The two former leaders of the California Senate, who used to sit across a table and debate the state budget, will now apparently sit across a table at some point and debate… debates.

Word is that the campaign of Democrat Phil Angelides has tapped former Senate President Pro Tem John Burton to be their negotiator for gubernatorial campaign debates this fall. That follows the announcement several weeks ago that handling the negotiations for incumbent Arnold Schwarzenegger would be a team that includes former Senate GOP Leader Jim Brulte.

Burton is an interesting choice, in that he was probably the Democrat who got along best with Schwarzenegger during the governor’s first two years in Sacramento.

Angelides’ camp says he’s accepted 9 debate invitations so far from media organizations.

As for Team Arnold, they say they’re ready to sit down and negotiate. “Since the end of the Democratic primary, our campaign has been eager to begin a serious discussion about debating in the fall,” said campaign communications director Katie Levinson.