Election briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 5, 2000

Debate viewership on par with '96

NEW YORK -- An estimated 46.5-million people watched the first presidential debate Tuesday night between Al Gore and George W. Bush, Nielsen Media Research said.

That's on a par with the 46.1-million people who watched the first duel between President Clinton and Bob Dole four years ago. It didn't come close to the all-time record of 80-million people who tuned in to watch President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan square off in 1980.

Before this debate, predictions that up to 75-million would watch were common.

Fox's decision to broadcast the series premiere of Dark Angel instead of the debate was criticized by the head of the Federal Communications Commission, but it paid off handsomely for the network.

The sci-fi thriller drew 17.4-million viewers. It more than doubled Fox's normal viewership for the night and was the highest-rated Tuesday evening in the network's history.

Fox was the first major broadcast network to ever refuse to show a presidential debate live.

An estimated 6.2-million people saw the debate on NBC, either live or tape delay. Several NBC stations aired the baseball playoff game between the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees instead, and that drew 4.8-million viewers, Nielsen said.

FCC suspends rules on editorials

WASHINGTON -- Federal rules that require broadcasters to give candidates a chance to respond to personal attacks and political endorsements were suspended Wednesday for the duration of the 2000 campaign.

Over the vehement objection of its Republican members, the Federal Communications Commission put the rules on hold, saying that the election season offered "an ideal time to determine how broadcasters are affected by the political editorial rule."

The regulation requires TV and radio stations that endorse a political candidate to notify and give free rebuttal time to the candidate's opponent. The other suspended rule requires broadcasters to provide politicians or other private citizens with air time to respond when they have been attacked.

Campaigning in Florida

GORE AND LIEBERMAN: Al Gore and Joe Lieberman and their wives will lead a rally in downtown Orlando on Friday.

Gore will arrive in Orlando tonight to watch his running mate, Joe Lieberman, on television as he debates Republican Dick Cheney.

Lieberman plans to fly to Orlando after that debate at Centre College in Danville, Ky.

On Friday morning, Gore and Lieberman, and their wives Tipper and Hadassah, will lead a rally at downtown Orlando's Lake Eola Park. Tickets were available from the local Democratic Party.

Clinton says he feels unlucky

JACKSONSVILLE -- "I feel a little jinxed," President Clinton lamented.

No wonder. He was soaked by torrential rains in Miami, had to slog through puddles, missed a fundraiser when Air Force One was grounded by weather and couldn't see half of the presidential debate because cable TV was knocked out in his hotel Tuesday.

To top it off, his limousine broke down in Jacksonville on Wednesday, stuck with its hood up as a mechanic tried unsuccessfully to fix it. Making the best of the situation, the president shook hands with the mechanic and jumped into a spare limousine for a hop to the airport and his ride home.

Cuban-American group undecided

WASHINGTON -- A Cuban-American group influential in Florida agrees with Republican George W. Bush on the issues. but may withhold its endorsement because of its ties to Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman.

"We're torn," Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, said Wednesday.

Garcia said Bush is a better candidate and the Republican Party has a better platform on the issue of Cuba. But Lieberman is a longtime ally of the hard-line, anti-Castro foundation.

Nader: Abolish debate commission

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- A day after being barred from even attending the first presidential debate, Ralph Nader called for an end to the commission sponsoring them.

At a rally Wednesday with 600 people at the University of Hartford, the Green Party presidential candidate blasted "the winner-take-all, two-party duopoly."

Speaking to the media, Nader showed off the ticket he obtained for the debate Tuesday night in Boston. But an official from the Commission on Presidential Debates stopped him from entering the debate hall, telling Nader he was an uninvited guest.

"This is a political exclusion. They dismissed me for political reasons, not because I was disruptive. I'm never disruptive," he said.

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