Debates took place prior to and during the 2008 Democratic primaries. The debates began on April 26, 2007, in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Election 2008

The 2008 United States presidential election was November 4, 2008. The debates, campaigns, primaries, and conventions occurred several months before Election Day. The new president and vice president were sworn on January 20, 2009. It was the first presidential election lacking an incumbent president or vice president since 1952, and was projected to be the largest and most expensive election in U.S. history.

2008 Democratic candidates

Already, eight Democrats had formally filed papers with the Federal Election Commission, making them formal candidates for the Democratic Nomination and the Presidency. The candidates who attracted the most media attention included Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards. Other candidates included Dennis Kucinich, who withdrew, and Mike Gravel, before he defected to the Libertarian Party. Tom Vilsack, one of the earliest candidates to announce a campaign for president, withdrew before participating in any debates. Christopher Dodd and Joe Biden dropped out of the race following the Iowa caucuses, and Bill Richardson dropped out after the New Hampshire primary.

Candidates in debate Senator Barack Obama - Illinois.

Withdrawn candidates Senator Chris Dodd - Connecticut (withdrew January 3, 2008) Senator Joe Biden - Delaware (withdrew January 3, 2008) Governor Bill Richardson - New Mexico (withdrew January 9, 2008) Congressman Dennis Kucinich - Ohio (withdrew January 24, 2008) Senator John Edwards - North Carolina (withdrew January 30, 2008) link dead 2008-03-11 Senator Mike Gravel - Alaska (withdrew from Democratic Party March 25, 2008) Senator Hillary Clinton - New York (withdrew June 7, 2008)

Debate table Key: denotes candidate participated in debate; denotes candidate was not invited; denotes candidate absent but was invited; denotes candidate was out of the race. + Debates among candidates for the 2008 Democratic Party U.S. presidential nomination Details InviteesNo. Date Place Broadcaster Sen. Biden Sen. Clinton Sen. Dodd Sen. Edwards Sen. Gravel Rep. Kucinich Sen. Obama Gov. Richardson1April 26, 2007Orangeburg, South CarolinaMSNBC2June 3, 2007Goffstown, New HampshireCNN3June 28, 2007Washington, D.C.PBS4July 12, 2007Detroit, Michigannone5July 23, 2007Charleston, South CarolinaCNN / YouTube6August 4, 2007Chicago, Illinoisnone7August 7, 2007Chicago, IllinoisMSNBC8August 9, 2007Los Angeles, CaliforniaLogo9August 19, 2007Des Moines, IowaABC10September 9, 2007Coral Gables, FloridaUnivision11September 12, 2007online-onlynone12September 20, 2007Davenport, IowaPBS13September 26, 2007Hanover, New HampshireMSNBC14October 30, 2007Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaMSNBC15November 15, 2007Las Vegas, NevadaCNN16December 4, 2007Des Moines, Iowanone (radio only, NPR)17December 13, 2007Johnston, IowaCNN, Fox News Channel, IPTV, MSNBC18January 5, 2008Goffstown, New HampshireABC19January 15, 2008Las Vegas, NevadaMSNBC20January 21, 2008Myrtle Beach, South CarolinaCNN21January 31, 2008Hollywood, CaliforniaCNN22February 2, 2008New York, New YorkMTV23February 21, 2008Austin, TexasCNN24February 26, 2008Cleveland, OhioMSNBC25April 13, 2008Grantham, PennsylvaniaCNN26April 16, 2008Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaABC Key: denotes candidate participated in debate; denotes candidate was not invited; denotes candidate absent but was invited; denotes candidate was out of the race.

Debates

April 26, 2007 – Orangeburg, South Carolina, South Carolina State University Candidate Polls Clinton 35.2% Obama 25.5%

The first Democratic debate was in the evening of April 26, 2007, in Orangeburg, South Carolina, at South Carolina State University. State party chairman Joe Erwin said that he chose South Carolina State because it is a historically black college, noting that African Americans have been the "most loyal" Democrats in the state.S.C. Democratic Chairman Says Debate Location Carefully Chosen, WYFF, Apr. 25, 2007 The debate was 90 minutes, with a 60-second time limit for answers, and no opening or closing statements. It was broadcast via cable television and online video streaming by MSNBC.Democrats seek to seize initiative on Iraq, NBC News, Apr. 27, 2007 The debate was moderated by Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News.

The Iraq War was the major topic of the discussion, and all of the candidates strongly criticized President George W. Bush. Although, some public fanfare occurred initially, pundits considered the debate unspectacular, and no single "breakout" candidate was identified.No Breakout Candidate at Democratic Debate, ABC News, Apr. 26, 2007

A poll of 403 South Carolinians who watched the debate indicated a belief that Obama won the debate, with support of 31% compared to Clinton's 24%.Who Won? S.C. Democratic Debate Poll Results, WYFF, Apr. 26, 2007 However, journalists Tom Baldwin, of The Times, and Ewen MacAskill, of The Guardian, both reported that Clinton appeared to retain her frontrunner status.Clinton edges ahead after first Democratic debate, The Times, Apr. 27, 2007; Hillary Clinton shines in Democratic candidates' debate, Ewen MacAskill, The Guardian, Apr. 27, 2007 Political pundits such as Chris Matthews, Howard Fineman, Keith Olbermann and Joe Scarborough declared Clinton the most "presidential", stating that her appearance and answers were: succinct, within the time limit, unambiguous and thorough.

The opinions of pundits varied in regard to the third-polled candidate, Former Senator John Edwards (D-NC), with some asserting that his performance was weak and not akin to the energetic performance that he portrayed during his first election campaign in 2003.

MSNBC Transcript

June 3, 2007 – CNN 7 pm EDT – Goffstown, New Hampshire, Saint Anselm College WMUR-TV, CNN and the New Hampshire Union Leader hosted both Democratic and Republican debates in the Manchester, New Hampshire area, at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown. The Democratic debate was Sunday, June 3, started at 7 p.m. EDT, was commercial free and lasted two hours. The moderator was Wolf Blitzer, host of Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer and The Situation Room.Union Leader – Primary calendar , New Hampshire Union Leader, Apr. 12, 2007 Blitzer was joined by Tom Fahey of the New Hampshire Union Leader and Scott Spradling from the local television station WMUR.

The first half of the debate was a directed question-and-answer session, with candidates questioned while standing at the podiums, as in the first debate, responding to questions from Fahey and Spradling. Participating candidates were Obama, Edwards, Clinton, Kucinich, Gravel, Dodd, Richardson and Biden.

For the second half of the debate, the candidates sat in chairs while New Hampshire live audience members—mostly undecided Democratic and independent voters—asked questions that were then deflected by Blitzer to specific candidates.

June 28, 2007 – PBS – Washington, D.C., Howard University

PBS held and televised a debate at Howard University, a historically black college. The moderator was Tavis Smiley and all eight candidates discussed a range of topics, including education, poverty, unemployment, racial discrimination, and health in the black community.

July 12, 2007 – Detroit, Michigan Attended by all eight candidates, this candidate forum was held during the NAACP convention. An on-stage conversation between Edwards and Clinton was overheard—due to activated microphones—in which they talked about eventually ceasing the participation of non-frontrunner candidates in future debates.

July 23, 2007 – CNN – Charleston, South Carolina, The Citadel military college

CNN and YouTube held this debate on the campus of The Citadel. All questions were selected from, and posed as videos submitted via, YouTube by members of the public; the debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper of Anderson Cooper 360. YouTube and Google streamed the event live.The Democratic Party | DNC Announces Dates, Media Sponsors and Locations for Sanctioned Debates It was also simulcast on CNN en Español. CFR Transcript CNN Transcript CNN Video Video with Closed Caption from Taudiobook.com

August 4, 2007 – Chicago, Illinois The Yearly Kos Presidential Leadership Forum was an informal discussion attended by seven of the eight presidential candidates, with Biden not attending due to votes in Congress. New York Times Magazine writer Matt Bai, DailyKos Contributing Editor /Fellow Joan McCarter and author and blogger Jeffrey Feldman moderated. The debate was broken down into Domestic Policy, Foreign Policy, and Philosophy and Leadership. Candidates were allotted 90 seconds for each question with 45 second rebuttals, although the time limits were not strictly enforced. After the debate, breakout sessions were held where convention goers could question each candidate individually. YearlyKos Video

August 7, 2007 – Chicago, Illinois

Candidate Polls Clinton 41.0% Obama 22.2%

The AFL–CIO Working Families Vote Presidential Forum was held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois in front of approximately 15,000 union members and their families. The questions in the debate were to be used to determine if and whom the AFL–CIO would endorse in the Democratic primary. MSNBC host Keith Olbermann hosted the debate, which featured seven of the candidates. Mike Gravel was excluded because he failed to submit a written questionnaire by the August 6 deadline. Gravel claimed that the questionnaire "fell through the cracks" and requested to be invited to the debate anyway, which was rejected by the AFL–CIO. Questionnaires were also sent to Republicans but no candidates responded. CFR Transcript Chicago Sun-Times Transcript New York Times Transcript MSNBC Video Video with Closed Caption

August 9, 2007 – Los Angeles, California

LGBT network Logo hosted this debate focusing on LGBT issues, moderated by Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese and singer Melissa Etheridge. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel participated. Mike Gravel was originally to be excluded from this debate, it being cited that his campaign had not raised enough money to qualify for participation. Rallying from Gravel's supporters reversed this decision. Dodd and Biden both stated scheduling conflicts prevented them from attending. Logo invited the Republicans presidential candidates to a similar debate, but all the candidates declined.365Gay.com Newscenter Staff & Wires. GOP Candidates In New Debate, But Reject Gay Invite , 365gay.com (August 5, 2007). Retrieved on September 9, 2007. Chicago Sun-Times Transcript The Visible Vote '08 Video

August 19, 2007 – Des Moines, Iowa

ABC News in conjunction with the Iowa Democratic Party held a debate streamed on This Week moderated by George Stephanopoulos.www.ovaloffice2008.com ABC has been accused of spinning the results of the debate due to extreme differences in the time allotted to candidates. ABC Transcript ABC Video (incomplete, edited, and out of chronological order) Video with Closed Caption

September 9, 2007 – Coral Gables, Florida, University of Miami Univision hosted a forum, Destino 2008, in Spanish at the University of Miami's Bank United Center in Coral Gables, Florida and moderated by Univision's anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas.Candidatos presidenciales en Univision : Un debate en español para los hispanos – Foros y Debates Presidenciales – Elecciones 2008 Joe Biden did not participate in the debate.

Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd objected to the debate being conducted in English with simultaneous translation in Spanish. Both are fluent in Spanish but it was perceived to cause an unfair advantage for the two. The TV audience of 2.2 million was also the debate season's youngest, at an average of 36 years old. Official web site Transcript of debate

September 12, 2007