When Bill Clinton and Bob Dole square off in presidential debate, Cape Girardeau's opinion of their performances will count.

Cape Girardeau is among 18 national research sites participating in Debate Watch '96, a project of the Commission on Presidential Debates. The commission coordinates presidential debates.

Jay Goff and Tom Harte, both of Cape Girardeau, are state coordinators for Debate Watch '96 and will help collect personal opinions of the debates.

Debate Watch '96 grew from a 1992 research project by the University of Kansas. Goff was a senior researcher at the university. The original project asked focus groups to evaluate the debates. Researchers found that participants learned little from the debates, but the discussion afterwards offers lots of insight into what is important to communities.

The 1996 drive is to involve a million people in groups of about a dozen each. "Anyone can play a part this year," Goff said. "People will set up these groups in their homes, churches, community centers, get together with friends and family."

Debate Watch packets are available free at Grauel Language Arts Building, room 217, on the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

Groups across the country will watch debates, discuss the issues and relate their opinions to the national headquarters. Within 48 hours after each debate, results of the Debate Watch polls will be given to national media and to Debate Watch's Internet site.

"It's totally a grassroots effort," Goff said. "We don't care who is there, and we just have three general rules:" Don't discuss who won the debate, don't listen to pre-debate hype, and turn off the television as soon as the debate is over.

A set of questions in the packet allows each group across the nation to ask the same things. A group leader fills in the form and faxes results to the national headquarters so information is included in the national data.

For groups with access to the Internet, online live discussions can be held with other Debate Watch groups from across the country.

For research purposes, 18 focus groups will also follow the procedure under more tightly controlled circumstances. One of those groups is in Cape Girardeau.

Results from the 18 focus groups will be compared to the "open" groups to see if any differences exist. Goff predicts results in both groups will be much the same.

Goff is assistant director of admissions at Southeast Missouri State University. He is also an expert in political communications. Harte teaches a course on political communications. His students will be setting up Debate Watch parties as part of the course.

Harte's students also will work with the main focus group, which will be videotaped and monitored.

A former debate coach, Harte said the more presidential debates resemble "real debates" the better.

"What Debate Watch is trying to do is to focus on the issues and make more of a debate of it," Harte said. "It adds a dimension of feedback and more discussion of issues."

For example, in 1992 the focus groups reported that they wanted discussion on issues that weren't included in the debate.

Goff said: "We want to put the public agenda back into the election. We are also teaching people how to discuss politics and disagree without being disagreeable."

The Commission on Presidential Debates was formed during the 1988 presidential election. It is a non-profit, non-partisan, privately-funded group. Goff said that prior to the commission, political campaigns attempted to manipulate and organize debates to such an extent that an organized presentation resembling a debate was nearly impossible. Political wrangling still exists, but the commission has guidelines to help direct the debate process.

Ross Perot's unsuccessful bid to join the debates shows how important the commission remains, Goff said. The commission this week denied Perot's request to be part of the debate, based on its guidelines.

"He just doesn't have the following he had in 1992," he said.

If Perot were allowed to debate, Goff said, the debates would likely have to include at least five or six other candidates. "There are over 40 different parties registered, including the Vegetarian Party and the Down with Lawyers Party. Where do you draw the line?" Goff asked.