‘Natural’ Is a Winner

Al Gore and George W. Bush were boning up over the weekend for their first presidential debate, in Boston Tuesday. We hope they haven’t over-prepared. Our advice to each is simply be yourself. The nationwide television audience should watch and listen with an open mind. Forget the hype about who’s supposed to be the better debater. Tuesday will be the first day of the rest of the campaign, and the contest is yet to be won.

Moderator Jim Lehrer should let the candidates press on when they’re having a rational, informed dialogue on some issue but not hesitate to bring them up short if they drift into unprovable allegations or claims. Lehrer is a distinguished broadcast journalist and an excellent choice to moderate all three Gore-Bush debates.

Once the sound and fury of the debates subside, it will be up to the viewers, the voters, to judge for themselves, ignoring spins that the candidates’ handlers attempt to put on the 90-minute encounters. Don’t look for a winner or loser. Judge for yourself based on what qualities you seek in a president--on issues, character, sense of humor or some intangible presidential aura.

With the contest deemed very close, the stakes are potentially enormous. Each candidate has to guard against an embarrassing goof or slip, but neither should hesitate to admit an honest misstatement if one occurs.

The debates start at 9 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. in California. The candidates will stand at podiums. Each gets two minutes to answer a question, and the other gets a minute to respond. Lehrer has flexibility to extend the time if warranted. Broadcast from the University of Massachusetts campus, the debate is expected to be carried live on ABC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, PBS and some NBC stations.

In a sense it’s unfortunate that the candidates get so much time to prepare themselves for the debates; presidents rarely have warning of crises, and only the best of them have been able to deal calmly and intelligently with surprise. Even so, the debates are welcome. Al, George, relax. Be yourselves.