TV Guide's take on the debates (from the Sept. 26-Oct 2 issue)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

1). "Kerry will be good. Bush won't have to be. Why? Because we'll be expecting him to be so bad - especially facing off against Yale debating champ Kerry - that there will be nowhere to go but up. And that's exactly what the Republicans want."

2). "It's Bush's message, and he'll stick to it. Nobody stays on message better than Bush. "He not only stays on it, he repeats it," (former Texas Governor Ann) Richards says. "No matter what the question, he is going to respond with the message."

3). "Mano a mano, Kerry will shine. Kerry may be stiff on the campaign stump, but he can dazzle in one-on-one verbal combat."

4). "The debates will matter more than ever. "It is not an exaggeration to say that the winner will almost certainly be the next president of the United States," says ABC News political director Mark Halpern."