[Banfield:] A roll of the eyes and a glance of the watch and a one- liner that can make headlines for weeks and months and sometimes decades. That's why presidential debates are absolute must-see TV. You're a voter, so you should be watching this stuff. It's also why the world is watching the University of Denver because it's the site of tomorrow night's face-off between President Barack Obama and his challenger, Governor Mitt Romney. CNN's political director, Mark Preston, could not wait. He's already there in Denver.
[Mark Preston, Cnn Political Director:] Well, Ashleigh, let's talk about the bullet points, what viewers should expect to see tomorrow. Six different segments during this debate, three segments focusing on the economy, which should come as no surprise. Issue number one since 2008. So, one presidential election ago. Talking about health care, which has become a big issue over the past couple of years, with President Obama passing what is now known as Obama-care, and Mitt Romney saying he will repeal that. In addition to that, they're going to spend a segment talking about the role of government, also talking about governing, which is interesting because a lot of this campaign is Mitt Romney and Barack Obama talking about how they would work in Washington. And as we know, the American public are so frustrated right now with how Washington is operating or is not operating at all. So there's a lot on the line for Mitt Romney, Barack Obama tomorrow night. Tens of millions of people will be watching. Of course, a lot here on CNN. There is over 3,000 journalists who are actually credentialed to come and cover this debate. Ashleigh, 700 of them are from other countries. So the whole world will be watching.
[Banfield:] And Jim Lehrer is the moderator for debate number one. Technically, how long do the candidates get to answer the questions, because some candidates are pretty long-winded?
[Preston:] They are, and that's going to be the struggle and one of the challenges for the moderator tomorrow as well as the other debate moderators, including Candy Crowley, who will be moderating a debate later this month. 30 seconds to about a minute to answer a question. And of course there's a rebuttal. If we do see sharp exchange back and forth, sometimes the train can get off the track and the candidates tend to go after that. That's the kind of must-see TV that people are looking for. We'd rather see the candidates engage one another, challenge one another on the issues. But 90 minutes, that's a lot of time for these candidates to try to explain why they should be the president and why voters should vote for them come November.
[Banfield:] So these guys are busy. Anybody who has ever worked on a campaign knows it is one of the most grueling things the human body can go through other than war. And to some, it is like that. Then they have to take a deep breath and do these celebrations amid doing the campaigning and ahead go head-to-head. And there's study, Mark Preston, that's come out about eye blinking. Something called the blink index. It may sound silly, but it's actually been able to predict who the winner of the debate is going to be. What on earth is this?
[Preston:] Well, you know, it was a story in "USA Today," this study that the candidate that blinks the most loses, you know. There's also this long-standing tradition about how the Washington Redskins, whether they win or lose depends upon whether the incumbent president will win or lose in November. It's an interesting concept. I don't think there's much to it. Though I do have to say this, though, body language is extremely important as you said at the top, George H.W. Bush, back in 1992, was seen looking at his watch when one of the audience members was asking a question. That was terrible for him. It looked like he didn't care about the audience member or the concerns that audience member had. So body language will be extremely important. So when you look at these camera angles being shown tomorrow night, not only listening to the words but see how the candidates react because that will be a very, very important part of how they are determined about who won or lost tomorrow night Ashleigh?
[Banfield:] President Obama mentioned that the homework is a drag. And I think we all agree that homework is a drag. When do they find time for the kind of homework they have to do? And is this really the job of the campaign and debate preppers to make sure they have absolutely everything they need? Because they're not really watching a lot of TV right now.
[Preston:] Well, no. But, of course, you know, I think my children and your children would agree, homework is a drag. Who likes doing it? But it's so important they do focus on it. In fact, President Obama had to cancel some of his sessions, at least that's what we're told about his campaign, because he had to focus on some of the issues he had to deal with, including Libya. But the bottom line is it's very important they focus on it. We've seen the candidates doing it. They're not on the campaign trail, they're leaving that up to the vice presidential candidates to do that for them, Ashleigh.
[Banfield:] The president definitely got the vote of my 6-year-old if he could vote on that comment about the homework.
[Preston:] Thank you, Ashleigh.
[Banfield:] Remember here, you can watch the first debate right here. That's presidential debate on CNN. Begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern with our coverage. And if you don't have a TV nearby, you can watch it streaming live on CNN.com.