VOTERS WANT ISSUES DISCUSSED

Voters in Southeast Missouri say they hope to hear discussion of issues, not personal attacks in today's presidential debate in St. Louis.

"For me, the two issues that are most important are education and health care, not what Bill Clinton did 20 years ago," Betsy Moffatt, 21, said Saturday.

The 6 p.m. debate will take place at Washington University and include George Bush, Bill Clinton and independent candidate Ross Perot.

Moffatt and her fiance, Tony Caramatti, 23, are members of the Young Democrats organization at Southeast Missouri State University, and were staffing the club's booth Saturday at the university for students and visiting parents. This weekend is "Family Weekend" at Southeast.

Members of the Young Republicans also have high hopes for today's debate.

"I think George Bush is going to surprise a lot of people," said Alan Pearlman, who helped distribute fliers and stickers for various Republican candidates to students and parents Saturday.

Pearlman, a freshman, said voters will likely form final opinions as to which candidate they will vote for, after viewing the debate.

"The race is going to be pretty close, and a lot of people will make up their minds because of what they see at the debate," Pearlman said.

The debate among Bush, Clinton and Perot may be the most-watched political event of the 1992 campaign, said Thomas Harte, a professor of speech communication at the university.

Both Bush and Clinton have the potential to shake up the polls and sway voters who still need a final nudge to commit to either candidate, he said.

"A lot of people who have decided not to vote for Bush still need that extra push to vote for Clinton," Harte said. "Bush has to appear more attractive to voters than he has to this point, and Clinton is also going to want to reassure voters they can trust him enough to vote for him."

Harte, who teaches debating techniques at the university, said Republican and Democratic campaign strategists have been attempting to minimize voters' expectations of their candidates so that voters are impressed by what they see.

With "unpredictable" Perot in the ring, it's unlikely that either Bush or Clinton will emerge as a total victor, but there is a chance voters could be swayed if the two say the right things, he said.

"What (Bush) ideally needs to say is that the next four years are going to be different or that he has some plan to turn the economy around," Harte said.

"Clinton has to be competent and forceful, but he can't be so good that people start to think it's all technique."

Clinton may have the upper hand because of recent polls indicating he is ahead in the race and because "he's running against an incumbent at a time when incumbents aren't very well thought of," Harte said.

"Clinton will win if he can just get through it without making a major blunder, whereas Bush has got to show us something we haven't seen up until now."

But Harte admits that even in a setting designed to focus on issues instead of image, both candidates have to be concerned about making a good impression on voters and avoid appearing less than confident.