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Sunday Debate: Mitt v. Ron

NBC News sends over the standing order for this weekend's NBC/Facebook 'Meet the Press' debate in New Hampshire, which airs live at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning. From left-to-right for the audience looking at the stage:

Jon Huntsman Rick Santorum Mitt Romney Ron Paul Newt Gingrich Rick Perry

Whereas Saturday's night's ABC News debate has Romney and Santorum center-stage, this one features Romney sharing the center with Ron Paul, with Santorum to his right. That means New Hampshire's second-place contenders will flank the front-runner. Again, Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry find themselves out on the wings.

Both ABC News and NBC News have arranged the candidates according to recent polls. One possible explanation for the difference here is the forthcoming NBC News poll, the results of which will be released on NBC Nightly News tonight at 6:30 p.m., eastern time.

A quick note on the media logistics for these two debates, which differ quite a bit: After the ABC debate, "non-ABC News outlets, including Internet media, may excerpt up to 3:00 minutes of material from the debate for their regularly scheduled news programs." After the NBC debate, "non-NBC media and individuals, including blogs and Internet media, may make unlimited use of the debate and excerpts."

UPDATE: Mark Lukasiewicz, SVP of NBC News Specials, writes to explain the network's decision to offer unrestricted use of their debate footage: