US Democrats to Hold First Presidential Debate

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, May 04, 2003

US Democrats to Hold First Presidential Debate

The nine Democratic presidential contenders will hold the first debate in South Carolina on Saturday night, hoping to make an early impression among the voters.

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The nine Democratic presidential contenders will hold the first debate in South Carolina on Saturday night, hoping to make an early impression among the voters.

The 90-minute debate, to be held on the campus of the University of South Carolina, will give the contenders a chance toquestion each other and participate in an open roundtable discussion.

The debate, sponsored by ABC News, will not be televised live nationally. But it will be taped for airing later on nearly 50 ABCaffiliates around the country and will also be broadcast four times on Sunday by C-SPAN.

South Carolina Democrats will play a central role in helping Democrats pick a nominee next year to challenge President George W.Bush, who is expected to seek a reelection in 2004.

The debate, the earliest ever in a presidential campaign, was conceived by state Democratic leaders after they moved up the primary to Feb. 3, 2004, one week after New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation contest.

South Carolina is a state with a large African-American population, who local analysts believe could account for more than40 percent of the primary vote.

The nine contenders are Senators Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Bob Graham of Florida, John Kerry of Massachusetts, John Edwards of North Carolina, Representative Richard Gephardt ofMissouri, Representative Dennis J. Jucinich of Ohio, Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, former Senator and former ambassador Carol Moseley Braun and New York activist Al Sharpton.

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