And Now, The Real 2008 Debates

They're a year away, but the upcoming 2008 presidential debates are drawing heated competition between cities and colleges eager to host one of the four planned events. Frank Fahrenkopf, cochair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, says that unlike in some past years, every region of the nation is well represented on the final list of 12 applicants, and some of the regular venues, like Washington University in St. Louis and North Carolina's Wake Forest University, might not win by default this time.

Really putting on the "heat," he says, is a collection of facilities and schools in New Orleans. Fahrenkopf says he hopes to announce the winners within weeks. "We are down to the short strokes now."

By Paul Bedard