https://australianpolitics.com/2000/10/01/gore-bush-prepare-for-debates.html
Vice-President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush are preparing for their encounter this week in the first of three televised debates that have assumed a high degree of importance given the closeness of the presidential election campaign.
The debate takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, at 9pm eastern time on Tuesday (midday Wednesday Australian eastern time).
Opinion polls indicate a see-sawing contest, some showing Gore ahead, others putting Bush in the lead. Allowing for standard margins of error, the polls indicate an election that is, in the words of the much-loved media cliche, too close to call.
The debate takes place amidst an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into the leaking of a video of Bush practising for the debate. The tape was received in the mail by former Democratic congressman Thomas Downey on September 13. It was accompanied by a briefing book used by the Bush campaign. Downey is assisting Gore in his preparations for the debate.
It appears that the package was leaked from the office of Maverick Media, the Bush campaign’s advertising firm. Suspicion has centred on an administrative assistant at the firm, Yvette Lozano, who is recorded on security video with a package she took to the post office from where the leaked package was sent. Lozano has denied being the culprit, claiming that the package simply contained khaki pants her boss was posting home.
The Democrats appear to have handled the incident well. The video was turned over to the police soon after it was received and it is suggested that the video was only viewed to the extent necessary to determine its contents. The Democrats have suggested the package may have been part of a dirty tricks campaign to discredit them prior to the debates.