Schieffer to moderate last presidential debate

updated 1:27 p.m. ET Oct. 12, 2008

NEW YORK - The presidential debate season that has chewed up its moderators comes to a close Wednesday when John McCain and Barack Obama meet for the third time, with CBS News' Bob Schieffer directing the discussion.

The veteran host of the Sunday morning TV political interview show "Face the Nation" won't telegraph what he will ask. But he said he will be seeking more details about their potential presidencies than have been evident so far.

"By now we've all heard their talking points," he said. "We've heard the general outlines of what they are talking about. The time has come to be a little more specific."

TV newspersons Jim Lehrer, Gwen Ifill and Tom Brokaw had great plans going into the debates they moderated, too. Each had their own frustrations.

Frustrations in earlier debates
Lehrer tried hard to get McCain and Obama to speak directly to the other when it was evident they did not want to.

During the vice presidential debate, Republican Sarah Palin took pride in not answering Ifill's questions. "She blew me off," a bemused Ifill said later.

The advantages of a town hall style meeting in which voters could directly ask questions of the candidates were muted in Brokaw's presidential debate. The longtime NBC newsman was spoofed by his own network's "Saturday Night Live" for overseeing a dry debate: "From this list of penetrating, insightful and provocative questions, I have chosen the eight least interesting," said Brokaw impersonator Chris Parnell.

The "SNL" skit's running gag was about debate rules with time so short that Brokaw cut off the contenders before they could answer a question.

"Why can't we have a debate that allows the candidates to go deeper into the issues and actually engage each other?" wondered Richard Greene, a public speaking coach and author of "Words That Shook the World: 100 Years of Unforgettable Speeches and Events." "At this point the moderator stands in the way and it's the fault of the campaigns for setting up these rules."

The two candidates will sit at the same table for the third debate, so close that they will be able to reach out and touch each other. Schieffer hopes this will encourage more interaction.

Getting the candidates to stay on point
He's not reluctant to press the men to stay on point.

"It will not embarrass me, if they go off in a different direction, to say `excuse me, could you focus on the question that I just asked?'" he said.

Good luck.

"He'll try," said Vincent Hutchings, a political science professor at the University of Michigan. "But they're pretty good at avoiding that."

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