Campaign staffers for all three candidates were among the earliest to arrive in St. Louis last week for the first 1992 presidential debate.
Blake Williams from Kansas City was part of the advance team for the George Bush/Dan Quayle campaign. "I actually spent 99 percent of my time inside the athletic facility," Williams said. "I've really been pleased with the reception and the cooperation from the University administration, from Chancellor Danforth on through all the people we've been working with."
Williams appreciated the cooperation because of all the attention focused on the first presidential debate. "It will be viewed by more people than the others," he said. Because of that, many people who are yet undecided on the race or who have weak support for a candidate may base their entire decision on the performance of the candidates at this debate."
Williams said Bush's focus should be "just doing a good job of being George Bush and presenting the accomplishments of his administration."
Williams' remaining time in St. Louis was split between the Bush/Quayle headquarters at the Union Station Drury Inn and the Hill, an Italian neighborhood known for its fine restaurants. "We have much better beef and barbecue in Kansas City, but I have to admit that, for Italian, you've got us."
He also toured the campus, reinforcing positive images he had from earlier visits to the campus. "You have a very nice campus with excellent facilities, and you have that tremendous history of the Olympics and the World's Fair in 1904."
No one could estimate the number of people who helped Bush and Bill Clinton prepare for the St. Louis debate. "I really have no idea," said Sally Aman, communications director for Clinton's Missouri campaign. "People were in and out of here. Some were people who travel with him on a day-to-day basis when he does campaign stops. Some were senior staff who come in for debate prep. It's very fluid."
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Clayton was the headquarters for the Clinton/Gore campaign. St. Louis hotel rooms were at a premium the week of the debate. Campaign staff people were housed at various hotels throughout the metropolitan area.
Most of these staffers didn't get to see much of St. Louis or Washington University outside the Field House. "Generally they don't eat out a lot. Instead they get a lot of takeout and delivery service," Aman said.
Clinton may have seen more of St. Louis and of the Washington University campus than his staff during his Sunday morning two-mile run along Forsyth Boulevard. After the run from his hotel to Forest Park, Clinton prepared for the debate before his early afternoon walk-through and rehearsal in the Field House.
The three-member advance team for the Perot campaign reflects the candidate's low-key, informal approach. Perot arrived in St. Louis the afternoon of the debate and left after a reception for his supporters at the Frontenac Grand Hotel. His schedule wasn't known in advance, said Nicki DiFranco, manager of Perot's St. Louis campaign office. "He's like Sam Walton was -- he just shows up," she said. "Suddenly you'll look up and there he is. That's for a lot of reasons, security mainly. Then again, he just likes to get out among people. That's Mr. Perot."
Because of the debate, DiFranco said she thinks the American people may have a better understanding of Perot. "The main thing that I thought he accomplished immediately was the respect of the American public by showing that he's dead serious as a candidate," she said.