Bush hasn't agreed to any debates....nyt [View All]

[AlCzervik]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/10/politics/campaign/10debate.html?hp
AWOL as usual


ASHINGTON, Sept. 9 - In the Kerry corner there are two of the most powerful lawyers in Washington, Vernon E. Jordan Jr. and Robert B. Barnett, not to mention the sitting governors of Michigan and Arizona, Jennifer M. Granholm and Janet Napolitano.

In the Bush corner there is a former secretary of state, James A. Baker III, not to mention the hard-knuckled lobbyist turned governor of Mississippi who once headed the Republican Party, Haley Barbour, and one of the party's sharpest media personalities, Mary Matalin.
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The campaigns of President Bush and Senator John Kerry are putting forward their most seasoned and formidable proxies to take part in the quadrennial face-off over establishing the particulars of the presidential and vice-presidential debates. Never have the presidential debate teams been this big or this prestigious, say officials at the bipartisan commission planning the debates, the first of which is scheduled for Sept. 30.

In a measure of how critical the debates have become in the view of the campaigns, both sides have turned their attention to details like the number of debates and whether the candidates will sit or stand - details that in the past were relegated to smaller, less high-profile teams.

Mr. Bush has not agreed to any debates, and though his campaign says nothing is final, some aides have indicated that they would like the president to participate in no more than two. Mr. Kerry's aides, who have already agreed to the one vice-presidential and three presidential debates the debate commission scheduled, have said he would like to do even more.