Tonight's questions, however, are more likely to focus on jobs, Iraq, healthcare, taxes and education.

Here is your pre-debate primer on what Bush will say and what you should know.

FACT – BUSH'S JOBS RECORD IS AN EMBARRASSMENT:
Bush will say “the economy is strong and getting stronger.” But the
economy added a paltry 96,000 jobs in September, once again failing
even to keep up with population growth. Since Bush took office in
January 2001, the economy has shed about 585,000 jobs. Bush is a lock
to become the first pResident since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss
of jobs over a four-year term.

[Poor Herbert Hoover – to be forever
compared to that junta puppet!  What an ignominious end! 
I've been to the Hoover Presidential Museum 8 times, and there is much
to admire about the President from Iowa.]

FACT – THE DUELFER REPORT UNDERMINES A KEY RATIONALE FOR WAR: Bush
will say that the recently released report by chief U.S. weapons
inspector Charles A. Duelfer bolstered his rationale for war.
Yesterday, Bush said the Duelfer report proved Saddam Hussein “retained
the knowledge, the materials, the means and the intent to produce
weapons of mass destruction …and he could have passed that knowledge
on to our terrorist enemies.” That claim is highly misleading. The
Duelfer report establishes that Saddam “did not produce or possess any
weapons of mass destruction for more than a decade before the U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq last year.” Moreover, Duelfer found “no evidence that
Hussein had passed illicit weapons material to al Qaeda or other
terrorist organizations, or had any intent to do so.”

FACT – BUSH'S TAX CUTS WERE A MASSIVE GIVEAWAY TO THE RICH:
Bush will say that his tax cuts “left more money in the hands of
American workers so they could save, spend, invest, and help drive this
economy forward.” In fact, Bush's tax cuts overwhelmingly benefited the
very wealthy. For example, Americans with incomes averaging $1.2
million per year have received a tax cut of $78,460. By contrast,
households in the middle 20 percent, with incomes averaging $57,000 per
year, have received an average cut of $1,090. One-third of all the
benefits went to the top 1 percent of all earners. Meanwhile, “9.2
million working families in the United States – one out of every four –
earn wages that are so low they are barely able to survive financially.”

FACT – BUSH CREATED A $5.2 TRILLION TAX GAP:
Bush will say, “it is the job of a pResident to confront problems, not
pass them on to future Presidents and future generations.” Yet, in four
years, Bush “has turned a $5.6 trillion surplus into $5.2 trillion
deficit.” His tax cuts are a big part of the problem. For example, even
as corporate profits have soared 40 percent over the last four years,
tax revenue from corporations has decreased. For more on the
deterioration of America's fiscal situation, read this report by
America Progress's Scott Lilly, mentioned in today's New York Times.

FACT – TORT REFORM WILL NOT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE HEALTH CARE COSTS:
Bush will say that the way to make health care more affordable is “by
doing something about these frivolous lawsuits that are running good
doctors out of business and running your costs up.” But the
non-partisan CBO has found that even legislation dramatically limiting
the ability of patients to recover damages when their doctor commits
malpractice would lower heath costs by one-half of one percent.

FACT – BUSH LEFT THE FUNDING FOR HIS EDUCATION PROGRAM BEHIND:
Bush will stress the success of the No Child Left Behind program. Keep
this in mind: 1) Bush underfunded the program by $9.4 billion, 2) Due
to funding shortages 11 states will get less federal education money
this year than they did last year, and 3) Because the Bush
administration has “failed to give adequate guidance to help states
comply with the goals of NCLB,” twenty-four states have still not
completed plans to fully comply with the law.