Upcoming Debate

There are 36 days left until Election Day, and that means that every day matters. But the next five days matter more than most when it comes to the races final outcome.

Heres why: There are two seminal events in the campaign this week — the first presidential debate on Wednesday night and the release of the September jobs report on Friday morning.
Yes, we know — and have written about — the fact that the general election debates in a presidential race may be less than meets the eye....

We're nearly to the last of the many milestones that come along during presidential campaigns.

The primaries? Long over.

The conventions? All wrapped up.

Labor Day, when voters supposedly start paying attention? That was four weeks ago.

Now we turn to the debates, which begin Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET. The first setting: The University of Denver. The focus: Domestic policy. The moderator: Jim Lehrer from PBS-TV's NewsHour. The stars (just for the record, we suspect you know by now): President Obama and his Republica