No Knockouts--but a Knockout Process : Whirlwind series of TV debates is a great success

Over the last eight days the American people have been exposed to an extraordinary series of presidential debates that by any standard must be judged a success.

The unprecedented process began on Sunday, Oct. 11, with the first televised presidential debate in St. Louis and ended Monday night with a 90-minute showdown among the three leading contenders in East Lansing, Mich. Perhaps at this point many voters are still as undecided--or as decided--as they ever were. But no one can say that this unusual and intense process, in a variety of formats, failed to illuminate the issues and enliven the campaign.

SENSE OF UNDERSTANDING: There were several reasons for this. The first was the varying formats of the three sessions, which at different stages included questions from a studio audience, from a panel of journalists and from a single moderator. Perhaps the single-moderator approach deserves a special award, thanks especially to PBS’ Jim Lehrer Monday night and ABC News’ Hal Bruno last week, for getting the candidates’ juices going.

Another reason for the general vivacity of the process was the presence of independent candidate Ross Perot. There have never been three-way presidential debates such as this, and there has never been a candidate quite like Perot. Part salesman, part sagebrush oracle, Perot especially enlivened the first and third debates with vivid if overly simplistic language and kindergarten imagery. If at times he made President Bush and Gov. Bill Clinton seem like excruciatingly conventional politicians, at other times he made the two major political party’s candidates seem somehow more serious and plausible as commander in chief than they might have looked in the absence of all that third-man twang.

SENSE OF VIGOR: Another reason the debates were successful: Monday night at least, the President seemed to arise from his slumber and give to Clinton as good as he got. If Clinton, nursing a good lead, managed to avoid the big gaffe that his handlers so desperately feared, Bush managed to avoid the big sleep--and at times conveyed his message with new vigor and directness. Bush threw no knockout punches, and as the Republicans now know all too well, the Arkansas governor is indeed a political heavyweight who can take a punch. But Monday the President seemed faster with his one-liners and more forceful with his arguments. That probably won’t fundamentally alter the structure of this battle. But not many experts will be surprised if the President starts to gain a few points--and Perot too. This race could tighten yet.

Indeed, for all the posturing, the candidates were solid on the issues. The TV process added to, rather than detracted from, the citizenry’s ability to make an informed choice. That’s not always the case with TV; that’s certainly not always the case with debates.

The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates that began this process and helped nurse all three snarling parties onto television deserves the great gratitude of the American people.