Editorial: What is Bush so afraid of?

Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2000 | 10:05 a.m.

George W. Bush showed his true colors Monday when he rejected a bipartisan commission's plan to hold three presidential debates that would be carried by all of the major television networks. Instead the Republican presidential nominee has said he will only agree to one of the 90-minute debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. While Bush also has agreed to two other 60-minute debates -- on NBC's "Meet the Press" and CNN's "Larry King Live" -- both ABC and CBS have said they won't air them because they believe they are promotional vehicles for the competing networks' talk shows. The net effect of Bush's plan is to prevent tens of millions of voters from seeing him debate, which obviously has been his strategy all along.

Bush's handlers want to keep him away from the public as much as possible, especially in events they can't control. Bush's inability to grasp details has gotten him into trouble, and his embarrassing malapropisms have made him and his advisers skittish about debates. In addition, Bush has avoided a policy-based campaign because on many of the key issues the public favors Gore's positions. Debates would amplify the differences, something Bush fears.

While Gore has sought even more debates, he has balked at participating in Bush's scheme. As Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman has said of Bush's proposal: "It is like one of the teams at the Super Bowl saying, 'Oh, I don't want to play in that city, I don't want to play by those rules, I don't want that many people to watch the game." Bush wants to make it seem as if he's willing to debate, when in fact he's trying to structure the debates in a way that will guarantee that as few voters as possible will watch.

The Commission on Presidential Debates was created in 1987 to prevent the very games-playing that George W. Bush now is engaging in. Since 1988 all major presidential contenders -- including Bush's father -- have participated in these debates, which offer voters an excellent opportunity to assess the candidates. The establishment of this forum never was intended to preclude other debates, but it is the starting point. For that matter, there should be even more debates. Bush's calculated refusal to debate shows he is running scared.