Bradley Lays Out Plan for Later Debates

Following a challenge from Vice President Al Gore, former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey on Tuesday proposed six debates between the two Democratic presidential contenders in December and January.

Gore’s campaign said it has already accepted invitations to three of the six dates cited by Bradley. The other three are still under discussion. Both sides are already scheduled to hold an initial debate next week in New Hampshire.

Still, Gore’s campaign, which had wanted more debates and wanted them sooner, continued to accuse Bradley of avoiding him.

“Sen. Bradley has timidly accepted a few last-minute debate forums,” Gore spokeswoman Kiki Moore said. “The fact that the senator can’t even find one acceptable debate in the next two months is an insult to the voters of New Hampshire and Iowa.”

Bradley’s campaign said the earlier debates would interfere with its ongoing series of speeches outlining the candidate’s policy agenda.

“Throughout the first several months of this campaign, we have talked about laying out the issues and letting the people see what Bill Bradley is all about,” said Bradley spokesman Tony Wyche. “That’s been our game plan, and we’re sticking to it.”

The three offers that have been accepted by both campaigns include a Jan. 8 debate sponsored by the Des Moines Register in Iowa; a Jan. 17 forum, also in Des Moines; and a Jan. 27 debate in Manchester, N.H., sponsored by WMUR-TV, a local station.

Bradley also agreed to attend a Dec. 17 town hall meeting in Manchester, which is sponsored by ABC-TV’s “Nightline”; a Dec. 19 meeting on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press” in Washington and a Jan. 4 forum in New Hampshire sponsored by the Manchester Union Leader newspaper.