Enough Gamesmanship

The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates was formed before the 1988 campaign to quell endless bickering over how, when and where such debates should take place. Since then, candidates have accepted the basic ground rules, the sites and formats set by the commission, which is jointly headed by former Democratic National Chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. and former Republican National Chairman Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. The system has worked well.

Now, Republican nominee George W. Bush, the Texas governor, is attempting to undermine the commission by accepting only one of the three long-planned debates. Bush arranged two others on his own--on CNN’s “Larry King Live” and NBC’s “Meet the Press”--and presented them as a fait accompli to Democratic nominee Al Gore. Not surprisingly, the vice president declined and the debate over the debates has become a major campaign issue. It’s the sort of tactical dogfight that voters deplore.

Bush and Gore should end this nonsense now by agreeing to the three commission events as planned. Then they can book the King and NBC programs and any others they can agree on. Since Gore says he’ll debate any time, anywhere in addition to the commission debates, he should have no problem with that. Nor should Bush object to the commission plan since he has said he wants the widest possible exposure to the voters. He would get that only with the 90-minute commission debates broadcast by the three major networks.

On the other hand, the Larry King show would be available only to cable television viewers. Neither it nor the NBC show would be picked up by other networks.

The debates are scheduled in Boston Oct. 3, Winston-Salem, N.C., Oct. 11 and St. Louis Oct. 17. Each would be held on a university campus. Bush opposes the Boston site at the University of Massachusetts, claiming it favors Democrats because it’s adjacent to the John F. Kennedy Library. If that’s such a problem for Bush, perhaps the involved parties could agree on a new site.

The Bush camp claimed Gore was playing games by making other debates contingent on the three set by the debate commission and argued that other debate sponsors deserve as much consideration as the commission. Not true.

The precedent was set in 1988, when Bush’s father, George Bush, participated in the commission series. The commission’s debate framework has become a part of American politics and has served the country and its voters well. Bush should abandon his gamesmanship and get on with the debates. A fair campaign demands it.