I'm surprised The Great One doesn't recognize this for what it is. It's filler for first edition papers that have to go to bed before the debate even starts. When I was in college (long time ago, upstate NY) we used to get the NYT "City Edition" which I could also buy on the street in NYC at 10 PM the day before. It wasn't too unusual to see such stories on the front page and/or in the sports section where the real stories would appear later in the "Late City Edition."
ML/NJ