Nine Key Moments : 1988 Campaign

(8 of 8)

The following morning, Bush made a simple request. Each day he wanted a cogent briefing paper on a single topic likely to be raised in the second contest. That was all. He would prepare himself from that. Before the first debate, Bush had been prepped by as many as ten different coaches, each - offering advice. Watching Quayle's stiff and programmed debate performance also convinced Bush that less would be more. Debater, prepare thyself, was Bush's new motto.

Bush gained confidence as he studied each memorandum. One morning, when the scheduled summary did not arrive, he testily told an aide to get it within an hour. On the plane to the second debate, an aide wandered to the front of Air Force Two and discovered the Vice President talking out loud to himself, conducting a spirited, imaginary dialogue with his Democratic opponent. Bush's new self-teaching method, said one aide, allowed him to "concentrate on being himself, being natural."

As the chief debate coach, Ailes took the blame for Bush's being tense during the first debate. "It was my job to get him relaxed and confident, and it didn't happen," he conceded. On the morning of the second debate, Ailes got a call at 6:45 from Bush saying that he wanted to see him at 8. When Ailes arrived, Bush was already going over his briefing papers. Ailes gave him a "pepper" drill, rapid-fire questions and answers to test Bush's reflexes and the shape of his answers.

Later they toured the debate site, and Ailes, the modern master of muscular advertising, became the clown prince of debate prep. He joked with Bush, teased him, made him laugh. He told Bush at one point, "If he brings up Iran- contra, just walk over there and deck him." When Bush returned to the Beverly Hills Hotel, he received a massage and spent the final 45 minutes before the debate with Ailes.

As the two candidates stood in the wings of the stage, Ailes and Bush looked across at Dukakis and his debate coaches Bob Squier and Tom Donilon, their faces half shrouded by darkness. Ailes waved flamboyantly to his opposite numbers, and Squier raised his hand. Dukakis frowned and folded his arms tightly across his chest. Seeing Dukakis' tenseness, Bush smiled.