Slated for Tuesday, October 16th, the second presidential debate will take place at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. This debate, though, will be different from the first one. Where in the first debate candidates stood at podiums and were asked prepared questions by moderator Jim Lehrer, the second debate will be town hall style, where voters will have the opportunity to ask the candidates questions face-to-face.

Coming off a lackluster performance in the first debate in Denver, the Obama campaign says the president has been preparing for the event for the last three days and says the incumbent is expected to deliver a more aggressive performance than he did during the first debate. An overly more aggressive performance, however, may lead to the negative voter response Biden’s performance caused last week during the vice presidential debate. Most voters saw Biden’s performance as rude, disrespectful, and contemptuous. According to a Fox News report today, top Democrats say the president needs to avoid a Biden-level of aggression. As such, a Biden-replay for Obama could further cost much-coveted undecided voters.

But, most analysts expect the president to give a better performance this time around, noting the town hall style is Obama’s comfort zone. In the first debate in Denver, the audience was not allowed to react to comments or questions (that is, no applause or jeers), preventing the president from knowing if his words were welcomed or not. Townhalls are conducive to public interactions, which is seemingly Obama’s forte, where he can play off the audience’s response. Beyond style, though, the president enters rough terrain. He faces voters in the midst of a limping economy, high unemployment, and concerns about national security, exacerbated by the Benghazi scandal.

According to a new poll released today, 47 percent of New Yorkers say they are worse off financially than they were four years ago, compared to 37 percent who say they’re better off. The 47 percent, though, may cause problems for the president. If these voters are in the audience Tuesday, they’ll likely press the president for a detailed plan for economic recovery and an explanation for what many see as failed economic policies. Since the debate will focus on both domestic and foreign policies, the president will doubtless have to face the Benghazi incident as well, which has been marked by a series of contradicting data and misinformation about the Sept. 11th attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya, which resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

The president, no doubt, will also have to reconcile Vice President Biden’s statement in last week’s debate, where Biden said they were never told the consulate in Benghazi requested more security. This contradicts recent testimony given by State Department Officials who said in the months and weeks leading up to the attack they had requested more security but were denied the request by the State Department. On damage control duty following the debate, Press Secretary Jay Carney said Biden was referring to himself and the president, not the State Department, suggesting the president and vice president were not aware of the security risks in Libya and the need for more security. Reports show state security at the Benghazi Consulate amounted to little more than Libyan security services that were not carrying bullets for their firearms, leaving the embassy vulnerable in a hostile environment.

In a recent interview with Breitbart News, Colonel David Hunt confirmed that Libyan security forces were not allowed to have bullets. Hunt goes on to say this measure was part of the new State Department Rules of Engagement. The “new rules,” Hunt says, were signed and approved by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the wake of last year’s fall of the Qaddafi Regime.

The president will have to address the Benghazi incident with more clarity and certainty than the White House has done in the past month.

“He’s going to be aggressive in making the case for his view of where we should go as a country, a country that’s built around a growing and thriving middle class,”

Obama Campaign Aid David Axelrod said about the upcoming debate. But, Romney Campaign Adviser Ed Gillespie challenges Axelrod’s optimism.

“Whatever political tactic the president settles on as being his best interest for the debate,”

he said,

“he can’t change his record and can’t change his policies.”

In her AP article this morning, Eyes Are on the Voters in Townhall Style Debates, Connie Cass quotes Debate Coach Brett O’Donnell on his view of the debate.

“This is one debate that belongs to the people,”

the former Romney coach said.

Tuesday’s event will be moderated by CNN’s Candy Crowley and feature questions from undecided voters selected from Gallop Survey Company, the Associated Press reported today.
The debate will begin at 9:00 P.M. The next and final debate will be October 22nd in Florida.