NYT: Campaigns Enlist Big Names to Set Debates' Details

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 - In the Kerry corner there are two of the most powerful lawyers in Washington, Vernon E. Jordan Jr. and Robert B. Barnett, not to mention the sitting governors of Michigan and Arizona, Jennifer M. Granholm and Janet Napolitano.

In the Bush corner there is a former secretary of state, James A. Baker III, not to mention the hard-knuckled lobbyist turned governor of Mississippi who once headed the Republican Party, Haley Barbour, and one of the party's sharpest media personalities, Mary Matalin.

(snip)

When Mr. Kerry's team noticed this week that Mr. Bush's new team included Karen P. Hughes, the longtime Bush confidante and message maestro, it added the former White House press secretary and message guru Mike McCurry to its team. Campaign officials acknowledged that they brought in Mr. McCurry in large part to send a signal to Mr. Bush's campaign that it was ready for a battle in the news media, if there needed to be one.

(snip)

Though Mr. Bush's aides say they have ruled nothing out, the team does not seem as if it is preparing to do anything so radical as it did in 2000, when it announced that it would forgo two of the three commission debates in favor of debates on "Larry King Live'' on CNN and "Meet the Press'' on NBC. Mr. Bush relented after coming under withering criticism. (The NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw has put out word that he is interested in moderating a noncommission debate this year, but NBC News officials say he will not formally propose one until both campaigns work out the details of the commission debates.)

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/10/politics/campaign/10debate.html?hp

[madmax]

1. Any buzz regarding moderators?

Judy Dandruff is a repug shill and I didn't care for Jim Lehrer.

[arcos]

3. they were announced a few weeks ago...

I don't remember who they are, though

[saracat]

4. They are named in the article!

[madmax]

5. Caught red handed.

I didn't read the article just the blurb. duh..

"The commission's first debate is set for Sept. 30 at the University of Miami, with the PBS anchor Jim Lehrer as moderator; it is to focus primarily on domestic policy. Two more presidential debates are to follow soon after: a town-hall-style meeting in St. Louis with the ABC News anchor Charles Gibson as moderator and a traditional debate in Arizona focusing primarily on foreign policy, with the CBS News anchor Bob Schieffer as moderator. A vice-presidential debate is scheduled for October in Cleveland, with Gwen Ifill of PBS as host."

Any thoughts on Gibson and Schieffer?

[saracat]

6. I am surprised by the choice of Gibson.

He is sort of a has been who never was.I have a feeling based on intuition ,not fact, that he leans repug.Bob Schieffer is a solid second stringer.Jim Lehrer leans left so maybe they are doing a balancing act.Intersting that ,other than the quasi big name status of Lehrer, there are no big names involved.I wonder what the reasoning is? Maybe they don't want the moderator to overshadow the candidates? It seems most of the mix is ineffectual.Maybe that is protection for Bush as it doesn't seem any would rock the boat!

[jean]

2. our side sounds strong - I hope (and pray) they nail the other side down