"Debate practice"

Sept. 26, 2004...

The Associated Press [LINK] offers an article on the preparations of Bush and Kerry for the upcoming presidential debate this Thursday night at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The subject of the first of three debates is foreign policy.

Kerry is prepping at a resort in Spring Green, Wisconsin, 40 miles from Madison, at the House on the Rock Resort. According to an article in Time magazine [LINK]:

... a two-room suite goes for $199 a night. The facility provides ample biking and hiking trails for a candidate who aides say doesn't like to do more than about two hours of debate practice in a row without taking a break.

Kerry spokesperson Stephanie Cutter says they picked Wisconsin for it’s seclusion:

"It's Wisconsin," said spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter, when asked how the campaign picked the locale. "It's a remote area where we can concentrate and focus and still get out to talk to voters as much as possible."

President Bush targeted his ranch in Crawford, Texas, to hone up and reportedly spent around four hours preparing:

White House communications director Dan Bartlett called Kerry a "seasoned" debater against whom Bush would merely "hold his own." But then Bartlett accused Kerry of taking more than one position on foreign policy issues — the subject of the first debate.

At podiums set up in a conference area of the ranch, Bush practiced a couple hours Saturday and then another two hours Sunday morning. Sen. Judd Gregg R-N.H., played Kerry. Mark McKinnon, media adviser for the Bush-Cheney campaign, was the moderator.

Meanwhile, the rhetoric continued from the fringe, with DNC Chair Terry McAuliff weighing in:

Terry McAuliff called Bush a `great debater," but said the president wins match-ups on "style not substance."

And from White House communications director Dan Bartlett:

“Obviously, President Bush has had to practice twice as hard to learn all the different positions that John Kerry has taken on the big issues of the day," Bartlett said. "But he's ready to hold his own."

According to the AP story, Kerry will attempt to show the President as a leader who has made bad choices and tie that to the battle in Iraq.

As for the Bush campaign, according to Time magazine, it’s about getting Kerry to sweat...

"He's a sweater," chortles a G.O.P. official, "and women don't like sweaters."

"The biggest test for Kerry," says a senior Bush adviser, "is whether anyone wants him in their living room.”

Minutia detail has gone into the debates with both sides hammering out the details in give and take negotiations:

The Bush camp, knowing television viewership falls off after the first debate, made sure this week's matchup would focus on foreign policy, which they feel is the President's strong suit. Team Bush has studied old videotapes of Kerry's 1996 Massachusetts Senate re-election campaign debates to the point where advisers like Karl Rove can recite portions from memory. As a result, Bush's negotiators insisted on banning nearly all the stagecraft Kerry had used to devastating effect against his G.O.P. opponent, Governor William Weld, such as roaming from the lectern and asking direct questions. What Kerry's camp got were three debates rather than the two that Bush's campaign initially said it wanted. Getting three contests "was much more important to us than any detail of the format," says Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill. A challenger always wants as many chances to stand on the same stage as the sitting President and take some shots, and Kerry thinks the debates are a place where he can shine.

The second presidential debate is scheduled for next week in St. Louis, Missouri, and will showcase questions from the audience. The third debate is scheduled for October 13 at Arizona State University in Tempe and will focus on domestic issues.