Jim Johnson, a former top aide to Walter Mondale who chaired the Gore team responsible for negotiating the debates, said yesterday that the balance of topics the questions would address had been agreed upon by both campaigns.
To a class from the Kennedy School of Government on a special tour of the debate site yesterday afternoon, Johnson also described a coin toss to decide who would speak first.
Toward the end of the negotiations, representatives from the campaigns flipped a coin. The winner could choose one of four options; to be asked the first question, to be asked the second question, to deliver the first closing statement and to deliver the final closing statement.
Bush won, but to the Gore campaign's delight, he chose to give the first closing statement, allowing Gore to be asked the first question by moderator Jim Lehrer.
"It was a complete surprise to us," Johnson said. "Vice President Gore was very eager to be the first person who started out."