First Debate Crucial for Gore and Bush

— -- The stakes are high as Al Gore and George W. Bush steel themselves for the first presidential debate.

ABCNEWS.comOct. 3— With the first presidential

debate only hours away, Al Gore and George W. Bush are in Boston, making their final preparations for what each candidate knows could be a crucial showdown.

The stakes for the two candidates could not be higher, with the race for the White House locked in a dead heat and Election Day five weeks off.

The latest ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll shows Gore leading Bush 48 percent to 46 percent — a virtual tie given the survey’s three-point error margin.

“It’s a close election so every big event like this … can have a pretty healthy impact,” Karl Rove, Bush’s chief political strategist, said this morning on CBS’ Early Show. “People will see how both these men handle themselves under pressure.”

“This is a big night in the campaign, no matter how you look at it,” agreed Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman. “This is a close election.”

Candidates Face Different Challenges

The vice president and the Texas governor will each face particular challenges during the 90-minute forum at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Gore, who has a reputation as an effective and aggressive debater, hopes to show his mastery of the issues without appearing too hostile toward his opponent.

“I’m not sure there will be attacks,” Gore told ABCNEWS’ Terry Moran on Monday. “There won’t be any from me. If there are from him, I’ll deal with that at the time.”

The vice president described the debate as being “kind of like a job interview” in which the American people represent “the ones that are doing the hiring.”

But the Bush camp says the Texas governor is preparing to face an opponent in full attack-mode.

“It’s clear they’re going to be on the attack,” Rove said today on ABCNEWS’ Good Morning America. “I suspect we’ll have a lot of mischaracterizations by Vice President Gore — that’s much his tactic.”

Lieberman said the vice president would not shy way from engaging Bush on specifics.