CommonWealth magazine set out more than a month ago to host a debate about the American Dream between the candidates in the Sixth Congressional District. Nothing has changed, despite US Rep. John Tierney’s request that the first debate question on Thursday be “about family.”

Tierney, taking heat for allegedly trying to keep his wife’s and in-laws’ legal problems out of debates with his GOP rival Richard Tisei, said on Monday that he was happy to address those problems and wanted CommonWealth to make that the focus of the debate’s first question. The magazine, which is published by the nonpartisan think tank MassINC, does not intend to comply with his request because the focus of the debate is the American Dream.

Since there has been some confusion about the focus and format of Thursday’s debate, here is a rundown of what has happened to date:

Tierney, Tisei, and Libertarian Daniel Fishman all agreed to a debate focused on the American Dream, with a special emphasis on jobs, the economy, and the middle class. The focus on one major issue was similar to a gubernatorial debate MassINC and CommonWealth hosted in 2010 on Cape Wind. The candidates are already scheduled to hold at least two other debates with no restrictions on the subjects to be discussed.

All three campaigns were sent an outline of the CommonWealth debate format, the same one used for the Cape Wind debate. Tierney’s camp objected to a section that had candidates asking each other questions, apparently fearing that Tisei would focus on the Tierney family issues.

CommonWealth told Tierney’s campaign that the focus of the debate was the American Dream. Tisei told CommonWealth’s editor that he had no plans to bring up the legal issues surrounding Tierney’s wife and his in-laws at the debate. Nevertheless, Tierney’s camp insisted that the congressman would withdraw unless the candidate-to-candidate questions were removed. CommonWealth then removed the candidate-to-candidate format from the debate; the focus of the debate remained unchanged.

A few additional points: The Herald last Friday reported that Tierney had moved to block questions about his family’s involvement in illegal gambling from two of the four debates the candidates have agreed to. The Globe reported on the controversy on Saturday, quoting Tisei as saying that he most likely will bring up Tierney’s family problems during debates. Tisei repeated his intention on Fox 25. To be clear, the focus of the CommonWealth debate was set by CommonWealth. The only change is a change in format.