ELECTION 2004 Debate moderator finds no lack of questions from voting public

Bob Schieffer says this final debate could have the biggest impact.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Have a question for tonight's final presidential debate? Don't tell Bob Schieffer.
As moderator of the Bush-Kerry rubber match in Tempe, Ariz., CBS's Schieffer has been besieged with e-mails and letters from civilians offering queries for the candidates.
The single largest shot arrived last week in a 50-pound box -- 11,000 written questions from an organization whose name Schieffer insists he can't remember.
"It was sitting on my desk when I walked into the [Washington] bureau. I've never gotten so much mail. I have to admit I didn't read all of them."
He doesn't need to. Schieffer, 67, anchor of "Face the Nation" and chief Washington correspondent, plans to arrive in Tempe "with questions in every pocket, I guarantee you."
Many experts believe John Kerry won the first debate, moderated by PBS's Jim Lehrer in Coral Gables, Fla., Sept. 30, and that President Bush came back strong in Friday's "town meeting" in St. Louis, with ABC's Charlie Gibson. Schieffer is loath to declare a winner. He does, however, acknowledge that "because this debate is the last, it may have the most impact of all. This election is very, very close. It could go either way."
'A waste of time'
Though all the networks, including his own, feature partisan spinners after each debate, Schieffer says they've become "a waste of time."
"They're all just totally predictable. You put on a Bush surrogate, and he says Bush did everything right and nothing wrong. A Kerry surrogate says the same thing about Kerry."
Schieffer suggests going the opposite route, using Bush and Kerry supporters who think their guys didn't hit a home run that night. (See Chance, Fat.)
Regardless, Schieffer says the lively '04 debates have provided welcome relief from the candidates' barrage of nasty TV spots.
"God help us, they get us back to where people can actually watch politicians and not feel they have to take a shower after it's over."
An added bonus: The debates give viewers a civics lesson, whether they know it or not. "It's like the high school teacher who makes a subject so interesting and fun, you don't realize till after class how much you've learned."