Third Presidential Debate

Last debate.

Bob Schieffer is the moderator. I feel he’ll be generally fair but I honestly wish that the Republicans would have raised a bit of a stink about his working for CBS after Rathergate broke.

First question is a good one. John Kerry seems pretty emphatic about our being secure by saying that “we have to”. Wel, we don’t have tok, but we certainly ought to try. I wonder how many fols are going to notice that he said how we’d be safer by noting all the failures of Bush. The President on the othre hand plays out his “freedom is on the march” lines. This question isn’t showing any surprises from either person.

Second question. Okay. Flu season? What the hell kind of question is that? The flu is, I’m sorry folks, not that big a deal. I, personally, have never gotten a flu shot in my life and I’ve never even been close to death fomr it – or even sick enough to slow down for three or four days. It gets me, sure, but it gets folks who get flu shots, too. Bush lays much of the blame on a bad batch of vaccine from a company in England then gives pretty good advice. If you’re young and healthy, let the people who arne’t get the shots. It was a rather nice turn to note that American companies aren’t making flu vacines because of fears of getting sued. Kerry, on the other hand led right off with the “people can’t get health insurance”. At least Bush answered the question.

“A plan is not a litany of complaints” – Bush hits the first homerun of the debate and he’s still swinging. He notes that if we do what Kerry suggest – to give folks the same plan that Congress gets – it wold cost us over 5 trillion dollars a year, and 7700 dollars a person. Kerry retorts by saying “We’re not giving this away for nothing”. Oh really? That’s not what he’s ever said.

Third question. Kerry is big into Pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) in his speeches but his spendig really doesn’t add up. Kerry says that he’s shown exactly how he’d pay for everything – which is (BINGO!) rolling back the “tax cut for the rich”. Unfortunately, he’s using that to pay for everything. I hope Bush actually calls him on it. Bush: “His rhetoric doesn’t match his record”. Bush seems to be on his game early – two great zinger lines in three questions. His PAYGO comeback fell flat, and there was an audible chuckle from Kerry.

Fourth question: Bush is laying out a whole bunch of ways that government can help people by giving them opportunities. Kerry’s laying out “deficits as far as the eye can see”. I’m not sure how well that plays. My conservative bones ache when I hear Bush talk about all the spending he wants to do. Schieffer’s follow-up just set Kerry up to absolutely wail on the President. I’m going to remember this, in case Bush doesn’t get one like it. Kerry’s not blaming the President for everything, just for everything he’s done – including not being a free trader. Bush is hitting back on his tax cuts – for the people, not just the rich people – with facts and figures, Pell Grants. He notes that “we’re spending your money”. I really wish he’d remember that a whole lot more. Ouch. Bush just hit Kerry on the Liberal issue again, overtly. Kerry looked like he swallowed a crepe whole.

Fifth question. Damn, that’s a hard-hitting one (quick note. I’m chatting with Nicole of Potomac Ponderings wihle the debate is going on. We both said “WHAT??” when he asked that question). Is homosexuality a choice. Yikes! Bush says up front that he just doesn’t know but that we ought to treat people with dignity and to protect marriage at the same time. There’s a blurb about activist judges. He really ought to make the case a lot more directly. Kerry’s reminding us again tht Cheney’s daughter is a lesbian. I wish he’s come right out and call Bush a hypocrite. Okay, now Kerry has said that marriage is between a man and a woman, but that you can’t discriminate. Bush ought to be able to tackle that one pretty easily. He’s also saying that the sttes are saying that they can manage those laws. Bush didn’t get a rebuttal. Too bad.

Sixth question. Abortion and the church (stem cells, too). Kerry respects their views but even though he’s a good Catholic, he’s not going along with their views on this. Bush says it’s important to foster a “culture of life”. it sounds like a recitation, though. He needs to speak with conviction like he’s doing now on partial-birth abortions, noting that Kerry voted against the law.

Quick aside. Kerry’s losing this debate.

Seventh question. Whose fault is rising health care costs? Bush tried another joke and it didn’t work. he’s laying a lot of it on government restrictions and lawsuits. That “feels” right to me, though I can’t prove it right now. Nicole just noted that Kerry said we had a “right” to socialized prescription drugs from Canada. Bush hits back by noting that for all his passion now, he wasn’t around when it was time to vote on these issues in the Senate. Kerry responds that the President is misleading America that he’s passed certain amendments and bills, and he wrote some legislation in the early 1990s.

Eighth question. The government health care plan that Kerry’s proposing. Well, he just said that “It’s not a government plan”. Bush looked over at him incredulously. Kerry’s saying that it’s such a good plan that he doesn’t know why we wouldn’t choose it. Kerry’s appeal to the people on this plan is good, though “I believe that your health care plan ought to be as good as that of any politician in Washington, DC”. Bush retorts by saying that it’s not so good to quote leading news organizations….but then HE STOPS!! WHY??? Man, he just whiffed on a pitch that was right in his wheelhouse!

Ninth question. Bailing out social Security and where we get out the money. Bush makes a very clear point by saying first that any reform will make sure that folks getting checks will still get checks. He also says there’s a problem for our youngsters. Youngsters? There’s a problem in the system right now for me and I’m hardly a youngster! Ooh! He just invoked Senator Moynihan, the last of the great Democratic Statesmen. John Kerry just said the Bush plan would be a “disaster” and tht the President’s plan will result in cutting of benefits. The AARP switchboard just overheated. Bush ought to ask Kerry why he wants to keep “youngsters” shackled to a failing system wihle not saying how he’s going to protect social security while being fiscally responsible. He never bothered to say how!

Tenth question. It’s a follow up on the same subject asking the same question I just asked! Kerry says that we ran surpluses just to save social security and that if we roll back the tax cuts, we could save social security. But didn’t he pledge that tax cut for the health care program? (Nicole: “He said that Greenspan agrees with Bush! Ha! He just disagreed with Greenspan!). Kerry also just won the old vote by saying that he wouldn’t cut benefits, but lst the young vote by saying that he wouldn’t let them opt out in any way.

Eleventh question. Immigration. Uh oh. Bush sees it as all sorts of problems and tells us what he’s been doing about it. he says he’s very familiar with the problems. But what about hs new “amnesty program”? Looks like he’s getting to that. It’s not sounding good. He’s saying that we ought to bring in workers if “Americans aren’t willing to do the job” which’ll legitimize them, keep them “out of the shadows” and be temporary. He also says that if they have a card, they won’t need to sneak across the border. Oh hold on! He says that we ought not to have amnesty. But isn’t that essentially what his new immigration program was? Kerry’s advocating amnesty, of a sort. At least he’s upfront about it. Bush says that to say that the borders aren’t better protected now tan before 9/11 is to say that he doens’t know our borders. You know, this could have been a killer issue against Bush. Lucky for him that Kerry doesn’t know the issue nearly well enough to bet him on it.

Question Twelve? Minimumm wage. Is the minimum wage the lowest value in the last 50 years. Oh..more ‘tax cuts for the rich” stuff from Kerry. Yawn. Yawn. Oh, and equal pay for women. Is he going to answer the question or what? Well he just did. He said that to reach the American Dream, we need to have a higher minimum wage. Is that really the American Dream?

Thirteenth question. Another abortion question aimed right at Bush. That’s two. When does Kerry get one? Kerry says that he won’t appoint a judge that will overturn a right made by the “court….err Constitution”. He actually just made that direct equation. That’s part of the problem with Kerry. He doesn’t see a distinction between the Constitution and a court case about the Constitution. And he’s supposed to be a lawyer. Bush sidestepped the question but came down firm on not having a litmus test. Back to education, though. What are these guys talking about. Kerry just talked aroud in circles and hit the “tax cuts for the rich” saying that kids lost their after-schol programs. He scored big on that one. The facts are against him, but Bush never rebutted him.

Fourteenth question. What a freaking softball for Kerry!! How would Kerry relieve our brave men and women without having a draft. Kerry says the best way is to have a foreign policy that has real alliances. Man, that question just let him get out two of his talking points unimpeded. Holy cow. Bush says the best way to relieve the pressure on our troops is to succeed in Iraq. Kerry says he’s never suggested we turn over our security to a test. I guess he forgot his “global test” line. Oh finally! Bush mentions Kerry’s vote against Gulf War I.

Fifteenth question. Assault weapons ban. Bush said he made his views clear and was told the bill would never move because both parties weren’t going to move it. Huh. Imagine that. The best way to deal with gun violence is to prosecute crimes committed with guns. Kerry’s a law enforcment guy. Who knew? And he’s talking aout how he went hunting in Iowa. Rugged Kerry. is it too much to ask that Bush mention the Second Amendment? I mean, if Kerry isn’t going to take away any of our Constitutional rights or our court-given rights or whatever, he probably shouldn’t take away our Second Amendment rights either, huh?

Sixteenth question. Affirmative action. Kerry says we haven’t moved along far enough that we don’t need affirmative action and that the Bush administration has prevented us from moving farther along. He’ll make certain we travel the road to end racism. How? Hey, it’s anyone guess. But he says that Bush hasn’t met with civil rights leaders and isn’t inclusive. Bush responds by saying first that it’s not true. He met with them at the White House. Bush is talking abot creating opportunities through government for minorities, and iwth the ownership society. Well, he’s halfway there.

Seventeenth question. Bush and his faith. He’s very strong on this and he can get a lot stronger. he’s steadfast in his faith and believes that everyone should be free to worship or not as they see fit, free from interference. while Bush is talking I want to make a quick bet that Kerry’s going to mention Vietnam in his answer. Bush lined faith and freedom. Good job on that. Kerry: “…as I measure the words of the Bible…we all do”. We all do? All of us? Kerry says we can choose to practice or not. Well, thanks for that. I was wrong about ‘Nam, though – no reference to it at all.

Eighteenth questions. Wait. Kerry’s complementing the President for what he did after 9/11? Does that mean the Michael Moore line about the dumb President waiting seven minutes because he was stupid is wrong? Ah, but the President is responsible for all the divisions fo the country. I’m sure that Moore, or Soros, or Podesta, or Kerry himself calling Bush a liar had nothing at all to do with that. Kerry’s bipartisan because he can name John McCain a thousand times in one sentence (Nicole: “kerry tries to stick mccain’s name in there as often as he can”)! Bush notes how divided we were in the 1990s. He’s also mentioning that even though Kerry mentions McCain, McCain endorses him.

Last question: Most important thing learned from the strong women in their lives. Bush: “To listen to them. To stand up straight and not scowl.”. Both of them got the first real audible response from the audience. Bush is also talking about the deal he struck when he proposed to Laura. I’ve heard this story at three different speeches this week. “She speaks English a lot better than I do”. Another laugh. Bush really is winning this. I’m serious.

OH. MY. GOD. John Kerry just made a joke. And it was a joke at his expense about marrying up! Run! The world is ending! RUN!! Kerry actually looks human here and Bush is even supporting the warmth. That has to be an illustion. It has to be.

Closing statements. Kerry actually said “idear” instead of “idea”. Minor point but hey, they make fun of Bush’s accent, right? Kerry is talking about all the things we can do. He also says again that he’ll never give the world a veto on our national security.

Nooooooo! He made a Vietnam reference (about fighting for the country as a young man). It was a decent closing, but he didn’t quite get enough for the win.

Bush opens with a personal anecdote about being on the sunrise side of the mountain. He’s talking about how we’re moving forward. It’s the “morning in America” analogy without actually saying it. That’s very, very clever. It echoes Reagan without stealing his words. Bush’s opening was sincere, even, and well done.

Quick judgement? Bush won early and never gave up his lead.

I’ll give more in a separate post.

No related posts.

Category: President George Bush