Presidential Debate #1: A Recap

On Thursday, the first of three scheduled debates between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry will take place at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The 90-minute debate will focus on foreign policy and homeland security and will be important for both candidates in different ways. For President Bush it will be another chance to defend his handlings of September 11th and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For Senator Kerry, it will be an opportunity to clearly define his stands and address his plans for the war and security if elected. We'll recap last night's debate, evaluate how the candidates did, and look at the issues that were raised and at damage control for the next several weeks. Laura's guests are Dante Scala, Associate Professor of Politics at St. Anselm College and research fellow at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Allan Stam, associate professor of government at Dartmouth and visiting associate professor of government at Harvard. He's an expert in international relations and issues surrounding war. He's also a captain in the Army Reserves and former member of the Special Forces.