Good evening from the Clark Athletic Center at the university of massachusetts in boston. Im jim lehrer of the news hour on pbs and i welcome you to the debate between the democratic candidate for president , Vice President al gore and the republican candidate, governor george w. Bush of texas. They will be conducted within for th formats agreed to by the two campaigns. No answer to a question can exceed two minutes, rebuttals are limited to one minute. But as moderator, i have the option to follow up and extend any particular give and take 3 1 2 minutes. No single answer can exceed two minutes. The candidates under their may not question each other directly. There will be no Opening Statements but each candidate may have up to two minutes for a closing statement. The questions and the subjects were chosen by me alone. I have told no one from the two campaigns or the commission or anyone else involved what they are. Theres a small audience in the hall tonight. They are not here to part
Mr. Lehrer good evening from the Clark Athletic Center at the university of massachusetts in boston. Im jim lehrer of the newshour on pbs, and i welcome you to the first of three 90minute debates between the democratic candidate for president , Vice President al gore and the republican candidate, governor george w. Bush of texas. The debates are sponsored by the commission on president ial debates, and they will be conducted within formats and rules agreed to between the commission and the two campaigns. Tonight, well have the candidates at podiums. No answer to a question can exceed two minutes. Rebuttals are limited to one minute. But as moderator, i have the option to follow up and to extend any particular give and take another threeandahalf minutes. Even then, no single answer can exceed two minutes. The candidates, under their rules, may not question each other directly. There will be no opening statements, but each candidate may have up to two minutes for a closing statement. The
Jim lehrer good evening from the Clark Athletic Center at the university of massachusetts in boston. Im jim lehrer of the newshour on pbs, and i welcome you to the first of three 90minute debates between the democratic candidate for president , Vice President al gore and the republican candidate, governor george w. Bush of texas. The debates are sponsored by the commission on president ial debates and they will be conducted within formats agreed to between the two campaigns. Well have the candidates at podiums. No answer to a question can exceed two minutes. Rebuttal is limited to one minute. But as moderator i have the option to follow up and extend any give and take any threeandahalf minutes. Even then, no single answer can exceed two minutes. The candidates under their rules may not question each other directly. There will be no opening statements, but each candidate may have up to two minutes for a closing statement. The questions and the subjects were chosen by me alone. I have to
30 seconds. Moderator good evening from the Clark Athletic Center at the university of massachusetts in boston. Im jim lehrer of the newshour on pbs, and i welcome you to the first of three 90minute debates between the democratic candidate for president , Vice President al gore and the republican candidate, governor george w. Bush of texas. The debates are sponsored by the commission on president ial debates and they will be conducted within formats agreed to between the two campaigns. Well have the candidates at podiums. No answer to a question can exceed two minutes. Rebuttal is limited to one minute. But as moderator i have the option to follow up and extend any give and take any y 3. 5 minutes. Even then, no single answer can exceed two minutes. The candidates under their rules may not question each other directly. There will be no opening statements, but each candidate may have up to two minutes for a closing statement. The questions and the subjects were chosen by me alone. I hav
Mr. Lehrer good evening from the Clark Athletic Center at the university of massachusetts in boston. Im jim lehrer of the newshour on pbs, and i welcome you to the first of three 90minute debates between the democratic candidate for president , Vice President al gore and the republican candidate, governor george w. Bush of texas. The debates are sponsored by the commission on president ial debates, and they will be conducted within formats and rules agreed to between the commission and the two campaigns. Tonight, well have the candidates at podiums. No answer to a question can exceed two minutes. Rebuttals are limited to one minute. But as moderator, i have the option to follow up and to extend any particular give and take another threeandahalf minutes. Even then, no single answer can exceed two minutes. The candidates, under their rules, may not question each other directly. There will be no opening statements, but each candidate may have up to two minutes for a closing statement. The