CORAL GABLES, Florida (CNN) -- The stakes are high for both candidates in tonight's presidential debate, with President Bush hoping to maintain his lead in the polls over Sen. John Kerry and Kerry hoping to clarify his platform for the American public.
It's an important task: Recent polls showed that many American voters say that what they hear in the three scheduled presidential debates will make a difference in how they vote. (Special Report: America Votes 2004, the debates)
In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday, 18 percent of registered voters said the debates would make a difference.
And an Annenberg Election Survey released Tuesday found that only about half of those asked could correctly match the candidates with their positions on several policy issues.
The debate begins at 9 p.m. ET at Florida's University of Miami. CNN plans live coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET. CNN.com will offer two streams of live video, one showing the debate and one showing a companion show anchored by Bill Hemmer.
President Bush Thursday toured Stuart, Florida, one of the cities hardest-hit by Hurricane Jeanne last week -- the fourth hurricane to hit the state in six weeks.
He and his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, visited a relief center where hurricane victims filled out forms to get federal aid.
The president has made Florida a priority in this campaign season, after the vote-counting debacle there in the 2000 election that eventually handed him the White House. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Wednesday showed 52 percent of likely voters there planned to cast their ballot for Bush, while 43 percent said they would vote for Kerry. One percent of those asked said they would vote for independent Ralph Nader. (How to read poll results)
In a conference call ahead of the debate, Bush campaign officials again highlighted what they said was Kerry's flip-flopping on several issues, most notably the war in Iraq.
"Vacillation is who he is, it's his strength, it's his defining characteristic," said Nicolle Devenish, director of communications for the Bush campaign.
She said Kerry has stated 11 different positions on Iraq and the war on terror. However, the independent campaign Web site FactCheck.org Monday disputed such claims, saying its analysis shows Kerry's position has been consistent.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who has been active in the Kerry campaign, told CNN's "American Morning" on Thursday that Kerry would lay out a strategy for Iraq that would be different -- "not this arrogant approach that we have at this moment, where everybody needs to do what we tell them to."
She described the current situation in Iraq as "a mess that has been created by an administration that is not telling us the truth about what is happening on the ground."
Ken Mehlman, Bush's campaign manager, told reporters the debate will be a chance for Americans to measure both men, side by side. (Stakes high heading into debates)
"This debate provides a greater clarification to the discussion, and with 50 million eyes watching, you'll continue to have the back-and-forth and people can fundamentally judge what kind of people they are," he said on a conference call.
Kerry arrived in Florida Wednesday night and proclaimed himself ready for the face-off.
"We're going to get an opportunity to debate with the president about the direction of this country and I'm looking forward to that debate," he told cheering supporters.
Kerry aides said the senator has been participating in mock debates in Wisconsin for the past several days to hone his arguments and keep his answers focused.
The Democratic candidate told ABC's "Good Morning America" that he's psyched himself up for the debate by thinking "about America and what he (Bush) has done to it and what he's doing to it today."
"It's not very hard. Boy, if that doesn't make you angry and psych you up, I don't know what will," he said in an interview taped Tuesday. (Kerry discusses $87 billion comment)
A 32-page agreement reached last week between the two campaigns sets out the rules for the debates with great specificity, down to details such as the temperature of the hall, what kind of paper can be used to take notes and who can be standing in the wings backstage. (Networks balk at debate agreement)
A second debate will be October 8 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and a third is scheduled for October 13 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.
A vice presidential debate will be October 5 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/30/debate.main/index.html
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