went on Television Shows. I want to move you on. People can go to the transcripts. [laughter] [applause] you both commented on this. This felt like playing to constituencies that were already democratic. We will come back to the convention coverage, but first, lets go to candys experience. I have seen this several times. It is interesting hearing it, and not watching it, and you recognize how contentious it is and you can really feel attention. What was it like from your perspective, candy . A couple of things. Actually, it was a blast. I have a great time. [laughter] i know that makes me peculiar, but it was fun. When the falcons tell you this, having been in as many debates gwen ifill can tell you this, incredible. I felt like i was pregnant. Every morning i woke up, and i was nauseouswhen somebody starts screaming in the debate, i felt nauseous anything that could go wrong had already gone wrong in my head. Once i got out there i know how to do this. Exactly. Once i was out there, i was conscious of the 82 people sitting there that had been there since 8 00 in the morning, and wanting to get their questions in, and i was conscious of letting them go at it when they wanted to go at it. We have now heard this six times, could we now move this on . Instinctual. You cannot go into the debate thinking i am going to be it is like. Parenthood. It is an organic thing, and you are reacting in a moment, rather than through any formula that people might set out for. Could you tell from the outset that it would be so contentious or did it escalate . We knew we had the two men standing on the stage, and honestly, they were so territorial, so when that started, you realize that there first, fullon argument was about whether we were drilling on public land, and i thought really . Prices. We knew going into this, and i am sure you commented on this, the president could not have another debate that look like he did not want to be there. We knew he would come loaded for bear, but i made the mistake thinking there are all these nice people there, and they will not argue in front of them. They will have to tone it down a little bit. Then, afterwards, when i was trying to figure out why so many of us thought they would be nice, they would not be overheated, i think we took this as a debate for undecided voters, and it was not. It was for their basis. Audience. Or the audience. That is where the questions came from but they were playing to their bases. That is why it was so heated. Candy and looking at gwen ifill, they are looking at people that will not be intimidated by the candidates, and can deal with the situation, whether they are very nice for the opposite. You have to have the skill set that candy, gwen ifill and others can deal with. I think that is a compliment. Never mind. [laughter] its a compliment. Were you ever tempted to come from behind the podium and no. You learn a lot. I thought it was fascinating. Also, it was less hot on the stage than on television. They looked much closer. Two men were looking and dead heat polls, they were territorial, and did not want to give an inch of argument. I did not get the hatred that everybody thought they saw. I have to admit that last question came from my time watching bigtime wrestling when i was a child. Your question on libya, in hindsight, would you have answered it ask the question differently than you did . I do not think i would. I saw them get wrapped around the axle of the words said in the rose garden, where the larger point was we still do not know what happened the benghazi think, you had two weeks, and said this. I thought we would sit here saying yes you did, and know you did not, so i was trying to move them on, but the larger point is this, that and the other thing. Again, i respect both of these men. They are both supersmart and have a tough job, but president obama is right here. One is to my right, one is to my left, and the president is sitting on the stool, and they are both looking at me, saying yes, i did, now i did not, and i felt like this feels so familiar. I instinctively said well, he kind of did, but, and then turned and said the larger point i wish i had then i wish i had been that was shorthand. A lot of people ask me about if i thought it was appropriate, and aside from you be my friend, i defended you anyway because it is not that you interjected, but that you had it right when you interjected. That is the key. It would of been bad otherwise. [laughter] than we had a conspiracy theories that i had a transcript with me. I knew that was willing to come up . As you know, as reporters, things stick in your brain. You dont know where they come from. They only do if you have done the work. I wish i had been a tiny bit more articulate in the second that i was saying to romney you are right, but, and when i said the first thing, people started to applaud, which startled me a little bit. Then, when i turn to the governor and said governor, you are right about the other thing, the other side clapped. So, in all of the clapping, people missed the totality of what was going on. Your observations, gwen ifill and Judy Woodruff, what is the role of the moderator in the debates, and does it vary depending on the format . Of course it differs edwin Judy Woodruff moderated it was a panel of reporters, right . That is right. Moderator. It was 1988. The difference is, solo control. I mean, you decide it was different with candy because she was moderating a town hall. I had the questions in my hand that nobody had seen, and i knew which order i wanted to go in. Nobody else knew that, so that put pressure on me to make sure i had it right, and bill everything they had said so that i could be fair. Every moderator has a different style and idea. You could bring all four moderators, and i think they would ask the question slightly differently. As i see the role, and i want candy and gwen ifill to speak for themselves, but the moderator is there to let the candidate come out on the most important issues that they ought to be dealing with, and the framework will differ from debatetodebate, whether it is domestic or foreign, and we can talk about what we think about that separation, but it gives the candidates a chance to speak up themselves, and when appropriate to probe when you feel they are not answering the question. Every moderator will do that in a slightly different way. Is a town hall format useful, do you think . I was surprised that the people in the town hall in this case that the candidates did not take greater pains to answer their questions. Im used to having politicians take a question and turn it around to whatever they want to say. I was a little not leave. I thought they would feel the need to do with bill clinton tobias, always answer the advised which was always answer the questions from voters advised, always answer the question from voters. You got the sense that they felt there was so much at stake that they could not afford to not carry out the mission, and in the president s case, to be there, ann romneys case, to continue to be president ial and in romneys case, to continue to be president ial. And to have smart answers to questions. I like the town hall format. I like the idea of of it. I guess the problem is there were many times the second question was about gas prices. The first question was neutral, im worried im not calling to have a job. The second question went straight at the president and said your Energy Secretary says it is not his job to keep Energy Prices down, do you think it is his job, and the next thing i know we were arguing about drilling in public lands. I went back and said the question was do you think it is the job of the government, and then they went off on the next public lands thing. Then, you have been up so much time in this, that leads to one, two, three less town hall people. I did it a couple of times, as many times i felt i could do it without completely blow in the format. With guns, we went off on something. They started talking about single mothers. Single mothers and marriage, yes. I will say that the format that has evolved is better today than back in the day when it was much more strict. We were told u. S. The question, no followup, two minutes, one minute, and i was told to interrupt it they did not. There was a red light and a buzzer. There were restrictions. Today, they are given more time to have a conversation, and you learn more that way. Come to the debate of every intention of ignoring the rules they have agreed to, there is very little the moderator can do. When i did the sit down debate with dick cheney and john edwards, who i would ask different questions of today [laughter] there was a light. They could see the light. They knew when they were over time. On one occasion, dick cheney said i do not know if i could answer that in 30 seconds, and i said that is all you have. People in bars across the country started clapping, and i was just thinking we need to set stick to the time. I was just trying to think what the rules are. Who sets the rules . The commission and the candidate. Do moderators have any input . They give you something that they ask you to sign. And you dont. I did not even get that, actually. Ok. Rules they said . Here is the problem with the time thing. I did not get into this to be the school monitor. If they are having a conversation that shows the something about the two of them, you do not want to artificially cut them off, or let them call on on something bad. It is a much more organic choice, what is going on in this moment right now. It calls a minute to use your judgment. When you feel they have exhausted the subject, and when you think the audience will benefit from hearing Something Else . Do you keep the time . To the moderators keep the time . It is kept by timekeeper people. You know the timekeeper people. In my case, you wanted to make sure that they were equivalent. Does the timekeeper not off . Not off . I hope not, because i was relying on them. Do you have any concerns about restraints . You are in the house of a First Amendment when it comes rules. It is not the ok corral. Its a debate. The goal was to get as many as much information as possible in the hands of the American Public. Rules are going to make sure that you have the equivalent exchanges, but it is not bound so tightly that you are stuck on the rolls, and you cut them off when theyre about to say i killed my wife. Sorry, you are out of time no, you want to make sure there is an exchange. I dont consider that restraint. We all function by rules. You raised the point about the structure of the debates on topics. Do you like the format, one is for foreign affairs, one for the economy . In an ideal situation, the president deals of great deal with Foreign Policy, domestic policy, it makes sense to make sure you will not be so heavily weighted one way or another. For example, in the 2004 election, iraq was a huge issue. That might have been a time where the candidates would want to spend a lot more time on Foreign Policy. Right now, most voters say the primary concern is the economy. So, i think maybe there needs to be a little more flexibility in combat. On that. I know candy was thinking about that on that. I know can be was thinking about that. They are given three debates. We did go back and look at what was covered thoroughly. One of them was education, and at one point the president but did meehan said looked at me and said we have not discussed education at all, and i said in my head, sorry, he spent the first 20 minutes of the first debate talking about education. We knew remember, the first questions all came from the town hall, so i could not just come off with a question that was not represented in their questions. We knew that syria, iran and israel would be thoroughly covered. We didnt feel the need to fill the hole. But immigration and gun control might not. It might not. You would assume that would be the last chance. How do you prepare assume each of you have an individual method. I make myself insane. I shut myself off in the house with a lot of cards, read books the candidates have written, stump speeches, right about 100 questions, knowing that i might get about 20 in, and i do not think i got that many then i rehearsed. Many. Then i rehearse. Then, after all of the, you have to stop. You have to know it well enough that you cant stand to we have the conversation. It is a debate, but it is a conversation. That is what we do every day, apply your instincts. Candy . The hardest thing i have ever done, by way. I did it backwards, because we got the questions at 9 30 that morning, so we did not know what was coming, but you kind of know what is coming. We have been doing this for one year and a half. We went backwards, and we try to game and say he said this before, so you need to know until suddenly a whole new thing happens. At one point, i said i needed to know 100 of the stuff, and i will use 1 , but i do not know which one . It should be said that i paid the price for reading biographies of joe biden and sarah palin the night before i was flying to saint louis, i was proud of myself, slipped, broke my ankle, and moderated the debate with my leg in a split. They built an elevator to get me on the stage, and i was escorted by two football players. [laughter] named bucky and tem. Tim. Not read the book. [laughter] how about you, juday . I am moderated previous debates, and you drive yourself crazy because you feel like you need to know everything. You try to think, what is important, but it depends on the format. It is different when you are the sole moderator, as opposed to one when you are calling on citizens. It is so much harder than what we do. We love our work, but it is hard. You love doing it. If you love being a journalist, you love asking politicians, and what could be more important, what form is more important than the two men that are vying to be president of United States . That is a huge responsibility. So, that is not only will that is why they not only pick people that will not be intimidated, but people that will be will have a great judgment. I moderated a debate between Justice Scalia they did not let you talk, did they . I was sure the audience would rather listen to them, so it is a judgment call, letting them go if they are on topic. I thought the exchange about their bank accounts, yours is bigger than mine, my brain is going [laughter] okay. Moving along. It was not until after the debate that i saw the president said i have to say it. He came armed. Absolutely. I am glad is over. I thought it was a good debate. If you care about the issues a lot of things did not come off. A lot of things did. It would have been nice to hear about Something Else besides the bill east, but they came with a goal in mind, and in the same with the president did not sure that the first one, he had to show a that this one, and make the case for leadership and credibility. Taken as a group, those debates did exactly that. Youve got to learn a lot more about these men, and how they interact sidebyside. When they shook hands last month, when will they see each other again, and voluntarily . A picnic. [laughter] right. I was reminded of how much it benefited governor romney to the dissipate in the 19 debates to participate in those 19 debates during the republican primaries. Participate in the 19 debates in the republican primaries. The president had not done it in four years. That works to governor romneys benefit. Done it innt hadnt four years. That is an interesting observation and it leads to my next question, which is in this campaign, what do you think has had more of an impact, the debates or Campaign Advertising<