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Gingrich, Cain To Square Off In 1-On-1 Debate

AUSTIN (AP) - Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain will meet in what's being billed as a "Lincoln-Douglas-style" debate sponsored by a Texas tea party group.

Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC President Julie Turner says the Republican presidential candidates will meet Nov. 5 outside Houston for a "one-on-one conversation" on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held in-depth debates while competing for Illinois' U.S. Senate seat in 1858.

Turner said Monday that Gingrich suggested the format after complaining that today's traditional debates were "sound-bite boxing matches." Her group knew Cain from his addressing a Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC event in April.

The group has contacted the campaigns of Texas Governor Rick Perry and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to see if they would participate in a separate Lincoln-Douglas-style debate.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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