Senate Links Debates, Campaign Funds : Elections: The measure would require presidential candidates to hold four debates as a condition of receiving federal funds.

Presidential nominees would have to debate each other four times during an election campaign or lose federal aid under a measure approved Friday by the Senate.

By a one-vote margin, the Senate voted to require the debates between the Democratic and Republican nominees, beginning in 1996, for the candidates to qualify for tens of millions of dollars in federal funds.

In the last presidential campaign, Republican George Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis debated twice. Each also used $46.5 million in federal funds to help finance the fall campaign.

Vice presidential running mates would have to debate once during the election season under the amendment attached to a congressional campaign-finance reform bill being debated by the Senate.

The 44-43 vote to compel presidential debates was in sharp contrast to the 73-26 vote against a similar measure last year. That bill also would have made opposition candidates for Senate seats debate twice.

Sponsoring Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) dropped the requirement that Senate candidates debate in his amendment, which otherwise is nearly identical to the one rejected in 1990.

“Debates are not a panacea . . . but they are an important part of the campaign dialogue,” Graham said in offering his proposal Friday as an antidote to negative campaign tactics.

“If voters and candidates knew the debates were going to happen,” he said, “more time could be spent on preparing for them rather than campaign managers trying to negotiate their candidates out of them.”

Opponents said presidential candidates should retain the choice of whether to debate. Among those voting against the bill were past presidential candidates John Glenn (D-Ohio), Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

“There are circumstances where you simply wouldn’t want to enter into a debate with your opponent,” said Sen. David L. Boren (D-Okla.). “An opponent with no platform of his own might simply want to use a debate to attack you.”

Face-to-face debates between the two parties’ presidential nominees began in 1960, when Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon faced each other before TV cameras four times.

Debates did not recur until 1976, when then-President Ford agreed to meet former Democratic Gov. Jimmy Carter of Georgia in three debates.