US candidates set to agree on debates

THE campaign teams of US President George Bush and Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry have tentatively agreed to three face-to-face debates, it was reported yesterday.

The debates, beginning on September 30, could prove pivotal in the closely fought November 2 election between Mr Bush and Mr Kerry and in an effort to lower voters’ expectations, each side in recent weeks has already begun to portray the other as having the stronger debater.

A source familiar with the negotiations said that the Bush campaign had tentatively agreed to the full complement of debates recommended by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.

Mr Bush’s campaign had originally wanted to limit the debates to two presidential ones and a vice-presidential debate.

The commission said last week it needed an agreement by yesterday in order to adequately take care of the logistics of the events.

The Republican campaign denied any deal had been reached. “No agreement has been reached,” said a campaign spokesman, Reed Dickens. “When there is agreement, we will announce it.”

The commission scheduled the first 90-minute debate on September 30 in Coral Gables, Florida, with a second one set for October 8 in St Louis and a third on October 13 in Tempe, Arizona.

A vice presidential debate between incumbent Dick Cheney and Mr Kerry’s running mate, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, was set for October 5 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Negotiations over the debates have largely been handled by Mr Bush’s main representative, former Secretary of State James Baker, and Mr Kerry’s top debate negotiator, Washington lawyer Vernon Jordan.

The two sides have been discussing the format of an October 8 town-hall-meeting debate, and a final agreement will depend on the outcome of these negotiations, the source said.

The Kerry campaign wanted all three presidential debates, but the Bush campaign was concerned about the October 8 event in St Louis because questioners were to include undecided voters and the Bush camp did not trust the process for choosing them.

Polls at this point offer a mixed picture, with Mr Bush holding a clear lead in some but others showing an even race.

Mr Bush has raised more than $250 million (€205m) for the primary-election phase of his re-election campaign, taking in $17m (€14m) last month alone before accepting full government financing for the final two months.

Mr Bush’s total is well over double the then record of roughly $100m that he set in the 2000 primary race. Unlike that race, this year Mr Bush faced no Republican opponent.

In all, Mr Bush spent nearly $200 million from the official start of his re-election effort in May 2003 to the end of August, a monthly campaign finance report he filed yesterday with the Federal Election Commission shows. Mr Bush finished the primary campaign with nearly $35m (€29m) on hand. He cannot spend the leftover money on his own campaign, but can parcel it out to Republican Party candidates.