BUSH DUCKING DEBATE

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-21-2004
BUSH DUCKING DEBATE
78
Wed, 09-15-2004 - 10:45am

Presidential Debates and Missed Opportunities<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />


Wednesday, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />September 15, 2004; Page A24


The president has been offered a rare opportunity to discuss key issues and concerns with Americans and appears to be leaning toward declining it . President Bush seems to be concerned about the town-hall-meeting format of the second debate, in which undecided voters picked by the Gallup Organization would ask the candidates questions. The Post noted that the Bush campaign is concerned that "people could pose as undecided when they actually are partisans."


Can't the president answer citizens' questions, partisan or not?


+++++++


I am extremely unhappy about the prospect of the president skipping the most critical of the three debates. But I am not surprised, given that the 1992 town-hall-style debate is largely seen as the nail in the coffin of his father's reelection bid and given the great pains the White House has taken to insulate President Bush from criticism and the opinions of Americans who are not vocal supporters.


Rather than canceling the town-hall debate, the Commission on Presidential Debates should leave an empty stool on stage next to the candidate who does show up. That might make for the most interesting presidential debate in years.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21915-2004Sep14.html?referrer=email


 

Donna

Patriotism means to stand by the Country. It does not mean to stand by the President. -- Theodore Roosevelt.

Donna

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-24-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 5:27pm
<>

Ah but it is a bit upseting to me that the one debate he is trying to get out of is the one he would have to answer to the people of this country about things many don't feel particularly happy about. Even though some think Bush is the greatest thing since mac and cheese, many of us do not agree with many of his actions while he has been in office. I think he should have to answer some unscreened questions from the real people out there. I just hope these questions really address the things half this country is unhappy with.

Venus

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 5:27pm
Thank you! I was trying to think of a way to explain it, but yours was better.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 5:31pm
Aren't the questions in televised "town meeting" debates screened in some way before they even get to be asked? Or are they really just random questions from random people in the audience?
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-24-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 5:39pm
What I'm geting at is, from what I understand Bush has meetings of his own that he answers questions from the audience but all these questions are screened and picked by him before he decides which he will answer. I don't care if the questions are screened so much, I would however prefer they be screened by someone a little more unbiassed then the president, Kerry, the RNC, or the DNC. Allowing people that close to this race screen these issues leaves too much room for typical political spinning. I think it's a bit unethical to only allow the questions you want to answer in a debate.

Venus

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2003
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 5:42pm
It really isn't going to matter how it's explained, there are those that want and will use this as just another way to slam the president. Seems that the Dems are just as good at misleading people as they claim the President is. The never ending Merry-Go-Round of politics.
NIU Ribbon   Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 5:48pm
I wasn't asking if Bush or Kerry get to screen the questions they're asked. I meant are the questions asked screened by a unbiased third party during these "town meeting" debates or are they just random. I should have clarified what I was asking.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-24-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 5:58pm
I'm really not sure, I prefer unbiased screening, but I don't know exactly what methods are used. I just want both parties to have to answer real questions by real people with genuin concerns with the way this country is moving, and I want straight forward answers about what both of them plan to do about it.

Venus
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-24-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 6:10pm
I am geting kind of tired of both sides using the same old, so and so did this so and so did that, the country is this the country is that, economy is good economy is bad, healthcare is great healthcare is bad, were winning the war were losing the war. The reality is that most of us have some idea how things are going, we don't need it repeated over and over again, we just need to know what is going to be done about it. That's what I feel these debates are for, and if questions are too highly screened, I'm not so sure we will ever hear from either side just what they plan to do. I did make an attempt at glancing over the party platforms, but I don't have the time or attention span to read through the 40 some pages on DEMS side or the 90 some pages on the GOPS side. I know alot of it is rhetoric, but it's sure not easy to sift through the rhetoric and get to the real issues.

Venus

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 6:52pm
I agree with you on being tired of hearing the same old crap from both sides. It does get weary after awhile.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Sat, 09-18-2004 - 7:49pm
I agree. Isn't the whole point of deabting discussing different question's that neither know about beforehand so the public can see who they think is the best person from that? I missed last yr's debate and never watched before so I'm still new on politics. XOXO.

Pages