By Jerry Burris
Advertiser Editorial Editor

Deciding who "won" the series of three presidential debates just concluded last week depends on whose spin you listen to.

Both President Bush and Sen. John Kerry declared themselves pleased with the results, as did their handlers. Conventional wisdom says Kerry won the first debate, perhaps edged the president in the second, and the third was pretty much a draw.

Where there is agreement is that the three debates, along with the single vice-presidential appearance, were valuable and important for any voter truly interested and, perhaps, undecided about this year's election.

Unlike the stage-managed political conventions, the debates gave us a shot at seeing the candidates side by side, dealing with the same issues under the same conditions.

Some credit must be given to President Bush, who went into the debates as the sitting wartime president with a fairly solid lead in the polls. Truly, he had little to gain and much to lose.

Still, he showed up and, indeed, did lose some ground, at least after the first debate.

Bush's acceptance of the three debates suggests a political culture has developed in which it would be simply unacceptable to decline the debates. Yes, you dicker over format and so forth, but you show up.

Locally, we have failed to institutionalize that same culture.

The ongoing campaign for Honolulu mayor is an example. While there have been many joint appearances featuring Duke Bainum and Mufi Hannemann, there is only one formal, televised debate between the two now on the schedule.

That will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 26 on KITV television — just a week before the election and after many folks have voted absentee.

The Hannemann camp has been pestering Bainum for more debates, without success. Clearly, they feel the live-debate format favors their candidate, and just as clearly, Bainum would prefer to campaign in other formats.

You'll hear lots of high-falutin' talk about how debates are good for democracy, good for the political process. But it is all about strategy. Each camp is doing what it feels is best for its candidate.

But as sensible as it might seem to avoid debates with the trailing candidate, the strategy can backfire. It certainly did several years ago when incumbent Mayor Eileen Anderson declined debates against trailing challenger Frank Fasi, seeking a comeback.

Anderson finally agreed to one, at midday at Punahou School. This turned out to be a mistake, because the debate turned into a high-stakes event with live coverage by the local television stations and intense coverage by other media.

Fasi, who up to then had been toiling away in obscurity, did well in the debate, and the voting public woke up. Anderson lost the election.

Bush watered down the stakes for himself by appearing in three. Because the Hannemann-Bainum appearance may be Honolulu's one-and-only, it could turn out to be a winner-take-all showdown.

Jerry Burris is The Advertiser's editorial page editor.