Aggressive presidential debate expected

LONG ISLAND, NY (WISH) - It's been almost two weeks since the first debate.

Most folks agree that Republican Mitt Romney was the clear winner, and he saw a major surge in the polls afterwards.

President Obama admitted he did not perform well the first time around, promising to be more aggressive moving forward.

This is the only town hall style debate, with 80 voters in the audience; about 11 will get to ask a question.

Analysts, however, warn that being too aggressive could hurt the candidates.

"I'm expecting that each one will have at least one or two, but when you're standing there talking to real people, gotcha lines would make it seems as if you're using them as foils,” Larry Levy with Hofstra University said.

This format puts a premium on trying to connect with real people, experts say, so delivering an attack may backfire.

"People have a lot riding on this,” political analyst Hank Scheinkorf said. “We now look at debates as if they were the elections themselves. If you lose here, you could lose the election."

Also promising to be more aggressive is the moderator, CNN's Candy Crowley.

She said she'll press the candidates if they don't answer a question or if she wants more clarification.

Mitt Romney won the coin toss, so he will get the first question of the night.

The debate begins at 9 p.m. on WISH-TV.