The story is still online in the Boston Herald, with just the tenses changed. I don't see this as dishonest, because it's setting the stage for the debate; there's no attempt to portray the debate itself.
http://news.bostonherald.com/election/view.bg?articleid=46833
Check out the tense. It is all past tense. The AP guy wrote it as 1st draft, and will probably add to it during the debate. These guys have strict deadlines. The mistake is releasing it beforehand. Not necessarily writing it beforehand.