How come this didn't make bigger news? No surprise that the White House isn't even considering the challenge. I don't know if Saddam's a good speaker or not... but does it really matter? I mean, remember the Presidential debates from a couple of years ago? You know the set of debates between Bush and Gore. I'm sure Saddam feels that he's a better public speaker than Al Gore. Actually, lemme restate that. I'm sure Saddam saw and remembers the American Presidential debates from a couple of years ago... which is probably why he challenged President Bush to begin with. Almost any high school debate team could probably tear Bush apart on the speaking forum.
This is definitely one of those situations where America (or Bush) has nothing much to gain and A LOT to lose... with the probability that America would lose.