Dole Agrees To Free TV Experiment

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 25) -- Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole has agreed to participate in a free TV experiment this fall, as long as rival Bill Clinton can't beam his addresses from the Oval Office.

Under the plan, which the TV networks are still considering, the candidates would deliver ten 2 1/2-minute talks on issues of their choice, during the final month of the campaign.

The idea was proposed in April by a group called the Free T.V. for Straight Talk Coalition, which suggested it would improve the campaign by moving the debate beyond eight-second sound bites and 30-second attack ads.

CNN and the other networks have agreed to offer free time to the candidates, but not in exactly the format proposed by the coalition, led by former Washington Post reporter Paul Taylor.

The Clinton campaign has not decided whether to accept the idea.

Dole Agrees To Free TV Experiment

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