Presidential Debate | featured news

Barack Obama is cruising into the presidential debates with momentum on his side, yet he's still struggling to revive the passion and excitement that propelled him to the White House. Mitt Romney is grasping for his last, best chance to reboot his campaign after a disastrous September.

A month before the closing arguments of a campaign traditionally would be made, a steady stream of voters walked into election offices across Iowa on Thursday to cast their ballots.

With just 46 days to go, the presidential race has entered the hammer-and-tongs phase. From here on, it’s a day-to-day messaging war, with President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney taking dramatically different views on how the fall campaign conversation should be framed.

On long flights to swing states in the West and late nights at the White House after his children have gone to bed, President Barack Obama is cramming like a student for a test that could determine his political future.

A group of black journalists says it is disappointed in the lack of ethnic diversity among the people chosen to moderate presidential debates.

CNN's Candy Crowley has been named a moderator of a presidential debates this fall, marking the first time in 20 years that a woman will be posing the questions. The Commission on Presidential Debates also announced Jim Lehrer of PBS, Bob Schieffer of CBS News and Martha Raddatz of ABC News as debate moderators.

Newt Gingrich was hammered by TV ads, in interviews and on the debate stage Thursday as his GOP rivals sought to slow his momentum.

Seven GOP presidential candidates will meet for their final debate of the year, in their last chance to make an impression before the Iowa caucuses. ...

Donald Trump withdrew Tuesday as the moderator of a debate planned for later this month in Iowa, citing his interest in possibly still running for president as an independent. Trump pulled out of a debate he had planned to host along with the conservative magazine Newsmax, scheduled for Dec. 27, just days before the Iowa caucuses. All the GOP presidential candidates save for Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum said they would not participate.

The newest Republican front-runner parries attacks on his character, his record and his ideas, including recent statements about Palestinians. In a freewheeling clash that reflected the heightened stakes in the 2012 presidential contest, GOP front-runner Newt Gingrich parried relentless attacks on his ideas, character and record from rival candidates in a televised debate Saturday night.