CANDIDATES SEE RED OVER RULES

Boston Herald

Noelle Straub
Friday, October 1, 2004

They made the rules but that doesn't mean they liked them.

``Let's change the rules,'' a smiling Sen. John F. Kerry suggested partway into last night's debate as President Bush requested more time to answer, adding it would spark a more freewheeling discussion.

The presidential candidates chafed under the highly restrictive rules governing the debate, at times seemingly stretching their answers to fit the time requirements but far more often asking for extra seconds for rebuttals.

The candidates also could not directly question each other, but the two attacked each other's policies and judgment often enough to allow a sense of some back-and-forth or point, counterpoint.

According to rules negotiated by both campaigns, each candidate had two minutes to answer a question, followed by a 90-second rebuttal. They could have an extra 30-second response only if allowed by moderator Jim Lehrer, a request he usually granted.

Bush signaled several times to Lehrer that he wanted extra time, an exasperated look on his face as Kerry wrapped up an answer.

Perhaps trying to fight his reputation for being long-winded, Kerry tended to stop his answer just as his time had expired. During one answer, Kerry said, ``I see we have just a little bit more time,'' before extending his response.

For the first time in a presidential debate, the candidates had to obey a series of colored lights on their podium - visible to the TV audience - that showed their time was running out. With 30 seconds to go in the allotted two minutes, a green light went on, followed by yellow with 15 seconds, red at five seconds and flashing red after time ran out.

A backup buzzer system designed to cut off any further answer was never used.

A dispute arose over the lights yesterday, when the Kerry campaign said their placement on the podiums was too distracting and demanded they be removed. But the Commission on Presidential Debates denied the request.

Bush and Kerry also abided by a ban on challenging each other to make a pledge of any sort and on moving from behind their podiums.

In negotiations over the rules, the Kerry camp's main goal was to secure a third town hall-style debate, but that meant yielding on some of the debate format, for instance, allowing follow-ups to be sharply limited.