If Cuban is being put in the front row as some kind of psychological ploy, the television audience shouldn't expect to enjoy his presence. Peter Eyre, a senior adviser with the Commission on Presidential Debates, the independent organization that sponsors the events, told ABC News that the live audience will not be on camera during the debate at Hofstra University tonight.

There are expected to be about 1,000 people in the audience.

The Role of the Moderator

\"PHOTO:
Heidi Gutman/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
PHOTO: Lester Holt is pictured at "Commander-In-Chief Forum" on Sept. 7, 2016.
>

Lester Holt from NBC's \"Nightly News\" has been tasked with moderating tonight's debate, and he's under some pressure.

NBC hosted the recent Commander in Chief Forum, during which both candidates fielded questions about their plans for the military, and Holt's colleague Matt Lauer was widely criticized for his performance.

Critics complained that he focused more on Clinton's email scandal than anything to do with the military and that he let Trump make claims that were false without any intervention.

The question of how much fact-checking moderators should do during the debates has been raised. Trump has said that he does not believe the moderators should intervene to fact-check, and Clinton raised money off Lauer's lack of fact-checking after the forum, indicating that she would be in favor of moderators' playing a role.

The Spin Efforts Afterward

It's estimated that tens of millions of people will watch the debate in real time, and many more will be influenced by the social media spin in the aftermath, when the debate about the debate takes place online.

Clinton's campaign is well aware that the outcome of the debate depends not just on what the two candidates say onstage but also on the conversation that takes place around it.

On a conference call with supporters on Friday, a top aide to Clinton directly asked their supporters to use social media during and after the debate to help shape the conversation positively around the Democratic nominee.

The campaign's digital director, Jenna Lowenstein, said two of the campaign's goals for the night are to amplify Clinton's best moments online and to influence the narrative about who is winning.

\"It's important that we're not just turning this into the Donald Trump show,\" Lowenstein said.

She instructed, \"Tweet early, tweet her name, use those hashtags.\"

Watch the first presidential debate Monday at 9 p.m. ET. Full live coverage and analysis of the debate will begin on ABCNews.com/Live at 7 p.m. ET.

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