Debating details of debates

I'm currently intrigued by the debate over the Presidential candidate debates for the forthcoming US election. The appearance is that the President is fairly uneasy over the formats proposed by the electoral commission and that the team he has set up to 'debate the debate' with Kerry's parallel team is ready for a hard-bargaining session. You'd have thought, given the tradition of the debate, neither party would wish to rock the boat. I found this interesting nugget though...

"Still, one Republican official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the perception that Mr. Bush was ducking the debates did serve a purpose, by helping to lower expectations for Mr. Bush, who exceeded all expectations in his debates with Al Gore in 2000."