The final Presidential Debate of the 2008 election happens tonight at Hoftstra University.  The Chronicle of Higher education has an interesting piece on the machinations required to host a debate of this magnitude.  It is so on!

Past Presidential Debates of note...

Lincoln-Douglas (1858) --  Apparently this series of seven unmoderated debates featured some serious policy smackdown that was highlighted by a level of eloquence sadly lacking in modern political discourse.  Personally I'd like to see McCain and Obama go at in a similar debate format.  Recommended reading Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America by Allen C. Guelzo.   

Nixon-Kennedy (1960) -- Widely hailed as the Great Debate, the first televised presidential debate had an immediate impact on voting Americans, a legacy that continues today.  My parents probably watched it while taking turns jiggling the rabbit ears on their black-and-white 13' TV set and/ or climbing on the roof to adjust the antennae.  Thankfully, the Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) has the video available for those of us who missed out. 

Even better, MBC has the footage of EVERY presidential debate since 1960.  Re-live the glory of our very own Professor John Anderson's closing remarks at the first 1980 presidential debate when he ran as an Independent against Carter and Reagan.