Candidates ready for first face-off.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

In the final nervous minutes before President Bush and Sen. John Kerry square off tonight in the first of three nationally televised debates, they would do well to consider the advice of 17-year-old debater Linzy Munger of Willamette High School.

"If you go into the debate saying, `I'm right, they're wrong,' there's nothing to it," said Munger, whose school won a national championship in public forum debate last year. "Even if your arguments are weak and deep down you know that, as long as you act confident in yourself, it's like a sure thing. That's how I do it."

Experts from all walks of life in Eugene-Springfield - from professors to car salesmen to TV anchors - weighed in Wednesday on what these presidential candidates must say tonight, and how they must say it, to win over the American people.

A free-wheeling, no-holds-barred debate has all but been eliminated by a 30-page agreement that defines the topic - foreign policy - and the procedure, said David Frank, a rhetoric professor in the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon.

But attentive viewers will still gain valuable insights, he said: "Listen with great care to the evidence and the reasoning both candidates use to present their respective cases. It's much more impressive to reason - to know how to think and use evidence well - than to gesture in a particular style or use the cadence of John F. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan."

In other words, selling yourself to the American people is like selling a car - "You can't say to them, `Just trust me, this is a good deal,' ' said Vic Bellotti, a salesman for 20 years at Springfield Buick (no relation to University of Oregon football coach Mike Bellotti).

The Information Age has armed Americans - be they car shoppers or voters - with a wealth of facts, Bellotti said. He encouraged the candidates to do what he does when stumped - admit it.

"If somebody comes up with a question and they find out you were wrong and you lied, they won't buy it from you," he said. "It comes back down to credibility."

But UO political science professor Eric McGhee said neither candidate should draw a blank, because they'll win the debate by hammering home the same message they've used on the campaign trail for months.

The president's strategy should be easy - portray himself as consistent in the war on Iraq, and Kerry as a flip-flopper - while Kerry's is dicier, McGhee said.

When Bush attacks Kerry's voting record on the war, McGhee said the senator from Massachusetts must turn it around by saying, ` `That's not the debate today, Mr. President,' and then, speaking to the camera, `You, the American people, need to understand that he's trying to distract you from the real issue, which is his failed policy on the ground ...' '

Television cameras also will leave viewers with a lasting impression not just of what Bush and Kerry say - but what they do.

"TV is a strange medium in that it does pick up on sometimes unintentional gestures and gives them great meaning," said Frank, of the honors college. "George Bush Sr. looking at his wrist watch - many people saw that as an indicator that he didn't take the debate as seriously as he might - (or) Al Gore sighing through the entire debate. The sighs and the nonverbal indicators seem to overwhelm the substantive arguments he was making."

Clothes make a statement, and that's the last thing you want as a presidential candidate on TV - keep it conservative with dark suits, white or blue shirts and a tie of red, blue or gold, said Todd Stricker, of Men's Wearhouse in the Valley River Plaza.

"You don't want to be remembered for an outrageous-looking suit," he said.

Rick Dancer, longtime local anchor for KEZI-TV, said the candidates also would do well to replace "I" statements with the universal "we."

"When you use 'I' it sounds like it's all about you, it's egocentric," Dancer said. "It's got to be, `We the American people will do this under my leadership, we can make this a better country, with my plans.' '

Dancer also suggested that the candidates mind their mannerisms. He can live with interview subjects who occasionally stammer, but he'd rather they said nothing at all if plagued with the need to say "um."

"You don't want to say `um,' ' Dancer said. "If you do it a lot, it's irritating."

WHERE TO WATCH

Need some like-minded souls to watch the debate with? The following groups are holding debate parties:

College Republicans: Town Club, 975 Oak St., Suite 900, 6 p.m.

College Democrats: Knight Law Center, Room 110, 6 p.m.

Debate Watch: Vets Club, 1626 Willamette St., 5 p.m., beginning with conference call with James Carville and Paul Begala of CNN's Crossfire and Congressman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.