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For the Record: This week's debate previews, plus MultiTrump!

Brett McGinness ,  Joanna Allhands ,  Jessica Estepa   | Paste BN

We watched this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, and we’ll say this: We haven’t picked a candidate yet, but after a stellar performance we’re definitely considering voting for Sia. Her birth certificate says she’s Australian, but she claims that she was born in a thunderstorm, and the Constitution doesn’t explicitly say that citizens of severe weather phenomena are excluded from higher office. Even if she doesn’t win, can we get interpretive dancers at all future State of the Union addresses?

Getting you ready for the week, we have the latest on the two (TWO!) presidential debates, a summary of all the slings and arrows that candidates are facing this week, and yes, some SNL Trumposity.

GRAVITATIONAL PULL DRAWING REPUBLICAN, DEMOCRATIC DEBATES TOGETHER

This week marks the first time in 2016 that both major parties will hold presidential debates in the same week, an event that astronomers predict won’t happen again until … uh, December.

Tuesday night, it’s the Republican debate in Milwaukee, featuring only eight candidates on the main stage. Advantage: more speaking time for each candidate. Drawback: top-tier GOP field no longer qualifies for a laser tag group discount. It’s the first candidate clash since last month’s CNBC debate which sparked criticism for the network’s moderators; for this debate, Fox Business moderators are pledging to ask “the real questions” and have “the real debate on our economy.”Paste BN’s Susan Page and David Callaway share their thoughts on what GOP candidates should be asked.

Then on Saturday night (because there’s nothing that makes people cancel their Saturday plans quicker than a presidential debate) it’s the Democrats’ turn. They just wrapped up their totally-not-a-debate forum on MSNBC on Friday, so this one will be the first head-to-head-to-head debate since the Democratic field narrowed to three candidates: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley. John Dickerson, host of CBS’ Face the Nation, is already defending the moderating team because that’s what moderators will be doing from here on out. The Des Moines Register’s Jennifer Jacobs says that with her poll numbers, money, and organization, the Hillary Clinton juggernaut will roll to victory in Iowa.

CHARACTER COUNTS

Tired of hearing about the issues? Let’s talk about character!

Defending against last week's accusations that key portions of his life story were fabricated; Ben Carson says he’s getting more scrutiny than candidate Barack Obama ever did. We just want to know this: How we got to the point where the media is telling a front-running presidential candidate that no, you’re not an attempted murderer?

On Friday, Carly Fiorina became the latest candidate to breeze past a supporter’s assertion that President Obama is a Muslim. “Well, time to do something different in many ways,” Fiorina said to the voter. Trump was tripped up by a nearly identical issue earlier this campaign season; Santorum did the same in 2012. In contrast: John McCain, running for president in 2008, was confronted by a woman who said Obama was an Arab. He told the woman that Obama was a “decent family man.” (He was booed by the crowd.)

Meanwhile, Martin O’Malley has accused Bernie Sanders of trying to recruit a Democratic challenger to run against President Obama in 2012. Sanders called the claims “categorically false” during an interview on ABC’s This Week. For what it’s worth, the last time a sitting Democratic president faced a major primary challenge was in 1980, when Ted Kennedy ran a losing campaign against Jimmy Carter for Team D’s nomination.

MORE FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

THANKFULLY, ONLY ONE OF THE TRUMPS WAS REAL

Donald Trump hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend, lifting the program to four-year highs in the ratings. Larry David returned as Bernie Sanders; apparently SNL doesn’t have enough white guys among the regular cast members to play Bernie on a regular basis. Check out Trump's monologue with himselves here.

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