WASHINGTON - Like most journalists about to moderate a presidential debate, Jim Lehrer says he has no political biases that might get in the way of the job. But Lehrer seems to be truly, deeply neutral, one measure of which is this: He doesn't vote.
''I haven't voted since 1964,'' Lehrer said, sitting in his office just outside Washington. ''I don't want to get my judgment involved in what I do for a living.''
Lehrer, 66, interviews public figures five nights a week on his PBS broadcast, ''The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,'' and has been doing so for 25 years. He reads up on the issues as thoroughly as anyone in the business, hangs out with pols, is clearly a player in the Capitol game.
In addition to not voting, Lehrer resolutely avoids forming conclusions about candidates or their issues.
''I really don't have any politics,'' he said. ''I love politics. I admire the people who put themselves on the line. But I never take a stand.'' This is not a matter of separating his personal views from his public persona. ''No, no,'' he insisted. ''That's the way I am. I have found the more I know about something, the less opinionated I am about it.''