USD Magazine, Fall 1992

appearance on Oct. 4. George Bush doesn't respond, but it is believed he will make a decision once the Republican National Convention has ended. • Sept. 2. Though the Bush camp says he wants to debate, his spokes– men express dissatisfaction with the commission's recommendations, pri– marily, it is believed, because of the proposed format change. While pre– vious debates had the candidates questioned by a panel of journalists, the commission proposed to have a single moderator pose the questions, feeling it would allow more substan– tive discussion of issues. • Sept. 14. With the first pro posed debate scheduled for Sept. 22 at Michigan State University, Clin– ton announces that he will appear in East Lansing with or without Bush. The president says there will be debates, but does not confirm or deny the East Lansing date. • Sept. 15. The Com– response is received. • Sept. 1 &. The Sept. 22 debate in East Lansing is canceled because too little time is left to complete preparations. Instead, the Bush cam– paign proposes two debates conduct– ed by a panel of journalists, giving Clinton a deadline of Sept. 18 to respond or else have no debates at all. A Clinton spokeswoman accuses Bush of "fiddling around." mission on Presidential Debates gives Bush a 10 a.m. deadline to commit one way or the other on the East Lansing debate. No

Bowl. With the proliferation of satellites, the debates reach a world– wide audience. Foreign countries, even those that are not English– speaking, carry the debates live. "The day before this event, the day of the event, and the day after, the University of San Diego will be the dateline on the biggest political story filed worldwide. It will be the setting for major TV programs all over the country and all over the world for up to three days. There is probably no better opportunity to impress a large group of journalists with the quality of your campus, of your students, and of the education– al programs you have. And there's

one other benefit: you're a major

player in the most important politi– cal event that leads to the election of the most important political leader in the world. This is work that's worth doing." And the work continued. W hile the USD campus was being readied for the debates to arrive, the debates were going nowhere fast. The bipartisan debate commission's Aug. 14 proposal had been followed by weeks of decidedly partisan maneuvering: eAug. 14 Bill Clinton accepts the commission's proposal of both dates and sites, including the USD

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