Gore, Bush Prepare for Debate
— -- With their first presidential debate approaching, Al Gore and George W. Bush have been busy preparing for the face-to-face confrontation. But even as both candidates refine their strategies, they are playing down expectations.
By Peter DizikesABCNEWS.com
Oct. 1 — With two days to go before their first presidential debate, Al Gore and George W. Bush are refining their strategies and playing down expectations before their face-to-face confrontation Tuesday in Boston. Vice President Gore is spending a long weekend preparing in Florida — a state he still feels he can win on Nov. 7 — along with advisers and a group of citizens.
Bush, at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, has finished his mock debates and other exercises, and is spending the day relaxing and studying on his own. Meanwhile, the Republican nominee’s advisers have been trying to win the battle of expectations by casting Gore as the clear favorite in the debates.
Bush’s communications director, Karen Hughes, has called Gore a “world-class debater,” while getting in a dig at the entertainment industry’s support of the vice president by saying he will use “the best lines Hollywood can write” in the forum.
But Gore himself has touted Bush’s record in debates, pointing out that the GOP nominee performed well in the Texas gubernatorial debates against former Gov. Ann Richards, and in the Republican primaries against Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Advantage Gore?
Gore has earned a reputation as a fierce and effective debater in the last several years with performances against former third-party presidential candidate Ross Perot on the North American Free Trade Agreement, and against former Sen. Bill Bradley during the Democratic primary season.
But Gore advisers say their candidate will be primarily trying to connect with the audience instead of just engaging in back-and-forth combat with his opponent.
Gore himself describes the debate as being “kind of like a job interview” in which the American people represent “the ones that are doing the hiring.”
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