With Bob Dole and Bill Clinton heading for Hartford Oct. 6 to face off in
the
first presidential debate of the campaign, it's hard to avoid wondering what
Mark
Twain would have made of it.

I'm a newspaper reporter for The Herald Press in Central Connecticut,
writing a
story on this very subject. Since members of this forum are the experts, not
me,
I'm keenly interested in knowing what you think Twain would have said - or
did
say, about politicians of his day.

Please keep in mind that I plan on using what you say for a news story
unless
someone mentions specifically that they do not wish to be quoted in the
press.

For those who are interested, this is your chance to put yourself in the
master's shoes or to help a typically befuddled reporter do a better than
normal
job on a fun story.

I appreciate your willingness to help and look forward to hearing what
you've
got to say. Thanks in advance, Steve Collins/The Herald Press

PS - Once the story is published, no later than Oct. 6, I'll post the text
of
it.