Debates end with St. Louis showdown

Stakes are running high for Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush as they duel in the third and final debate which could help determine who's the next president.\nThe concluding debate between the two leading Presidential candidates is at Washington University in St. Louis and will air at 8 p.m. today on ABC, NBC, CBS, C-SPAN and CNN. \nThe university's athletic center has been transformed into a virtual "town hall," in which the candidates will have lecterns but will also be allowed to move around the room. The debate will again be moderated by broadcast journalist Jim Lehrer, and the audience will be able to ask questions. \n"There are people out there who are still not quite decided," said history professor emeritus George Juergens. "This may be the occasion for them to make up their minds."\nAssistant political science professor Christine Barbour said she expects both candidates to do well, although she said she is interested to see what strategies they use. \nDuring the first debate, Bush and Gore were restricted to lecterns. The second debate was less formal, and both candidates and Lehrer were seated at a table.\nDevona Dolliole, deputy national spokeswoman for the Gore-Lieberman campaign, said it is necessary for Gore to leave a lasting impression in the public's mind in the last debate.\n"These debates will allow Gore to lay down issues with a long shelf life," she said. \nSome say there is really no way to tell what issues will be addressed because the audience will be asking the questions, rather than Lehrer. \nCollege Republican press secretary sophomore Marisa Etter said she expects many issues to be addressed because it is the final debate. She said she thinks foreign policy will be addressed in light of what is happening in the Middle East.\n"I would assume there will be quite a few questions on foreign policy," Juergens said. "All of the sudden the world seems to be very unstable."\nBoth candidates have been criticized by several publications for their performances during the past two debates, and both are expected to plan their strategies accordingly. Barbour and Juergens said they had seen two different personalities from Al Gore in the two debates. \n"I don't know which Al Gore will come out," Barbour said.\nEtter said she expects Bush to "be able to explain himself as clearly as possible." Etter noted that Bush received criticism for not knowing his statistics during the first two debates, and she said she expects him to be more prepared in that area. \nAcross the street from the debate, members of O17 and the community will convene to protest the exclusion of Ralph Nader and other pressing issues. O17, which stands for Oct. 17, is a group created specifically to protest the debate and bring public attention to the issues they believe will be left out of the debates.\nWashington University student Matthew Henoch will dressing as a barrel of toxic waste for the protest. \n"The debate organization is a nonprofit organization," he said, "but the main funding comes from the Democratic and Republican parties." \nHenoch said he believes the guidelines the parties lay down to enter the debates are biased against third-party candidates.\n"A lot of people are turned off by the fact that third parties aren't invited (to the debates)," Barbour said.\nNational media and political analysts hailed Gore as the winner of the first debate, and Bush came out on top after the second debate. The polls have consistently shown Bush to be in the the lead -- but only by a few points. \n"My guess is that one or both candidates are going to do something to shake up the polls," Barbour said.