Debate rules designed to leave nothing to chance

Benjamin Grove

Monday, Oct. 4, 2004 | 9:06 a.m.

Schedule for the remaining presidential and vice presidential debates:

Vice President Dick Cheney and challenger Sen. John Edwards, 6 p.m. at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland

President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, 6 p.m. at Washington University in St. Louis

Bush and Kerry, 6 p.m., Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz.

WASHINGTON -- Virtually everything about the presidential and vice presidential candidates in their debates this week will be dictated by 32 pages of painstakingly negotiated details -- with no rule too small to ignore.

Top gaming lobbyist Frank Fahrenkopf is familiar with the tiniest of them all.

"This was beyond the pale," Fahrenkopf, who has helped organize 15 presidential debates, said of this year's debates. "I had to approve the pens the candidates had at the podium."

Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, is co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates. He and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk led the effort to organize the widely anticipated on-stage clash last week between President Bush and Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry.

The commission, which also oversees the vice presidential debates, coordinates a varied group of players including university hosts, local governments, police, media and Republican and Democratic party officials -- all of whom demand every detail be exactly right.

Hours before the event Thursday, Fahrenkopf watched as Kerry's daughter, Alexandra, held four neckties -- three red, one blue -- up to her father as he prepared on stage. According to debate rules, the auditorium was sealed and each candidate had time to separately scope out the venue.

"They went with the darkest red," Fahrenkopf said of Kerry's tie.

The Bush and Kerry camps negotiated what may be the most scripted debates ever, from the make-up artists (candidates bring their own) to lectern height (4 feet, 2 inches). The commission ultimately approved the details.

It was "a long, long battle" between Bush negotiator James Baker and Kerry negotiator Vernon Jordan, who haggled over and changed some of the commission's initial debate proposals, Fahrenkopf said.

The two sides often negotiated directly with each other, with the commission anxiously goading the camps to finalize details. The commission, a nonprofit corporation established by the two parties, first sponsored debates in 1988.

The Bush and Kerry teams eventually agreed to something new this year: lectern-mounted lights that indicate time remaining -- green at 30 seconds, yellow at 15 and red at five. A flashing red light meant the speaker had no time left.

Viewers may not have realized an obnoxious buzzer would sound if Bush and Kerry had violated the flashing red light twice. Neither did.

But in practice, the buzzer startled Bush, Fahrenkopf said.

"He jumped," Fahrenkopf said. "He said, 'I'm going to be watching that light like a vulture.' "

The debate details have been widely parodied in the media. Critics said the commission allowed the two sides to broker themselves into a sterile format.

But in a close election when many undecided voters are closely watching the debates, neither candidate wanted to leave a single thing to chance, Fahrenkopf said.

"This is a high-stakes business," Fahrenkopf said. "When they sat down to work out the terms, every detail was important. They don't want any surprises. They don't want their opponent to have the slightest advantage."

The negotiated rule that television cameras would not show candidate reaction while the other was speaking was ignored by the networks. Fahrenkopf had told the Bush and Kerry teams that the commission could not enforce that rule, he said.

Fahrenkopf said it was hard to tell if the camera panning hurt Bush, who pundits said appeared irritated at times.

The Bush team also reportedly argued during negotiations for foreign policy be the focus of the first debate. Asked if that might now play in Kerry's favor, Fahrenkopf said, "I would think that it might."

Fahrenkopf, who has organized political conventions, said he had never seen such security. It took the debate co-chairman half an hour to get through all the checkpoints, he said. Security officers checked the engine of Fahrenkopf's car.

The 252-member audience had to go through a metal-detector checkpoint at a nearby country club, then more metal detectors after a shuttle bus ride to the auditorium, he said. One-third of the event tickets went to Bush, one-third to Kerry. One-sixth of the tickets went to university students and one-sixth to the commission, Fahrenkopf said.

Fahrenkopf sat in the second row behind Jeb Bush's family, near Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and the president's family. A few other celebrity notables were part of the "all-star audience," including golfer Greg Norman, Fahrenkopf said.

Moderator Jim Lehrer prepped the audience before the debate, Fahrenkopf said. He asked that the audience remain silent out of respect for viewers.

"We didn't hear a peep," Fahrenkopf said.