From Denver, Colorado -
Every four years as the Presidential debates arrive, we go through the same ritual, looking back at past debates for a political "greatest hits" montage of great moments in debate history.
And there isn't much to choose from.
Richard Nixon won with voters on radio but lost with those who watched TV in 1960, or so the story goes.
Gerald Ford got mixed up about Poland and the Iron Curtain in 1976.
Ronald Reagan used his "There you go again" line on Jimmy Carter in 1980 and Walter Mondale in 1984.
Bernie Shaw of CNN gave Michael Dukakis headaches in 1988 with a question about his wife and the death penalty.
George H.W. Bush looked at his watch in 1992.
Ross Perot's running mate, Admiral James Stockdale had the most memorable line of 1992: "Who am I? Why am I here?"
Al Gore sighed a lot in 2000.
Do you remember anything from the debates four years ago between Barack Obama and John McCain? Unless you went back and watched their three debates, you probably don't.
What about Bush and Kerry in 2004? Probably not.
Saturday Night Live gave us a parody of Al Gore's "lockbox" line from 2000 and the imaginary word "strategery" from George W. Bush - that was more entertainment than the real debates provided that year.
In other words, there hasn't been much except a comfortable recitation of policy positions, with just a few off-the-cuff moments - almost a play-it-safe mindset that results in somewhat predictable debates and little that is memorable.
"The gaffe is the headline," says communications expert Michael Hogan of Penn State University, who joined a debate preview this week at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
Like others, Hogan does not expect much from these 2012 debates and is not looking for any in-your-face campaign trail rhetoric either.
"People don't like that; so, I would not expect to hear any of that," Hogan added.
Will it be any different this year? Nothing would make the press corps more excited than a shoot-from-the-hip debate where both Romney and Obama duke it out for 90 minutes.
I'm not sure I would bet on that happening, but like they say about the NFL, there's a reason they play the games.
Let the debates begin.
