It sounds like the Bush and Kerry campaigns have agreed on the series of three debates. If you read the summary in today's Post, it looks like the Bush campaign has given up on all that it was originally objecting to: having three debates and having one be a townhall-type debate. I bet that those were all bargaining chips and they were always willing to give way. My husband and I had decided a couple of weeks ago what the most important thing for Jim Baker was to get out of the negotiations. And it seems like Baker was smart enough to get it.

The two sides decided to reverse the commission's recommendation that the debates focus first on domestic policy and later on foreign policy, which the president's campaign sees as his strength. Jordan agreed, both sides said.

I would almost bet that that was the crucial item the Bush team wanted and not any of the other things that were just bargaining chips.

Watch now for Bush to hammer Kerry on his flip flops. Bush can also use some of the soaring rhetoric about freedom and democracy that he is so good at. Sure, Kerry will trot out the same old criticisms and there will be questions about the situation in Iraq today, but Bush can handle that.