Candidates for Governor Set 2 Debate Dates

Setting up events that could prove pivotal in their neck-and-neck race for governor, Pete Wilson and Dianne Feinstein jointly announced Wednesday that they will meet in televised debates twice next month.

In a press release issued by both campaigns, the candidates set Oct. 7 and 18 as debate dates. The first of the two hour-long sessions will be held in the Burbank studios of television station KNBC, and the second in San Francisco at KPIX, the CBS affiliate in the Bay Area.

In a break from what has become the expected debate format, the candidates said that half of each session will be set aside for exchanges in which Democrat Feinstein and Republican Wilson will question each other.

The other half of each debate will feature the candidates responding to questions posed by a panel of reporters.

Representatives of the two campaigns have been engaged in quiet behind-the-scenes negotiating sessions since August, apparently finding much common ground even as Wilson and Feinstein bickered publicly over issues.

“Both sides met in good faith and both candidates desired to get this nailed down with a minimum of trouble,” said Wilson’s campaign director, Otto Bos.

Feinstein’s campaign director, Bill Carrick, said there were no substantial disagreements.

“I think Dianne is going to feel comfortable and Wilson is a veteran debater,” he said.

The two debates, which will be open to any subject, are expected to be the only head-to-head sessions between the two, despite the avalanche of requests that have buried each of the campaigns. Among other groups, the California League of Conservation Voters has pressed the candidates to gather to discuss environmental issues.

“I think this is about it, given the campaign schedules and other campaign demands,” Carrick said. Each session not only requires the candidates to dedicate an hour to film the debate, but also generally requires them to study briefing books for days ahead of time, cutting into the time they can give to campaign events and fund-raisers.

Earlier this year, Wilson had challenged Feinstein to debate him and set aside Oct. 7 and 17 as potential dates. The first date was agreed to by Feinstein, and the second was moved back a day to avoid conflicting with the televising of the second game of the World Series.

The first debate, to be held on a Sunday at 6 p.m., will be sponsored by the California Assn. of Broadcasters, which months ago offered to sponsor a meeting. The second, an 8 p.m. Thursday session, will be sponsored by KPIX. The panel of reporters will be picked from a pool submitted by both campaigns.

Carrick said the campaign representatives were unsuccessful in efforts to have both of the debates--rather than just the San Francisco event--aired before prime time viewing audiences.

“Our desire, the Feinstein campaign’s desire, was to try to have debates which would reach the largest number of Californians,” he said.

Last May, Feinstein and her Democratic primary opponent, Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, took part in two debates that were out-watched by virtually every other television program on the air.

Part of the problem was that major Southern California stations chose not to air the first debate, which was broadcast from San Francisco. And Northern California stations generally did not air the second debate, which was beamed from Southern California.

Both of the stations airing the upcoming debates have pledged to offer their signal to other stations, but there is no firm indication whether viewers from different areas will be able to watch both debates.

In another campaign development, the Wilson campaign on Wednesday began airing another campaign commercial, this one a 30-second advertisement touting Wilson’s Senate record in support of legislation aiding so-called “crack babies,” the offspring of addicted mothers.