As the campaign reached its climax, the Commission on Presidential Debates proposed four debates-three presidential contests and a single contest between the vice presidential candidates. The bipartisan commission, which had been create to negotiate the logistics of the debates, recommended a single-moderator format. This format, the commission believed, would promote more substantive answer by allowing follow-up questions from the moderator while simultaneously creating the possibility of direct confrontation between the candidates. The Clinton campaign readily agreed to the scheme proposed by the commission, but the Bush campaign was unwilling to accept this plan. Apparently believing that agreeing to debate too early would freeze any momentum toward Bush while also fearing that the format would work to Clinton’s advantage, the Bush campaign summarily rejected the commission’s recommendations. The inability to agree on a format forced the cancellation of the place in 1992. Finally, after months of posturing, the Bush and Clinton campaigns agreed to a series of debates featuring a variety of formats and invited Ross Perot to participate. Given the competing interests, it is not surprising that the presidential debates held in 1992 reflected a series of compromises. One compromise was the second debate, scheduled for Richmond, Virginia, which featured a town hall format. Under this format, an audience composed of undecided voters would symbolically represent the body politic as they engaged the candidates in a discussion of the issues. The format was unique, and it is doubtful that the Richmond town hall would have occurred were it not for the unusual juxtaposition of politicians, campaigns, and events….