Dubya To Deal On Debates

George W. Bush's campaign will meet with Al Gore's representatives and the Presidential Debate Commission next week to "break this impasse" and negotiate terms for debates this fall, Bush's spokeswoman said Friday.

The two candidates have been trading barbs on the subject for weeks. Recently Bush has been insisting on a schedule that would include only one Commission-sponsored presidential debate and two other less-formal TV confrontations, while Gore has said he would consider other formats only after Bush agreed to the widely telecast Commission debates.

Bush now has told campaign chairman Don Evans to tell the Commission he is ready "to discuss with them and with the Gore campaign a way to work out a plan so there will in fact be debates," said communications director Karen Hughes.

"He is taking the initiative to break this impasse," she said.

Janet Brown, executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates, said in a statement, "The Bush campaign has accepted the CPD's invitation to meet. We are working to schedule a meeting with Bush and Gore campaign representatives next week."

Bush has been anxious to get all the talk about debate negotiations off center stage. Republicans concerned about Gore's surge in polls have complained the topic has been a distraction for the campaign and for voters Bush is trying to reach.

One possibility being discussed at the Austin headquarters is accepting two Commission-sponsored debates while trying to secure a less formal non-Commission session to start off the debate season.

Hughes said the Bush campaign received word from NBC that there would not be a debate on Tuesday night - the first of the non-Commission debate offers Bush had accepted - since Gore sent the network a letter saying he would not attend.