By Tom Raum
Associated Press Writer
Sunday, Sept. 3, 2000; 7:18 p.m. EDT

AUSTIN, Texas –– The presidential candidates squabbled over debate schedules Sunday as Republican George W. Bush announced he had accepted three prime-time sessions. Democrat Al Gore rejected the plan, saying the formats proposed by Bush could limit the audience and amount of face-to-face debate time.

Bush proposed debating Gore as soon as next week, or Sept. 12, during a special edition of NBC's "Meet the Press;" Oct. 3 in Los Angeles on CNN's "Larry King Live;" and Oct. 17 at Washington University in St. Louis.

The proposal also includes two vice presidential debates: Oct. 11 in Winston-Salem, N.C., and a later forum yet to be decided, Bush said.

"The debates we're accepting begin early next week because we're eager to compare the specifics of our plans for more individual freedom, choice and responsibility with our opponent's plans for bigger, more intrusive Washington bureaucracy that dictates and mandates from afar," Bush said before outlining his proposal at a hastily arranged news conference.

Only one of the debates Bush accepted was recommended by a bipartisan presidential debate commission, which had proposed three 90-minute matchups between Bush and Gore to be aired by all networks. Gore has said Bush must agree to all three before he would be willing to negotiate other alternate debates.

The NBC and CNN debates would last 60 minutes.

"I'm very disappointed in this reaction because what's needed is to respect the right of the American people to see these debates on all networks in prime time, the way it's been done since 1988," Gore said in Philadelphia. "It's not fair to the American people to try to sharply reduce the number of people who can see the debates and reduce the amount of time for the debates."

Gore maintains that the three events proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates will reach the widest viewing audience, and suggests Bush is trying to duck the high-profile meetings in the final weeks of the campaign.

Bush campaign chairman Don Evans said the debates Bush agreed to would happen during prime viewing hours and that both CNN and NBC have agreed to make video feeds of the events simultaneously available to the other networks.

"These were important criteria for us," Evans said.

Bush also said the debates would be carried on the Internet.

Both campaigns are using the posturing over the debates to highlight what they perceive to be their rival's weaknesses.

Accusing Bush of ducking high-profile sessions, Gore's team suggests the Texas governor is not up to the job of facing Gore or running the country. Bush's team says Gore has reneged on his regularly issued challenge to debate Bush anytime and anywhere, and cast the decision as another mark against Gore's credibility. That dovetails with a new Republican ad challenging Gore's veracity.

At the news conference, the Bush campaign played video snippets of Gore accepting offers to debate Bush on both CNN and NBC.

"It's important for the American people to be able to trust the next president to keep his commitments and therefore I take Al Gore at his word that he will be there," Bush said.

Gore campaign chairman William Daley said Bush should follow the example set by his father, former President Bush, and 1996 GOP nominee Bob Dole and participate in the commission debates.

"No candidate should arrogantly insist on debating only where and when it best suits him," Daley said. "Al Gore has already accepted all three of the presidential commission debate invitations. It's time for George Bush to act in the public's interest and do the same."

The commission issued a statement late Sunday, inviting representatives of both campaigns to a meeting early next week to reach a final agreement on fall debates.

Evans of the Bush camp said CNN's King and NBC's Tim Russert were chosen because both interviewers "have a proven track record."

Asked about room for further negotiation over debates, Evans said: "This is our final answer. This is it."

The presidential debate commission had proposed debates Oct. 3 in Boston, Oct. 11 in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Oct. 17 in St. Louis. A vice presidential debate was suggested for Oct. 5 in Danville, Ky.