ABC News foreign affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz
The moderator of the vice-presidential debate Oct. 11 at Centre College will be one of two women hosting the televised events this fall.
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday that ABC News foreign affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz has been chosen.
“I’m looking forward to the debate, and I’m just really honored to be chosen,” Raddatz said by phone Monday afternoon.
Prior to being named senior foreign affairs correspondent for ABC News in 2008, Raddatz was White House correspondent during the last term of PresidentGeorge W. Bush's administration, according to her biography at abcnews.com.
She reported on the Pentagon — a beat she also covered for National Public Radio before joining ABC in 1999 — and earned a Peabody Award and an Emmy for her coverage of the State Department after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the the World Trade Center.
Raddatz frequently reported from warzones in Iraq and Afghanistan, breaking the news that al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been killed. Her bestselling book “The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family” chronicled the story of what happened to soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division and their families before their involvement in a firefight in Iraq’s Sadr City.
"We look forward to welcoming the candidates and debate moderator Martha Raddatz to campus on 10/11/12, and we are busily preparing for their arrival,” said Centre Communication Director Michael Strysick. “Dan Rather said of our efforts in 2000, 'Centre put on a five-star debate,' and we plan to do the same again in 2012."
There have been female moderators in the past for both ends of the ticket — Gwen Ifill of PBS has asked the questions of vice-presidential candidates during the last two election cycles — but it had been 20 years since a woman was picked for one of the presidential debates.
CNN’s Candy Crowley will moderate one of three October debates between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday. Jim Lehrer of PBS and Bob Schieffer of CBS News will moderate the other two debates.
