Televised debates: Dos and Don'ts

Tony Blair is thinking over William Hague's call for a live TV debate. BBC News Online takes a sideways look at what can go wrong when politicians become TV performers.

Television viewers could be tuning into something different during the next election campaign - the first US-style prime ministerial debate.

The prime minister's spokesman, Alastair Campbell, has hinted Tony Blair may go head-to-head on TV with William Hague to debate key policy issues.

But if the American example is anything to go by, issues will be the last thing on many viewers' minds.

"I say we should abolish garish studio sets"

Every political strategist knows the lesson of the 1960 debate between a youthful, clean-cut John F Kennedy and an unshaven, grouchy-looking Richard Nixon.

Don Hewitt, who produced that show, later said: "America elected a president that night [because they liked] the young, handsome Catholic kid from Massachusetts better than the guy who looks like he needs a shave from California".

So if Mr Blair and Mr Hague do square up in front of the cameras, what are the dos and don'ts they should remember?

Do check the debate really is a debate and not some elaborate hoax by Ali G.	Don't go on the show if it is.
Do lie in a vat of industrial-strength anti-perspirant before you go on the show.	Don't go in for nylon shirts - the studio lights mean you could end up with unsightly dark patches.
Do make sure you have at least half a dozen spin doctors standing just out of shot, glaring at the moderator and silently mouthing "you are dead meat pal" if they give you a hard time.	Don't just saunter into the studio in the manner of Michael Foot, start outlining a master plan for world peace and hope everything will turn out for the best.
Do treat the interviewer or moderator with agonising courtesy and respect at all times.	Don't start raving at the interviewer shouting: "I'm not going to sit here and be bloody kebabed by you" as Neil Kinnock once did.
Do use soundbites, soundbites, soundbites.	Don't make them too obscure, like former US presidential hopeful Walter Mondale's "Where's the Beef?". You risk being humiliated with a quip such as "on a cow's backside".
Do make references to popular culture, like George Bush's: "Our families should be less like the Simpsons and more like the Waltons."	Don't go too far, by heralding your entrance into the debating forum with classical music and then start raving "I feel awwwwwright!!!!" in the amalgamated style of James Brown and a football hooligan. Neil Kinnock once tried this, but it merely confused people.
Do constantly assert that you are in command and control of your team in a sort of gentle but firm manner.	Don't start bickering with your political deputy in front of the cameras as David Steel and David Owen once did, even if it does make great telly.
Do promise everyone a tax cut. It is expected and the audience know you are only kidding.	Don't promise to raise taxes - unless you are the Liberal Democrats.
Do remember Jean Giraudoux's maxim: "The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you've got it made."	Don't over-do the sincerity. Richard Nixon had more natural charm than most contemporary politicians but ruined things with a badly judged appearance in front of the cameras stroking a cute little puppy called Chequers.
Do talk a lot about green issues. Posing as a person keen to save the human race from extinction makes it hard for your opponent to land a cheap shot.	Don't arrange to be conveyed to the studio where you will make your "get tough on polluters" speech in either of your two Jaguars.
Do check the cameras have stopped running once the debate is officially pronounced to be over.	Don't start denouncing your cabinet as a bunch of "b*****ds" in a studio full of microphones, John Major style.