March 19 GOP debate details released from Oregon Public Broadcasting

The seemingly final GOP primary debate is scheduled for March 19 and organizers released the details a few days ago outlining the format and moderators. This debate will be sponsored by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), The Washington Times and PBS/NPR nationwide. It will take place in Portland, Oregon at the OPB headquarters.

Air Time: Monday, March 19 at 9pm ET on PBS Television and NPR Radio

Participants: Still awaiting campaign responses to invitations

Press release from OPB:

Plans Moving Forward for Oregon Republican Presidential Debate Moderators, format selected for March 19th Oregon Presidential Debate Portland, OR – Ray Suarez, Senior Correspondent for PBS NewsHour, Ralph Hallow, Chief Political Correspondent from the Washington Times, have been selected to moderate the Oregon Republican Presidential Debate, on March 19, 2012 6:00 PM PST (9 PM EST), Oregon Republican Party Chairman Allen Alley announced today. Invitations to the debate, which is sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, have been sent to the candidates; responses are pending.

The leading candidates vying for the Republican Presidential nomination will have an opportunity to discuss the issues in a live, 90-minute broadcast debate. The Oregon Debate will air live on PBS and NPR stations nationwide and can be heard on Voice of America and Armed Forces Radio and Television worldwide. PBS stations are making this program available to Hispanic audiences through closed captioning and live language translation on a secondary audio channel. This debate is a production of Oregon Public Broadcasting with the Washington Times, organized by the Oregon Republican Party, and sanctioned by the Republican National Committee.

The setting for this 90-minute debate is a round table with Suarez and Hallow and the candidates, in front of an audience of approximately 120. The debate format is designed to create an intimate conversation for an in-depth discussion of the issues.

I was skeptical this debate would end up taking place but now only 10 days away, it looks like it could be an informative, entertaining broadcast given the current state of the race.