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The second US presidential debate is bound to be another interesting moment on the race to the White House. While the first debate was on foreign policy, and the third will be on the country's failing economy, this debate will have a town hall meeting style. 

Over the last several months, American have sent in questions , through video, email and letters to Commission on Presidential Debates. The commission will then pick questions that address any issues that citizens feel are pertinent to the elections. 

 

The US economy has for the last several weeks occupied national political debate and media coverage. So it will be interesting to see the kind of questions that people will send in, and the response of the presidential candidates.

Current polls have Illinois Senator Barack Obama leading, and Senator John McCain has pulled out of Michigan, a Democrat favorite; 50 to 41 percent according to the Pew Research Center. A Gallup poll has Obama leading 50 to 42 percent "in the 10th straight day in which Obama has held a statistically significant lead".

In toss-up states, that are considered "purple", such as Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Obama is also taking the lead.

Although Minnesota is generally a Democrat leaning state, past polls have had Obama and McCain competing head to head for voters. However, a poll released by a local paper, the Star Tribune, shows Obama leading by 18 points! Critics have called this poll (55-37 per cent) an outlier, it nonetheless, spells trouble for the Arizona senator, McCain.

In Ohio, Obama has a seven percent lead: 49% to McCain's 42%. Ohio is key to the McCain campaign, as in the past, no republican has won the US elections without carrying Ohio. 

In other news, next week's Newsweek discusses why Sarah Palin is not fit to be Vice President , and a heartbeat away from the US presidency. The article argues that the last month has demonstrated that the Alaskan Governor's lacks a depth of perception on national politics.

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I will try and look for a debate party, and wireless internet, so that I can liveblog the debate from there.

Last week, we had trouble with our liveblog software. The problem has since been fixed, so there will be no cap on the number of people who can live-chat during the debate.

You can set a reminder below. See you then! Drop me an email should any problems arise: nekessa@kenyaimagine.com .