For days, much of the political talk across the country was centered around last night’s presidential debates, but Iowa is playing host to its own debate tonight — the U. S. Congressional debates.

Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin and Republican challenger Congressman Jim Ross Lightfoot will participate in a televised debate on KCCI tonight at 7 p.m.

This debate has a different style than most. Instead of having an audience, the two candidates will address a panel of four journalists. Kevin Cooney of KCCI in Des Moines, Bruce Aune of KCRG in Cedar Rapids, Larry Wentz of KTIV in Sioux City and Dennis Ryerson of The Des Moines Register are the panelists.

Each news medium advertised the debate, said Dana Cardin, KCCI’s assistant news director.

Within the advertisements, “each entity asked their viewers to send in their questions,” he said.

The television stations and newspaper then narrowed down the questions and checked with the other news media to make sure there were no duplicate questions. Cardin said each news medium has the chance to ask questions that are important in their part of the state.

Because only the panelists will be in the studio with the candidates, Lightfoot said he and Harkin will have less control. Lightfoot said he prefers being able to interact with an audience. Without an audience, it’s hard to get motivated, he said.

“The whole thing can look pretty stiff,” Lightfoot said. Because there is a difference in appearing on a television screen and appearing in front of an audience, Lightfoot said the debate might come down to “who has the best TV techniques.”

The Harkin campaign looks at the debate a little differently, said Todd Sandman, deputy press secretary for Citizens for Harkin. Sandman said the debate format is a good idea.

“It’s a great opportunity for Iowans to tune in and see the difference between the two candidates,” he said.

The debate will be broadcast across the country on C-SPAN 2, Cardin said, as well as by regional stations, including KCCI, KTIV, KCRG, KETV of Omaha and Iowa Public Television. IPTV is closed-captioning the event for the hearing-impaired.