My $.02 on the debate this A.M.
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My $.02 on the debate this A.M.
| Fri, 10-01-2004 - 9:15am |
So from what I got from the debate...
Bush is tired. (I can imagine that spending the day with hurricane victims and relief workers can be pretty draining, what did Kerry do all day? I can only imagine.)
Kerry did better than I expected, although, I completely disagree with him.
One thing really stood out...Kerry wants to deal one-on-one with Kim Jong Il and leave out important allies like China and South Korea, and yet says the war in Iraq is a bust b/c we don't have enough allied support?!?
Just shows me that Kerry will disagree with ANYTHING the President supports and support anything Bush disagrees with.
Hey, it'll give the "anybody but Bush" crowd a boner!

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Kerry got a manicure!!
>>Hey, it'll give the "anybody but Bush" crowd a boner!<<
And liberals as well, right? Intelligent comment.
Your post was brilliant also?!?
So? And Bush got his teeth whitened for the occasion.......I'm sure they both just wanted to look purty for their big night!
I laugh at the jet setting comments. If you actually read about their backgrounds, you will find one of them was a partier who had no clue what to do in life for a long time... the other worked his butt off all through school.
I don't hold it against Bush that he was irresponsible and a partier at one time. People can turn their lives around, and by all accounts, he did. Just keep that in mind when you make fun of Kerry... he was a Senator long before he married Teresa.
Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board
Bush missed several opportunities to go back after Kerry, and seemed to get lost in thought a few times, which I think hurt Bush a bit.
For instance, when Kerry pointed to his points on what he would do differently in Iraq, even though he gave no specifics, except to go to his website, Bush could have come back with, we are currently doing 1, 2, 3, 4....but did not.
Also, Bush did not portray Kerry's different positions on the war enough. He should have specifically stated that in August, Kerry said that even with what we know about thw WMD's he would still have authorized the use of military force in Iraq, only to say earlier this week that now knowing what we do about WMD's, it was the wrong thing to do at the wrong time. (Boy I wish I could have debated Kerry as he would be out of the election right now.....too bad Bush's weak point is debating).
Finally, with regards to Iraq, Bush did not make enough use of the fact that Kerry voted against the money to fund the troops in Iraq, and when Kerry said that Bush sent the troops into Iraq without the correct equipment, Bush should have pointed to the votes of Kerry during the Clinton years to cut funding to the military for the exact items that Kerry criticized Bush for not providing to the military before going into Iraq.
With regards to Iran and North Korea, Kerry did show his weak spot in trying to rely on one on one negotiations, instead of getting the countries that support these two nations to apply as much political pressure as possible to get Iran and especially North Korea to agree to withdraw from creating nuclear weapons. Bush, however, did not attack Kerry as forcefully as he should of in this regard either.
My summation is that Kerry, especially since he is a much more polished public speaker, won the debate mainly for the fact that he spoke well and Bush did not take the opportunities to attack when they were there for the taking.
The polls next week will probably show that the debates (which were also too long in my opinion) made very little difference in the trend on the election, and perhaps may have closed the gap by 0.5 to 1%. We will just have to wait and see.
I do agree with you on the North Korea issue, preferring that China, South Korea, Russia, and Japan be included.
Bush is certainly a different person than his dad, and though his dad lost his reelection bid, George may well lose this one because he is not like his dad. His dad was more flexible, more adept at foreign policy, not seen as a loose cannon, and nowhere near as hateful. Being more like his dad would help him greatly, but it may well be too late.
A while back there was a story about how Laura never gives her opinion to him on campaigning or issues (I forget which) because she did once and he drove through the garage door. IMO, that says much about him, and cannot vote for someone who approaches things in that manner. We need a president who is more rational and open minded, one who actually *is* a "uniter." Bush campaigned as such and as a compassionate conservative in 2000, and has demonstrated he is anything but.
Edited 10/1/2004 11:13 am ET ET by rayeellen
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