Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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From AP:

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Sen. John Kerry to debate organizers: Let's go light on the lights.

Advisers for the Democratic presidential candidate demanded Thursday that the lights signaling when a speaker's time has expired during debates with President Bush (news - web sites) be removed from the lecterns because they are distracting. The commission hosting the debates refused.

Bush's campaign accused Kerry, known for favoring long sentences and statements, of trying to violate debate rules against windy answers.

An angry exchange between representatives of the Kerry campaign and the Commission on Presidential Debates took place just hours before the candidates were to meet at the University of Miami for the first of three debates, according to several officials familiar with the meeting. Kerry's team threatened to remove the lights when they visit the debate site with the candidate later in the day.

"We'll do what we have to," Kerry strategist Tad Devine said after his meeting with the commission. But he also suggested the dispute will pass once Kerry's team makes its point. "We'll beat them over the head a little bit, then we'll see what happens."

The commission's executive director, Janet Brown, did not return a call from the AP seeking comment.

It's not unusual for the campaigns to haggle over the smallest debate details, but not so close to the event.

The commission placed the lights on the lecterns in clear view of the television audience and those in the auditorium.

An agreement between the Kerry and Bush campaigns required camera-mounted timing lights for each candidate "positioned in his line of sight." It also specified that timing lights "shall be placed such that they are visible to the debate audiences and television viewers."

Mark Wallace, deputy campaign manager for Bush, said Democrats sought the change "because they don't want the American people to know that Sen. Kerry can't follow the rules."

Kerry's team contended that the agreement doesn't specifically say where the lights should be placed, and it said putting them on the lecterns creates a distraction. Devine said the agreement includes a picture of the lectern that doesn't include the lights.

The Bush team pushed for the lights in negotiations with Kerry advisers. "The Bush teams wants to debate about things like this to distract from the real issues," Devine said.

Search the Kerry team for screwdrivers!

What the heck is this about? I guess the fear is that Kerry will speak... a bit longer than he needs to, and that viewers could see the time-expired light and would be turned off by Kerry's speaking longer than he's supposed to.

Still, very, very odd to have this fight this close to the actual debate.

UPDATE: Kerry Spot reader Steve takes the first shot: "If Kerry can't handle a few little light bulbs in his face when he answers questions how does he expect to sell the world on his ability to stand tall in the face of the bright lights that will shine on him in the world stage?"

UPDATE, AGAIN: Many, many Kerry Spot readers are asking whether the fear in the Kerry camp is that the lights might make their candidate look... orange. (giggle, snicker)

UPDATE, YET AGAIN: Carl Cameron on Fox News says that Kerry campaign staffers say the complaint about the lights was a parlor game, designed to distract Kerry's critics and the Bushies. Uh-huh.

UPDATE: One of my favorite liberal readers, upon reading "if Kerry can't handle the lights, how will he handle the world," etc., asks, "If Bush can't handle a couple of direct questions from Kerry, how does he expect the American public to believe he has the strength and intelligence to get us out of the morass we find ourselves in over in Iraq?"

Hey, if it were up to me, it would be no moderators, no questions from news folks or audience members, no audience, just Kerry and Bush in two chairs for an hour, no rules other than time limits. (And I think 90 minutes is too long.) So do I wish each guy could ask the other guy questions? Sure.

By the way, I strongly suspect that Kerry will just ignore the rule and ask Bush a direct question tonight. What is Bush going to do, complain that Kerry's breaking the rules? Most viewers would see that as whining. Is Jim Lehrer going to smack either candidate around over this? I doubt it.

The only way to handle a direct question in violation of the rules is to say, "You know, I thought we agreed to no questions from the candidates this evening, but I'm game if you are. To answer your question, I think the best policy is to... (insert best answer Bush can come up with on his feet here) . Now that I've answered your question, I'd like you to extend me the same courtesy. (insert best Christmas-in-Cambodia/why-did-you-vote-against-the-$87-billion/just-what-did-you-accomplish-in-the-Senate-for-20-years/did-you-throw-your-medals/what's-with-that-tan question here.)

[Posted 09/30 02:00 PM]