Plot Synopsis

During each four-year election cycle for United States President, the candidates for major parties face-off in a series of debates in the weeks leading up to Election Day. While the presidential candidates typically engage in multiple debates, the candidates for vice president participate in a single debate. In the first vice presidential debate, Senators Walter Mondale (D-MN) and Bob Dole (R-KS) debated at the Alley Theatre in Houston, TX, on Friday, October 15, 1976, in an event televised by all three major TV networks and PBS. James Hoge, editor of "Chicago Sun-Times," moderated, while NBC's Marilyn Berger, Hal Bruno of "Newsweek," and the AP's Walter Mears served on the panel for the debate. In 1980 the vice presidential candidates did not debate, but VP candidates have once debated each other in each election cycle since 1984.
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On Tuesday, October 4, 2016 at 9pm ET/6pm PT, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS and multiple cable news networks debuted a live broadcast of the only debate between candidates for U.S. Vice President in the 2016 general election. Moderated by CBS News' Elaine Quijano at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, the debate between Democratic nominee Senator Tim Kaine and Republican nominee Governor Mike Pence will last approximately 90 minutes (commercial free). According to CBS News, "the commission organizing the debates said the time will be divided into nine segments with about 10 minutes of discussion on each topic, and noted that the moderator alone will determine the questions to be asked." CBS News added that Quijano is "the first anchor of a digital network to moderate a national debate in a general election campaign."