President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will take the stage on Wednesday night for their first debate as the presidential race reaches its final stage.

The two candidates will speak about domestic policy issues at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Denver. Jim Lehrer, executive editor of PBS NewsHour, will moderate the debate.

The debates give students a unique opportunity to see both candidates together on the same stage and it is important that they take advantage of this, said Margaret Thompson, an associate professor of history and political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

“It’s their future. It may be the first time voting for many students,” she said. “This first debate is on domestic policy and topics like jobs and education are very relevant to students.”

The economy has been a big issue for much of the election and will remain a focus of the first debate. During the debate, Romney will look to highlight Obama’s past economic record while Obama will point out the lack of specificity in many of Romney’s economic plans. Obama will also bring up the state the country was in after he inherited the White House from the Republicans in 2008, Thompson said.

While the debate in general will cover domestic politics, there are diverse topics that can be discussed, Kristi Andersen, a political science professor at Maxwell, said in an email. She said she expects health care reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the deficit and Medicare will all be discussed.

In general, Romney will need to do three things in order to have a successful debate, Thompson said. He will need to “show up and look presidential,” be articulate and substantive in his responses and show empathy with the circumstances of ordinary Americans, Thompson said.

In addition to providing more details on his positions, Romney will need to offer an alternative to the Affordable Care Act, Andersen said.

The debate will provide challenges for the president as well.

Obama will need to be articulate and substantive without seeming too academic, show a sense of humor and emphasize his connection and empathy with ordinary Americans, Thompson said.

“Obama needs to walk a fine line between defending his record and acknowledging that there are still a lot of problems with the economy,” Andersen said.

With a little more than a month until the election, Romney and Obama are still close in the polls. Obama is slightly ahead of Romney, 49.0 percent to 45.7 percent, in an average of national polls, according to RealClearPolitics.com, a website that tracks election polls.

But the first debate will likely have little effect on these polls, Thompson said.

“There are very few undecided voters left and even less in the swing states,” she said. “Not many voters are going to change their mind at this point.”

In many of the swing states, where the candidates have been campaigning the most, people have already started to vote, she said.

In general, debates do not usually have a significant effect on an election unless either candidate makes a big mistake, and Thompson said she doesn’t think that will occur in this debate.

And while political science research shows that debates don’t have a big effect on election outcomes, they do influence media stories, Andersen said. This will help shape the campaign narrative for the next few days.

Published on October 3, 2012 at 3:32 am

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