15 Presidential Hopefuls OK Debate Dates in ’88

WASHINGTON —  Eight Democratic and seven Republican presidential hopefuls have agreed to four dates for debates during the fall of 1988 if they win their parties’ nominations, party leaders said today.

The candidates’ promise of the four dates is a major coup for the parties, which announced last year that they would hold their own general election debates. The League of Women Voters has sponsored presidential debates since 1976.

The 1988 dates chosen are Wednesday, Sept. 14; Sunday, Sept. 25; Tuesday, Oct. 11, and Thursday, Oct. 27.

“All the major party candidates on both sides have agreed to set aside these dates,” Republican National Committee Chairman Frank J. Fahrenkopf said.

“I think the statement of agreement on these dates takes this commission a long way toward permanent establishment of party-sponsored debates,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul G. Kirk said.

As for the League of Women Voters, which has said it will go forward with its own plans for debates, Kirk said, “The league filled a void in the past.”

Kirk used the analogy of “a little boy whose sister did his homework. . . . That can’t go on forever.”

Fahrenkopf made it clear that the parties’ Commission on Presidential Debates does not plan to get involved in primary debates. The league has already announced its intention to hold primary-season debates in New Hampshire and in Tennessee.

At a news conference, Fahrenkopf and Kirk also announced the appointment of a 23-member advisory board filled with luminaries from both parties, including former Pennsylvania Gov. Richard Thornburgh, former Rep. Barbara Jordan and former Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird.