When Philip Eliasoph, director of the Open Visions forum at Fairfield University, scheduled a debate between Monica Crowley and Mika Brzezinski (Mon., Oct 27 at the Quick Center), it wasn't exactly a catfight he was looking for.

"We're looking at a debate held a hair's breadth from the elections," says Eliasoph. "I don't think they'll be changing anyone's minds, but it will certainly be interesting to watch."

Eliasoph will moderate the debate between the two broadcast personalities from opposite corners of the political ring.

In the left corner, representing Democrat Barack Obama, is Mika Brzezinski, cohost MSNBC's Morning Joe and daughter of Jimmy Carter's national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski.

In the right corner, representing Republican John McCain, is Monica Crowley, a Fox News political analyst and talk-radio host. Crowley served as a foreign policy assistant to former President Richard Nixon from 1990 until his death in 1994.

"They are not serving as surrogates but are here to articulate all of the attitudes representing the traditional left/right," says Eliasoph.

Brzezinski gained a YouTube following when she refused to read a report about Paris Hilton's release from jail on Morning Joe, as the lead story before breaking news about the Iraq War. Brzezinski attempted to light the script on fire, tore it and finally fed it through a paper-shredder swiped from Dan Abrams' office.

Crowley, once named "Worst Person in the World" by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann for insinuating Obama was a Muslim, scored a point for conservatives when, on PBS' McLaughlin Group, she compared McCain running mate Sarah Palin to "Ann Margret in Kitten with a Whip—she is fabulous, okay?"

So without a catfight, how will we know who won?

"Both debaters will need to be able to step back objectively," says Eliasoph, "with a certain degree of cool, and win the audience over on their own terms."