Three out of four U.S. voters (74%) say they are Very Likely to watch the upcoming presidential debates, but over half (56%) think debate moderators are biased in their questioning, according to new Rasmussen Reports national telephone surveys taken Friday and Saturday nights.

In the first debate this Friday evening, 22% believe the moderator, veteran PBS newsman Jim Lehrer, will try to help Barack Obama. Forty-three percent (43%) say Lehrer will play a neutral role to help voters make an informed choice. Only six percent (6%) think he will try to help John McCain (see crosstabs).

Still, 53% believe that the debates give voters a good sense of where the candidates stand on the issues while 31% disagree.
The first debate will focus on foreign policy and national security issues, a test for Obama since this is one area where McCain has consistently maintained a double-digit lead in terms of voter trust.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) say the debates are at least somewhat important in determining how they will vote, with 26% saying they are Very Important, but voters are evenly divided over whether Obama or McCain will be helped most by the three debates. Just six percent (6%) say they are not likely to watch the debates at all.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls).

Despite all the recent hoopla surrounding McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, two-thirds of voters (67%) say they are more interested in the presidential debate than the debate between Palin and Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Biden. Twenty-five percent (25%), however, say they are more interested in the vice presidential debate.

Republicans, perhaps reflecting the enthusiasm that Palin has brought to the race, are twice as interested as Democrats in watching the vice presidential debate.

Over half (51%) prefer a town hall format for the debates, where voters from the audience ask questions of the candidates, versus 39% who like to have a network news anchor ask the questions.

In earlier surveys this year, a majority of voters have been critical of what they regard as media bias in favor of Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee. Earlier this month, echoing earlier findings, 69% said reporters try to help the candidate they want to win, and 50% believed most reporters were trying to help Obama. By comparison, 11% thought they were trying to help his Republican opponent McCain.

Nationally, the race between Obama and McCain is very close in the Rasmussen daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters have a favorable view of Lehrer, who will moderate this week’s debate in Oxford, Mississippi, and virtually the identical number were able to identify the network he works for as PBS. Twenty-five percent (25%) view him unfavorably, and 36% don’t know who he is. Nearly half (45%) don’t know what network he works for.

Men are far more suspicious of bias by debate moderators than women. Male voters by a 65% to 22% margin say the moderators are biased. Women agree on the bias but by just 48% to 25%.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of Republicans and 57% of unaffiliated voters think the moderators are biased. But even 41% of Democrats agree, compared to 31% who say they are generally unbiased.

Thirty-seven percent (37%) of GOP voters, 17% of unaffiliateds and 12% of Democrats think Lehrer will try to help Obama. But 31% of Republicans, over half of unaffiliated voters (51%) and nearly as many Democrats (48%) believe Lehrer will be neutral.

Women voters by 38% to 31% think the debates will help Obama more than McCain. Men see them as helping McCain more 40% to 36%.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free)… let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs available for Premium Members only.