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TOPSHOT – Republican candidate Donald Trump gestures as Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton looks on during the final presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 19, 2016. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

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TOPSHOT – Republican candidate Donald Trump gestures as Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton looks on during the final presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 19, 2016. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP/AFP via Getty Images

We are on the eve of the presidential debate.

It is the second presidential campaign this season, but the first between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

There are many opinions about how the candidates will perform. But there are also many opinions about how the journalists moderating the debate should perform. Should they fact-check in real time? Cut off candidates who ramble or dodge questions?

This summer, Colorado news anchor Kyle Clark attracted a lot of attention by moderating a debate with six Republican candidates for Colorado's 4th Congressional District, including Lauren Boebert.

Clark received much praise, but also much criticism, for the way he conducted the debate: He checked the facts in real time and did not allow the candidates to evade his questions.

NPR's Mary Louis Kelly talks with Clark about the moderator's role in political debates and what he would ask the presidential candidates.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider the following: sign up for CConsider this+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

This episode was produced by Marc Rivers and Elena Burnett. Sound engineering was done by Neal Teavault. Editing was done by Jeanette Woods and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.