Morning Edition: Presidential Debate

NPR’s Steve Inskeep speaks with former presidential speechwriters Mary Kate Cary and Paul Orzulak about Thursday’s debate between President Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We begin with an overriding story in the United States this week. The major party presidential nominees hold a debate on Thursday evening – the earliest such event in history. Surveys suggest widespread interest in this event, during a campaign that many people have recoiled from up to now. So how’s it all going to work, and what, if anything, can we learn? We’ve invited in a couple of political pros. Mary Kate Cary wrote speeches for President George H.W. Bush, and is now at the University of Virginia. Welcome to the program.

MARY KATE CARY: Thanks for having me.

INSKEEP: She’s here in Studio 31, as is Paul Orzulak. Did I say it correctly, Paul?

PAUL ORZULAK: You did.

INSKEEP: All right. Paul Orzulak, a speechwriter in the Clinton administration and co-founder of West Wing Writers here in Washington, D.C. – no relation to the television program.