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The two men met alone in the Oval Office, at either side of the fireplace. Carter later told aides that he opened the discussion by trying to be conciliatory, congratulating Kennedy on having conducted a "fine campaign." According to Kennedy, reported TIME Correspondent Walter Isaacson, the exchange soon became more heated. Carter complained: "You've had a lot of harsh words to say about me. I know about campaign rhetoric and all, but I have never attacked you personally." In response, Kennedy complained about Carter TV ads questioning his character. Said Kennedy: "I have never attacked you personally. It has always been your policies that I talked about."
The two quickly turned to the main order of business. Kennedy said he was willing to release his delegates from their obligation to vote for him at the convention, but only if Carter would debate him publicly on the main issues. The President suggested that their differences could be settled by the "platform process," which begins this week with hearings in Washington. Kennedy again demanded a debate. Indeed, he repeated this demand several more times during the interview. Kennedy said that he told Carter: "I want substance, not cosmetics. Deals on the platform will not be adequate. It's not a question of you and me working out deals behind closed doors."
Carter refused to debate Kennedy. What happened next was in dispute. According to Kennedy's account, which White House aides emphatically denied, Carter said: "No incumbent President has ever debated a member of his own party." Kennedy retorted that last November, when the polls showed him far ahead of the President, "you were eager to debate." Carter did not respond. Later, according to White House aides, the President asked Kennedy: If there were a debate, would he endorse a Carter-Mondale ticket? This time Kennedy made no response. At the end, Kennedy asked Carter what they should tell the outside world about their meeting. Said the President: "Well, we'll just say we have a difference of opinion."
For Kennedy, the feeling that a debate is of paramount importance stems from his frustration at not being able to get his message across to voters or make the faltering economy the focus of the campaign. After hammering away for months at what he charged was Carter's deliberate policy of raising unemployment to fight inflation, Kennedy would meet people like a laid-off glassworker in West Virginia who told him: "You can't blame Carter. It's not his fault." Reflected Kennedy: "I think this is a numbness that Carter intentionally created by trying to lower expectations of what a President can do. You can look out at an audience and see when you are not making a point. It was more difficult than I thought."