URHAM, N.H. - The fourth televised debate between Democratic presidential rivals Al Gore and Bill Bradley was different in at least one respect: Campaign staff were shut out of the on-site press room, from which hundreds of journalists from around the country watched the forum on big screen televisions while filing their stories.
And the spin-masters and campaign spokespeople were not happy.
New Hampshire Public Television, which sponsored the debate at the University of New Hampshire, decided to close off access to the cavernous room because reporters complained that in previous forums the Gore and Bradley staffs pestered them while they were trying to focus on the candidates' performance.
Only five members of each campaign - besides the press and Secret Service agents - were allowed to stay and watch the debate but in an area removed from the press.
''The largest single complaint from the media was the campaigns being allowed in,'' said Erika Mantz of New Hampshire Public Television. ''They were trying to hand them papers and spin while they were watching the debate. So we closed the room.''
Before the debate, campaign staff worked the room and dropped a blanket of press releases such as these: ''Facts to Consider: A Debate Watching Guide'' and ''Who will address the ten key challenges facing our nation's public schools.''
Then there were the shortbread cookies, frosted in a colored pie chart demonstrating how much of the national budget is spent on defense. A group called Move Our Money was passing them out, in hopes that, quite literally, the press would eat it up. They didn't.
