WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The Republican party has said U.S. President George Bush might skip one of three planned debates with challenger John Kerry, the Washington Post said.
All three dates and venues have been approved by the Commission on Presidential Debates and accepted by Kerry and his Democratic campaign team.
The debate being resisted is the middle one, planned for Oct. 8 in a town meeting format in the crucial state of Missouri. Its audience at Washington University in St. Louis was to be picked from undecided voters in the area by the Gallup Organization.
A presidential adviser who asked not to be named said campaign officials were concerned people could pose as undecided when they actually are partisans.
Bush plans to accept debates at the University of Miami in Coral Gables Sept. 30 and at Arizona State University in Tempe Oct. 13. The campaign also plans to participate in a vice presidential debate Oct. 5 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
