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Change Your Life! |
Debate in T-shirt & jeans: The Dallas rancher-look |
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News
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October 1, 2000
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - George W. Bush is hunkering down at his ranch for a weekend of debate preparation, but it won't exactly be a dress rehearsal. Sure, he'll be standing behind a lectern during at least one 90-minute practice session against "Al Gore," played by Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. But he'll be doing it in his own laid-back style - in a T-shirt and jeans - at the ranch near Crawford. Senior aides, including communications director Karen Hughes and media adviser Stuart Stevens, will observe and offer tips during the sessions, to be held in what they call "the bunker" - a building that's usually used as an exercise room. A stationary bike and bunk beds will be shoved off to the side. "There aren't very many frills except coffee," Hughes said Friday. "We usually sit on the floor." The informality contrasts with the real thing: the candidates' first debate Tuesday night in Boston. The candidates will appear behind lecterns of prescribed 48-inch (121-centimeter) height, responding to questions from moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS and abiding by strict rules. The Bush campaign has been trying hard to lower expectations for the Texas governor's performance so he will be more likely to look good by comparison. "We all know that the vice president is a world-class debater," Hughes said. "He is acknowledged to be the most experienced debater in American politics today and we expect that he'll have some of the best lines that Hollywood can write at his disposal." She also tried to plant an expectation that Gore wouldn't debate fairly. "I think that one of the problems of debating a lot is that people catch on to your tricks," she said. "Governor Bush is prepared for the vice president to misrepresent his record." In contrast, Hughes said, Bush will go into the debate "speaking from the heart." As Bush practiced in Texas and Gore prepared in Florida this weekend, a controversy over the governor's previous practice sessions shadowed both campaigns. The FBI is investigating how a copy of a videotape of Bush's other practice sessions, along with some debate strategy documents, was sent to Gore headquarters in mid-September. Late Friday, a federal law enforcement official requesting anonymity said the FBI is still investigating the possibility that an employee of Bush's media consultant had sent a package of debate materials despite her denials. The employee, Yvette Lozano, told the FBI that the package she mailed on Sept. 11 contained Gap pants that she was returning for her boss. On Thursday, she told ABC News that FBI agents earlier that day had taken a second set of fingerprints from her and had seized her computer. Former Rep. Tom Downey received the material and said he immediately turned it over to the FBI. Hughes said Friday. Forensic evidence developed by the FBI links Lozano to the package, The Washington Post reported in Saturday editions, citing unnamed sources. Meanwhile, Bush on Friday charged that the administration had left America "at the mercy of big foreign oil," while Gore shot back that Bush just wanted to let oil companies "invade precious natural treasures" in Alaska and elsewhere. With winter approaching and fuel prices high, energy politics was center stage Friday. It was the second time in two days that Bush and Gore spoke on identical issues - on Thursday it was the economy - in a preview of attack lines likely to be heard in Tuesday's debate.
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