In the run-up to the US presidential debates -- the first is on Thursday -- no detail has been left to chance, not even yesterday's ritual coin-toss to decide whether Senator John Kerry or President George W. Bush will get first and last word.
Decisions on lighting, camera angles, makeup and air conditioning were negotiated by Democratic and Republican lawyers.
A 32-page "memorandum of understanding" between the parties states, as rule number one, that in the first debate in Florida the lecterns are to be 1.27m high and will be 3m apart.
At 1.93m, Kerry is 12cm taller than Bush -- an advantage the Republicans have sought to tackle by building the lecterns to an unthreatening height.
Candidates are barred from wandering around the set when they speak, to prevent Kerry looming over Bush.
A Democrat clause prohibits candidates from using "risers or any other device to create an impression of elevated height."
Kerry has a reputation for longwindedness, so the Republicans insisted on flashing lights to signal exceeding of allotted time.
The candidates will have dressing rooms of equal size, a pen and paper will be the only props and cameras will be fixed on the speakers.
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