Gallup examines the ‘town hall’ debate format
A banner hangs from a light post as preparations continue ahead of the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. The town hall debate between Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is set for this Sunday. (Jeff Roberson/AP Photo)
NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller sits down for his weekly conversation with Gallup’s Frank Newport to talk about trends in U.S. opinion.
Frank Newport will be on hand Sunday for the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis. This week, he discusses the ‘town hall’ debate format .
Based on national data, the public would most like to see the candidates asked about the economy, jobs, national security and defense, dysfunctional government, race and immigration. In the first debate at Hofstra University, there was almost no discussion of either dysfunctional government or immigration.
Speaking of dysfunctional government, it is clear that the public in general wants less rather than more government effort to solve problems, although it’s certainly not an either/or situation.
Russia and Vladimir Putin were topics of intense focus in Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate. Criticizing both of — as Republican candidate Mike Pence did — fits pretty well with the American public.
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