Presidential hopefuls debate again tonight

The presidential race is the closest America has seen in the past 20 years, and experts say tonight's debate could help determine the winner.\nDemocrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush will meet in their second debate tonight at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.\nThe much-anticipated debate will air nationally on most major networks, and features a changed format -- the two presidential hopefuls will sit at a table with moderator Jim Lehrer. In their first debate, Bush and Gore stood behind lecterns.\n"We know this will be a tight race," said Dave Schnittger, regional press coordinator for Victory 2000, a branch of the Republican National Committee. "Candidates will focus on distinguishing (themselves) from their opponent."\nPolitical science professor Thomas Wolf said the issues the candidates focus on will be based on the questions presented by the debate moderator.\n"Lehrer has a key role in all of this -- (the issues discussed) really depend on the questions Lehrer poses," Wolf said.\nDuring the first debate, the candidates argued about many key issues, including Medicare and tax cuts. Advocates for both sides expect little change in the issues highlighted.\nLisa Kobe, spokeswoman for the Indiana Republican Committee, said she expects Bush and Gore to talk a lot about their differences on the issue of Social Security. \n"Gore is trying to scare senior citizens into thinking Social Security is at risk," she said. Kobe also said she believes Bush will talk about his tax plan, education reform, military development, energy development and his prescription drug plan. \n"Al Gore hurt himself, not by what he said, but how he said it," she said. "Bush will stick to the issues and talk about his positive vision."\nThe vice president will also stick to the issues, said Devona Dolliole, deputy national spokesperson for the Gore-Lieberman campaign. \n"Gore will focus on the issues and how to use these issues to benefit all families, not just a few people." \nShe said she expects Gore will expand on his education plans, such as the a deduction for college tuition and preschool reforms.\nAlthough Gore was declared the winner after the last debate by a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, he received criticism from the Bush campaign and the media for stretching the truth. \nAccording to CNN, Gore exaggerated an anecdote about a crowded classroom and a student who he said had to stand through class for a lack of desks. \nPolitical science professor Leroy Rieselbach said he thinks these mistakes will shift Bush's attention from issues to the character attack approach he used earlier in the campaign. Gore's appearance as "a liar" and "unreliable" will cause Bush to "try to make the most of that," he said. \nSchnittger also said he believes Bush will emphasize Gore's mistakes. \n"If he told that many lies in 90 minutes, how many will he tell in four years?" the Republican spokesman asked.\nGore enters the debate several points behind Bush in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. According to the CNN Web site, the survey of nearly 800 voters conducted Oct. 7-9, shows Bush with 47 percent and Gore with 44 percent. The margin of error the poll reported was 3.5 percent.\n"You have to believe that the numbers have given (Bush) momentum," Kobe said.\nNonetheless, Democratic spokeswoman Dolliole said he believes Gore's apparent triumph in the first debate as well as his grasp on key electoral votes has gives him enough leverage to walk in confident.\n"Bush can't afford to lose two debates," Dolliole said. "This is Bush's last chance to turn the race around."\nAs a result of the changed format, most expect a difference in the two candidates' behavior.\n"Gore was a bit snippy and Bush has a temper that was hard to control," Rieselbach said. But he added in this debate the candidates will be "less testy and get things under control."\nWolf said the format should help Gore. He said it will be easier for Gore to be casual, something Wolf said the vice president struggled with in the first debate. He added the format will allow Bush to be more relaxed as well.\n"This is the format that George Bush referred to as the talk show format ... this is the format that he prefers," Dolliole said.\nWith about 2,000 people in the audience at Wake Forest's Wait Chapel and the national broadcasts of the debate, many people will be paying attention to the candidates, Schnittger said. \n"People aren't just paying attention to what they look like -- they are paying attention to what they say," he said.