By Globe Staff and Wires, 10/12/2000

The third-party candidates Patrick J. Buchanan and Ralph Nader still say that the commission sponsoring the debates unfairly excluded them. ''They're not just denying me the right to be heard. They're denying the American people the right to hear me,'' Buchanan, the Reform Party candidate, said after a speech at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. Nader, the Green Party candidate, speaking in Louisville, Ky., at a rally with supporters, said he plans to sue the commission. ''They excluded the wrong guy,'' he said. (AP)

STOP SQUIRMING: Before the issues, debating cosmetics

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Did George pivot? Did Al lean? No, we're not talking about their political performance; we're talking about how George W. Bush and Al Gore behaved in their chairs at the debate last night. There was extensive pre-debate debate about what kind of chairs to use for the discussion: stationary, or ones that swivel. Andrew Card, the Massachusetts native and debate chief for the Bush campaign, said there also was talk about whether the seats should be adjustable. Card said the Gore team wanted fixed-height chairs, apparently to accentuate the vice president's slight height advantage over Bush. The two sides ended up agreeing to adjustable seats locked at the same height. Another Bush aide said the Gore team was concerned about the use of a camera aiming out from a hole in the backdrop. They wanted it to show only moderator Jim Lehrer, not the candidates. Speculation about the reason abounded, but Gore is known to be self-conscious about a thin spot on the back of his head. By the way, all the details were codified in a 31-page debate agreement. (Globe Staff)

A STANDUP ACT: A Gore spokesman goes for the yuks

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The word is that Chris Lehane, chief spokesman for Vice President Al Gore, will launch a public relations firm after the election next month, but that if that doesn't pan out, he could have a career in standup comedy. Lehane wended his way through ''Spin Alley'' at last night's debate, offering his take on Gore's performance. He also fed up a series of one-liners, several of which pivoted off the fact that this North Carolina city is home to Krisy Kreme doughnuts. To wit: ''George W. Bush is a lot like a Krispy Kreme doughnut: a lot of frosting, but no substance.'' Then: ''George W. Bush's policies are a lot like Krispy Kreme doughnuts: there's a lot of holes in them.'' Then: ''These phones are a lot like George W. Bush's policies: they don't connect.'' Cue the rimshot. Or get out the hook. Please. (Globe Staff)

N.Y., NATIONWIDE: Lazio takes race to new frontiers

NEW YORK - In a new twist on fund-raising, Representative Rick Lazio has started to broadcast ads for his New York Senate race on national television shows. Believed to mark the first time a statewide candidate has purchased air time far outside his state borders, the 30-second ad has run on MSNBC, CNBC, Fox News, and the Weather Channel. Ironically, the ad attacks Lazio's opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for ''raising millions of dollars ... from Hollywood liberals and big special interests to buy a US Senate seat in New York.'' The announcer pleads, ''Let New York choose its own senator'' - with, so it seems, millions of dollars from cable-TV viewers in Texas and Montana. Lazio's media strategist, Mike Murphy, who calls the buy ''our own McDonald's secret spice,'' said he kept the idea under wraps for fear that Clinton would copy it. (Globe Staff)