US Election 2012 guide: the debates

President Barack Obama, left, speaking in Dubuque, Iowa and Mitt Romney in Wolfeboro Photo: Getty Images

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have only met twice, and each time very briefly. But they will get the chance to spend some quality together in October, when they face off for three 90-minute debates.

The debates are the centre-pieces of the US election 2012 campaign, giving voters a chance to compare the two candidates side-by-side. The contenders have to appear presidential and ready to be commander-in-chief but also relatable and appealing to the average voters. Most importantly, they need to avoid the kind of gaffes that can fatally undermine a presidential bid.

Both men are competent performers, each weathering a blizzard of debates to win their own primary campaigns. But when the stakes are that high, and the performance under such scrutiny, even experienced debaters can come unstuck.

In preparation for the three encounters both Romney and Obama will retreat to “debate camp” - a secluded site where their staff will drill them for every question and every counter-attack. The campaigns will build exact models of the debate stage and run through endless rehearsals until their candidates are as close to word-perfect as possible.

The Obama team has chosen Senator John Kerry, another Massachusetts multimillionaire, to play the part of Mitt Romney. Romney’s campaign has not yet announced who will be cast as the President in their rehearsals.

Their first meeting will be in Denver, Colorado, on October 3 where they will focus on domestic issues. Two weeks later they reconvene on October 16 in Hempstead, New York, for a town hall-style debate, where voters will get a chance to put their questions directly to the candidates. The final bout will take place on October 22, in Boca Raton, Florida, for a closing debate on foreign policy.

Their running mates - Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan will also debate. The face-off in Danville, Kentucky, on October 11 will be closely watched as the running mates often engage in the kind of brutal attacks that their principles can’t get away with.

Obama and Romney will share the stage once more before November, though for a different kind of performance. On October 18 they will both appear at the Alfred E Smith dinner, a white tie charity event at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. The tradition is that both candidates given a humorous speech, poking fun at their opponents and at themselves.