et two nights of good sleep in a row.
Eat right for two days straight; nothing spicy, no shellfish.
Clear the decks. Put off what can be put off. Concentrate. Spend two straight days with the briefing books, run through one last practice round versus the stand-in. Then chill the last day. Turn on the Olympics. Go for a walk somewhere quiet. Watch a movie. Take an afternoon nap.
Then go in there and tear the other guy's face off. In a nice way, of course. Be, in the following order: calm, relaxed, resolute, informed, knowledgeable, humorous, self-deprecating, baleful to those who'd threaten America, and, incidentally, don't forget to ask people for their vote, respectfully.
Got that?
It's all you need to know about how to win a presidential debate. The one Tuesday night in Boston is the most important event of the campaign. About 40 percent of the voters are firmly for George by now, roughly the same number are just as strong for Al, period, and the debate is about which fellow closes the sale with 11 of the remaining 20 percent.
And fellas: no props. Please!There's nothing cheesier than one politician playing ''gotcha'' with some shopworn manifesto or some airy-fairy pledge-to-ban-soft-money-or-bad-breath.
It is a mistake to be over-prepared and come across stale. Ronald Reagan and Michael Dukakis both made this mistake. In 1984, Reagan was forgetful and out of synch against Walter Mondale in their first debate. Afterward Reagan chief of staff Jim Baker claims the Gipper's own entourage had ''brutalized'' him with their over-thorough prep work. And Dukakis, feverish and hoarse the day he debated Bush in 1988, clicked into automatic pilot when Bernie Shaw asked the infamous question about the candidate's wife being hypothetically raped and murdered. The Duke regurgitated his memorized anti-capital punishment speech, without appropriate indignation about the premise.
This advice applies to you both, men. You can't be too aggressive, too nervous, too uncertain. George, don't use words you can't pronounce, unless you work in ''subliminal'' as a joke, after you've practiced it 50 times.
Al, your off-camera line at the MTV audience taping worked well: ''Have you heard I invented the environment?'' You know you have the ''stiff'' problem. The only two words that should be scrawled on your dressing room mirror are: ''Lighten up!''
George, you know Gore is going to try to trip you up with complexities about the federal establishment and foreign policy. Back-pedal away from details wherever you can. Details are not your game. Themes, Dubbaya, themes!
Al, you have more experience in this sort of thing than the other guy. But look what happened with that ferocious Russian Greco-Roman wrestler who hadn't lost a point or a match in 13 years. Be on guard. You should not be too condescending, too critical, too mean to the governor.
George, you're going to be asked to justify things you've said about Gore. ''I just don't trust him,'' for instance. Jim Lehrer will be sure to ask if that means you're calling him a liar. You better have a set explanation handy.
Al, you're going to have to send some kind of I'm-not-Bill-Clinton message. You know that. Your wording better be just right, so that it puts some insulation between you and you-know-whom, but doesn't dis Bill, whose economic record is the best thing you've got going for you.
George, you know you're going to hear the old Gipper line, ''Ask yourself this question: Are you better off today than you were four (eight?) years ago?'' Since the answer is demonstrably ''yes!'' for a large proportion of the population, you'll probably have to come back with some sort of ''Yeah, but ...'' response that gets into what you call ''the education recession.'' Because there ain't no economic recession, that's for sure.
Al, the GOP game plan is to brand you a lying exaggerator. It would help to have a list of the nasty things the GOP has put out about you, then ask Bush to rein in his attack dogs.
George, you did an excellent job of playing the wounded innocent after your guys hatcheted John McCain all over South Carolina, New York, and Michigan. Gore is going to pose a bit more of a problem when you take refuge in your ''Who, moi?''act. Be prepared.
Al, you've gotten more mileage out of picking Joe Lieberman as No. 2 than George has with Dick Cheney. Try to work plenty of Joe (the Anti-Clinton) Lieberman into the fray.
A final word to both you: break clean, and above all, avoid low blows. The guy who goes negative loses swing voters in swing states.
Think of the thoughtful moderates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, and Wisconsin. What'll they think about something I'm about to utter. Nice wins, usually. But you can't let the other guy push you around. Strong, but nice; that's the ticket. To the White House.
David Nyhan's e-mail address is nyhan@globe.com.
