Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 25, 1993 TAG: 9309250135
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Rob Eure and Greg Schneider
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For two months, the combatants have tangoed privately over the meaty issue of debates. In that time, they came up with 21 conditions under which they will agree to stand next to each other in front of people.
Debate rule No. 21: "Candidates may use risers to equalize the perceived height of the candidates. If a riser will be used, it must be identified at the time of the coin toss to determine speaking order for each debate (See Rule No. 8) and must be available for inspection at that time."
Rule No. 8 calls for the coin toss a week ahead of the debate. It is not to be confused with Rule No. 20, which calls for a separate coin toss to settle the all-important 15-second question:
"Candidates will be given a flash-card time cue at 15 seconds before his or her time expires. Another cue will be given 30 seconds or 45 seconds before time expires, depending on the outcome of a coin toss, as follows: One coin toss will be held to determine time cues for all three debates. The winner of the coin toss will determine whether the cue will be at the 30- or 45-second mark for two debates, and the loser will determine the cue for the other debate. The winner will specify the two debates to which the cue he/she selects will apply."
Clearly, the kind of sweeping consensus-building that makes governing possible. Of course, the rules - covering debates to be televised on Oct. 7, 12 and 18 - have the tenuous-sounding title, "Debate Agreement as of Sept. 17, 1993." Apparently, negotiations continue.
Maximum riser height, for instance, is not addressed; nor who inspects the riser, what the inspector will look for, who will guard the riser for the week before the debate, and what is the penalty for the old trap-door-in-the-riser trick?
Virginians need answers.
Or maybe they just need more telephones and fax machines. That's where virtually all news stories from the campaigns get their start.
An unofficial tally of calls to our Richmond bureau during the past week shows Allen's camp clearly favoring the fax, while Terry's workers crave the sound of a human voice, or at least a reporter's voice.
Allen sent 14 faxes, twice the number Terry did. But his crew only phoned 10 times, compared with 15 calls from Terry's crew.
The lieutenant governor's race was virtually silent, with each campaign managing only one phone call and one fax in the past seven days.
GOP attorney general candidate Jim Gilmore inexplicably sent almost as many faxes as Terry, including the week's length-leader, a 20-page message on his telephone records. On page 20, the document ended abruptly with a note that it was too long to fax, and reporters should go to Gilmore's office to view the whole thing. And then Gilmore sent THE SAME 20 PAGES to several other newspapers. So much for saving paper.
Thanks to the campaigns, our Richmond bureau now is burning through fax paper at the rate of one roll a day.
Terry began the week having lost her lead in the polls, but apparently determined to squash Allen in fund raising. She collected money Saturday at a dinner in Northern Virginia, Sunday at a Virginia Beach polo match, Monday at an apartment overlooking Central Park in New York, and Tuesday at a Richmond "hoedown" where she wore cowgirl clothes.
While Terry was saddling up some big Democratic donors at the hoedown - 10 grand for a group of eight, half of whom could go on to the real highfalutin' private party later - Allen made a show of having a "Two-bit" weenie roast across the street for 25 cents a person.
What Allen didn't mention as he skewered his opponent for high living was that later that night, just down the street, he was having his own private big-dollar fund-raiser.
Rob Eure and Greg Schneider cover state politics from this newspaper's Richmond bureau.
by CNB