Long-awaited sparks fly between Obama, McCain during debate - 26 Days To Go
October 9, 2008 ::Sen. John McCain’s request for a town hall meeting was finally granted in the second presidential debate.
The debate was held Tuesday at Belmont University in Nashville.
This was the only presidential debate presented in town hall format.
Voters submitted thousands of questions for the debate, and moderator Tom Brokaw chose about 13 of these questions to read to McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.
While many of the questions were asked by audience members, Rene McEldowney, an associate professor of political science, said the debate was not conducted in real town hall format.
“In other town hall meetings there are usually more questions from the audience,” McEldowney said. “Brokaw asked a lot of questions.”
Stephen Hoar, a sophomore in English, liked the format.
“I thought the style was cool, because you got to see a lot of the opinions and concerns of the American public,” Hoar said.
Damon Lawrence, a freshman in business management, said Brokaw was a great choice for moderator.


