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With 10 networks now reporting adjusted ratings for the night, the grand total of linear telecasts is 68.8 million viewers. That's off roughly 18 percent from the record-breaking haul of the first showdown.

During a town-hall-style event in New Hampshire on Thursday night, Donald J. Trump made a passing remark about the first presidential debate last week and about the audio equipment that he has blamed for his less-than-stellar performance.

Three hopefuls for Montana’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives sparred in Great Falls last night, in their last debate before election day.

The modern town hall presidential debate, like its predecessor, was built on informal, populist discourse that invites everyone to the table, even those who perhaps shouldn’t be given the mic.

In their only scheduled debate before election day, the two Democrats vying for California’s open U.S. Senate seat clashed as much over personal style as policies in what was a frenzied and often caustic event compared with a campaign that has seemed to amble through a long, sleepy few months.

The first and last vice presidential debate of 2016 was not just a clash of candidates, but a clash of realities — and of two theories about how media and politics work.

Half the questions will come from an audience of undecided voters, selected to be there by Gallup.

But viewers who do tune in could be rewarded with a clearer sense of the differences between the two parties than could be gleaned from the Clinton-Trump debate.

By the time Sunday’s debate convenes at Washington University, an army of news folk numbering as many as 2,000 will be in place — a number that’s a testament both to the high intrigue surrounding this year’s contest, and the changing media landscape.

Donald Trump's microphone was temporarily silenced during a campaign rally Monday, which he jokingly linked to the sound problems he faced during last week's presidential debate.

There’ll be no Donald Trump-style invective. No Bernie Sanders ideological fireworks. No crowded field of GOP contenders vying to outdo each other for one good sound bite or memorable attack. Just two conventional pols reverting to form.

Tuesday night’s debate is between the No. 2’s — but it will be all about the No. 1’s.