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Voters headline town hall-style debates

The every-four-years ritual of a national "town hall" style debate began as a nerve-racking experiment in live television. Moderator Carole Simpson was so nervous about turning over the microphone to regular folks and their questions that she spent days mapping out the presidential candidates and their issues on "a zillion...

By Connie Cass | Updated on October 15, 2012
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama wave during the first presidential debate in Denver. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The every-four-years ritual of a national “town hall” style debate began as a nerve-racking experiment in live television. Moderator Carole Simpson was so nervous about turning over the microphone to regular folks and their questions that she spent days mapping out the presidential candidates and their issues on “a zillion 3-by-5 cards,” in case she had to take over the questioning herself.

“I was afraid these undecided voters from Richmond, Va., might get into this huge TV studio where they’d be seen by millions of people and they’d just freeze,” the former ABC journalist recalls. “I wanted to be prepared.”

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