Candy Crowley is the first woman moderator in two decades! | Source: YouTube

Candy Crowley may not be a name you’re too familiar with–yet. But after tonight, we bet you’ll love her. And no, despite the name, she’s not all sugary sweet.

Candy Crowley is the head political correspondent for CNN, and she’s moderating the second presidential debate. It’s supposed to be a town hall-style event where the candidates, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, answer audience questions. She’s also generating a lot of heat for her moderation style, and we can’t freakin’ wait to watch her. Here’s why.

1. She knows her stuff.
Candy Crowley has been covering politics and elections for 20 years. She’s only the second woman to be chosen to moderate a presidential debate since 1992 (this doesn’t include Martha Raddatz, who presided over Paul Ryan and Joe Biden in the vice presidential debate). She’s not just a body in a chair: She’s got brains and a lot of quickness to her, which will serve her well when the candidates try fast-talking their way around the actual questions.

2. She doesn’t let being a woman come before doing her job.
Remember how we said Candy Crowley’s only the second woman to moderate a presidential debate in 20 years? It doesn’t phase her, and we loved her reaction. “When I first got the call, it’s not like I thought, ‘Ooh, wow, I’m a woman, and this is cool!’ I’ve been a woman my whole life. The first thing in my head was, ‘Wow, this will be so much fun.’” It’s really refreshing to know that she didn’t need the media to remind her that she’s equipped with a vagina. You go, Candy!

3. She’s a rebel.
Both the Obama and Romney campaigns are apprehensive about Candy Crowley taking an active role in the questioning, but she doesn’t care–as long as she gets the most information out to voters and the most engagement out of the candidates. She explained, “I think the idea is to try to add to the body of knowledge that is out there in whatever way you can. I think it’s always best when these guys engage with each other, but that doesn’t mean I won’t engage with them if that gets us closer to what we need.” To which we say: Go girl!

4. She’s dealing with undecided voters.
This means that very few of the questions will come from anyone with an agenda to win others over for either side. The questioners just really want to know where Mitt Romney and Barack Obama stand on things in order to make a decision for themselves.

5. She’s taking no prisoners, and she’s got surprises up her sleeve.
When asked why she digs the town hall format, Candy Crowley was blunt: It doesn’t give the candidates much room to BS anybody, because they have to answer to so many people at one time. “I think by and large, they’re big boys, both of them, and they need to be aware of each other’s positions. It’s kind of organic. I don’t have this, ‘no matter what, I’m not going to say anything,’ or, ‘I’m going to interrupt any time I think they say something.’ That’s just not how I’m parsing it out. I think you have to just go with what’s happening at the moment …We hope that kind of group effort can pin down both of these men on a variety of issues.”

Will you be watching the presidential debate? Are you a fan of Candy Crowley? Do you like the town-hall style debates or the heavily moderated debates better? Do you think Mitt Romney or Barack Obama will win the second presidential debate? Tell us in the comments!

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