Long before he was trade minister, the wily Andrew Robb served as Liberal Party director and led debate negotiations for John Howard's 1996 election campaign.
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After 13 years in opposition, the Coalition believed they could beat Paul Keating, and saw the campaign's two election debates as potential turning points.
Both camps fought over the minutiae of the first contest.
At the last minute Keating's staff announced he wanted to debate sitting down. Robb refused.
But arriving at the studio a day later, Robb found Keating's team measuring the lecterns and demanding a 15 centimetre wooden insert be added to better suit the PM's stature.
Robb again refused to budge.
The plan abandoned, Howard won a tactical victory - setting the scene for a feisty performance where he took points from a defensive Keating.
Fast forward to the 2016 election and the stakes aren't quite as high for Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten during their first head-to-head debate last Friday night.
The Sky News event at Sydney's Windsor RSL included questions from 100 undecided voters.
Political historian Malcolm Farnsworth said scheduling this year's first debate on a Friday night on pay-TV guaranteed a tiny audience.
Mr Farnsworth said debates can miss the point, with research showing voters respond in emotional ways to political leaders.
"If you go on and you're obviously not on top of the subject matter, it's not the subject matter that counts. It's this sense you're not up to the job."
"In 1993, the television moment of the campaign wasn't the debate.
“It was Mike Willesee interviewing Hewson about the birthday cake and the GST," he said.
