June 18, 2013
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Article Photos: Eyes are on the voters in town hall-style debates
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FILE - In this Oct. 15, 1992, file photo President George H.W. Bush looks at his watch during the 1992 presidential campaign debate with other candidates, Independent Ross Perot, top, and Democrat Bill Clinton, not shown, at the University of Richmond, Va. The “town hall” style presidential debates began 20 years ago as a nerve-racking experiment in live television. Moderator Carole Simpson was so nervous about turning over the microphone to regular folks that she spent days mapping out the presidential candidates and their issues on 3-by 5-cards, just in case. Viewers want the candidates to show respect for those voters in the room, who stand in proxy for all Americans. Bush was thrown by a women's oddly and even worse just as she began her question, TV cameras caught Bush checking his watch. That gesture would be replayed over and again as evidence that the president was indifferent and out of touch. “I took a huge hit,” Bush said years later. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)
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