2012 Presidential Debate Schedule

The dates and venues have been announced for the 2012 Presidential debates between President Obama and the eventual GOP nominee. The date for the Vice Presidential debate has also been announced.

Ticketing for the 2012 general election debates is controlled by the Commission on Presidential Debates and tickets will be extremely limited. The majority of tickets are distributed to university students and faculty through a lottery system with the remaining tickets going to friends and families of the campaigns and the media.

October 3, 2012	Air Time TBD Location: University of Denver in Denver, Colorado Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates Participants: President Obama and the GOP Presidential nominee
October 11, 2012 Vice Presidential	Air Time TBD Location: Centre College in Danville, Kentucky Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates Participants: Vice President Biden and the GOP Vice Presidential nominee
October 16, 2012	Air Time TBD Location: Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates Participants: President Obama and the GOP Presidential nominee
October 22, 2012	Air Time TBD Location: Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates Participants: President Obama and the GOP Presidential nominee Commission on Presidential Debates Announces Sites, Dates, and Candidate Selection Criteria for 2012 General Election Oct 31, 2011   Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., and Michael D. McCurry, co-chairmen of the non-partisan, non-profit Commission on Presidential Debates ("CPD") today announced sites and dates for three presidential and one vice presidential debates during the 2012 general election.  The dates and sites are: First presidential debate: Wednesday, October 3 University of Denver, Denver, CO Vice presidential debate: Thursday, October 11 Centre College, Danville, KY Second presidential debate (town meeting format): Tuesday, October 16 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY Third presidential debate: Monday, October22 Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL Washington University in St. Louis, MO will serve as the backup site.  The CPD has asked Dominican University to lead an international project which will be announced early in 2012. The Commission also released the 2012 Candidate Selection Criteria, which will be used to determine who is invited to participate in the general election debates.  In addition to being Constitutionally eligible, candidates must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning a majority vote in the Electoral College, and have a level of support of at least 15% (fifteen percent) of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations' most recent publicly-reported results at the time of the determination.  The Gallup Organization will advise the CPD in the application of its Criteria to polling data as it did in 2000, 2004, and 2008. The CPD will announce formats for the four debates in the first part of 2012, as well as plans for Internet-based initiatives.  Moderators for the debates will be chosen in the summer of 2012. The CPD was established in 1987 and sponsored all presidential and vice presidential general election debates since 1988.  More information can be found at www.debates.org.