AUSTIN, Texas - Rejecting a debate schedule that would have brought him to Boston, George W. Bush yesterday offered his own proposal for three presidential debates, insisting that two of them take place on 60-minute television talk shows, instead of the proposed 90-minute forums.
Vice President Al Gore swiftly turned down the offer, arguing that the two talk-show appearances would limit the viewing audience.
Gore's response touched off a new round in the debate over the debates, which has been raging between the two campaigns for months.
But Bush campaign chairman Don Evans said there was no room for negotiation. ''This is our final answer,'' Evans said. ''This is it.''
Conventional wisdom has long held that Gore is the stronger debater, and the Bush campaign - in an apparent attempt to lower expectations of how Bush will perform - has tried to reinforce that perception, noting Gore's vaunted debating skills.
In making yesterday's surprise announcement, the Bush campaign appeared eager to further undercut any advantage Gore might have by removing the familiar debate setting and injecting an element of spontaneity.
In a hastily arranged press conference at the governor's mansion here, Bush said he wanted to begin a week from tomorrow night with a debate on ''Meet the Press.'' The NBC program, moderated by Tim Russert, usually is broadcast on Sunday mornings, but it would be moved to prime time for this event.
The next debate, Bush proposed, would take place Oct. 3 in Los Angeles on CNN's ''Larry King Live.'' Under the schedule proposed earlier by the Presidential Commission on Presidential Debates, the first debate was scheduled for that date at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
Saying he was ''eager to debate,'' Bush denied that the location had played any role in his decision, despite aides' suggestions that the debate site's proximity to the John F. Kennedy Library reeked of partisan bias.
Asked whether he was afraid to set foot in the heavily Democratic section of the Northeast, Bush said: ''I don't think so. I just thought this would be a better series of debates.'' He added with a laugh, ''If it were at the George Bush library [in Houston], it'd be helpful.''
The Texas governor did agree to one 90-minute debate sponsored by the commission, to be held Oct. 17 at Washington University in St. Louis. The commission's other proposed debate was for Oct. 10 in Wake Forest, N.C.
The Republican ticket is also boasting of agreeing to a ''historic number'' of debates, because vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney is willing to participate in two debates, instead of just one.
But in shortening the debates and refusing to cooperate fully with the commission, Bush opened himself up to Democrats' charges that he is ducking the encounters.
''No candidate should arrogantly insist on debating only when or where it suits him,'' Gore campaign chairman William Daley said in a statement. ''Governor Bush should follow the example set by his father and by Bob Dole and participate in the universally broadcast presidential commission debates.''
More pointedly, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in an interview: ''This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase `Boston Chicken.'''
The commission issued a statement yesterday inviting representatives of both campaigns to a meeting early next week to reach an agreement on debates.
The vice president has been chiding Bush about the debates for months, and yesterday Bush turned Gore's remarks to his advantage, replaying a videotape of Gore's agreeing to the NBC and CNN debates. Gore aides yesterday said they would participate in both, but only if Bush agreed to the three commission debates first.
''Surely this isn't an instance where the vice president says one thing for political gain and then doesn't hold true to his word,'' Bush said last night at a stop in Chicago. ''I look forward to seeing him.''
Bush had considered some 42 possible debate settings, fielding offers from all the major networks, several newspapers, and late-night comedian David Letterman. The combination he laid out yesterday was a ''free-flowing format,'' particularly suited to the Larry King show, Bush said.
Despite the widely held impression that Gore has an advantage in a debate - he skewered Ross Perot during a debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement and did nearly as well in a debate against vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp in 1996 - Bush has an easygoing manner that may play better before an audience, several political strategists have said.
Bush aides dismissed questions about the length of the debates, explaining that one hour is normal for the shows they agreed to. ''That's the traditional format for `Meet the Press'; it's the traditional format for Larry King,'' Evans said. ''If you look at both Tim Russert and Larry King, they have a proven track record of being very fair and very effective moderators of these kinds of debates.''
Although Bush has campaigned and bought advertising time in New Hampshire and Maine, he has all but given up on the rest of New England and was expected to visit Massachusetts only for the Oct. 3 debate.
Chris Lehane, a spokesman for Gore, said that in refusing to participate in the first commission debate, Bush had ''rejected not only the people of Boston but the people of Massachusetts, as well as the entire country.''
''It's certainly not a profile in courage,'' Lehane said, playing off the title of the book by John F. Kennedy.
Robert Connolly, a spokesman for the UMass system, said yesterday that the university remains ''confident that it is a neutral, impartial, appropriate location for the debate'' and will continue preparing for the event.
While noting that the Gore campaign is still pushing for the commission's proposed debate schedule, Connolly conceded that ''if it becomes crystal clear that the candidates won't be coming, we have to face the reality of that.''
Bush communications director Karen Hughes said the decision was based on format, not location, and urged voters in Massachusetts not to feel slighted by the decision. Asked whether Bostonians should interpret the move as a sign Bush has written them off, Hughes said, ''Absolutely not.''
''I hope that people in Boston will take this as a sign that, a couple of things, we wanted a variety of formats; we felt that the West Coast of the country is an important part of the country,'' Hughes said. ''The Commission on Presidential Debates did not even propose a debate west of the Mississippi.''
Bush said, ''I think it's important to be in a city like Los Angeles, and this would be a better format.''
