10.01.2004
debate episode one: a new hope
the game is afoot. i think kerry was very effective and bush lost a lot of momentum. kerry didn't hit a triple, but i'll grant him a a double. he still needs to convert it into something on the scoreboard. if you like bush you still like bush, but if you are truly undecided, than i think this may have you considering kerry in a whole new light. what did you folks think?
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6 comments:
I only hope that the polls reflect Kerry's success, because he needs to know that being on the offensive towards Bush's ways are effective. I think that Kerry has been unsure about how to handle his campaign until last night. If he is to learn anything from last night's victory, it's that deliberate questions and attacks at the President's decisions are the key to dethroning a tryant.
DB
Kerry was articulate and specific in his arguments against the presidents international relations policies, mostly with regards to Iraq, but also with regards to Afganistan, Iran and N. Korea. It was also the first time i felt that he showed a passion for the subjects he was discussing, which i think was his most important asset in last nights debate. Bush fell back on his accusation of Kerry as a "flip flopper" and his belief that he just knew in his heart that what he was doing was the right thing to do with such repetition that it made it seem as though he had no decent responses and used flip flopping and unsubstantiated faith as crutches throughout the debate. I thought Kerry's strongest point was when he was asked to comment on any of George Bush's perceived character flaws (which i thought, as the president said, was a loaded question, and it seemed like it was beneath a presidential debate) and he directly, and tactfully, addressed and criticized the presidents notion of certainty. "You can be certain and wrong." To be honest, until last night, my major motivation in voting for Kerry was the fact that he's not GWB, but his performance in the debate changed my motivation to one of independant support for him as a candidate.
jdm
Kerry was articulate and specific in his criticism of Bush’s foreign policy, not only with respect to Iraq, but also with respect to Afganistan, Iran and N. Korea. It was the first time I felt that the senator was passionate about, and stood behind, what he was discussing, which I have been waiting for and which I felt was his biggest asset from the debate. Bush fell back on his accusation of Kerry as a “flip flopper” and his belief in his heart that he just knew that what he was doing was the right thing to do with such repetition that it seemed to me he had no credible response to Kerry’s pointed arguments and that he was using the flip flopper claim and unsubstantiated faith as a crutch to fill the void that his lack of specific responses left. I felt Kerry’s strongest moment was in his response to the question concerning any of GWB’s perceived character flaws (which I thought, as the president stated, was a loaded question, and one that was beneath such a discourse) in which he tactfully addressed and criticized GWB’s notion of unwavering certainty. The “you can be certain and wrong” comment was important, but I think he should have taken it farther and used this idea of unwavering certainty, (certainty, I might add, in the face of mounting evidence that the presidents unchanging policy contains error and doesn’t address changing geopolitical conditions) to defend himself against the flip flopping claim. If you make a decision under a set of circumstances that seems correct, and then as time goes by the circumstances change, turning a blind eye to the idea of adaptation or reevaluation makes the idea of unwavering certainty seem ludicrous. admitting a misjudgment or adapting policy is not always a sign of weekness and i was hoping the senator would use this in the debate. Kerry did discuss this point but I felt he should have put more emphasis on it, as I believe it is key to solidifying the public perception of his credibility and strength. To be honest, until last night, my major motivation in voting for Kerry was the fact that he is not George Bush, but his performance changed my stance to one of independent support for him as a candidate.
jdm
word...
DB
whoops...posted twice because i thought the first one didn't work. ha.
jdm
Bush's nose kept whistling as breathed. What a turnoff. The camera on him also had to be raised so as to make him appear exactly the same height as the Senator.
In the end, Bush is now worse off, not better off, to use his own parlance.
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