ASHINGTON - Andrew Card is turning into the Bush team's go-to guy.
The former US Transportation secretary, deputy White House chief of staff, and Massachusetts state representative has taken a second leave of absence from General Motors this year, this time to head up George W. Bush's debate-preparation effort.
Card will not be briefing the Republican presidential contender; he will be handling logistics for the three debates with Democrat Al Gore, as well as the one vice presidential showdown between former defense secretary Dick Cheney and US Senator Joseph I. Lieberman.
The first meeting between Bush and Gore will take place Oct. 3 at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
In May, Bush tapped Card to head up the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, a four-day affair that was widely viewed as a model of party unity and strict message discipline.
''The debates are a very large project unto themselves, so rather than have someone here step away to handle the logistics and the details of the four debates, it made sense to ask Andy,'' Bush spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said yesterday.
''Obviously, they are important. A lot of people will be paying attention. Some of the people will be taking a look at the candidates for the first time in the debates,'' Tucker added.
Card, a Holbrook native who heads GM's government relations department, took an unpaid leave from that post in May to handle the convention. He started his latest leave on Friday.
