2ND DEBATE RECAP

PRE DEBATE My pre-debate evening routine was a bit different this time, as I was engaged in a 3-way conversation with the Liberal Colorado Friend and the Conservative Wife. That’s ok…they substituted well for Pat Buchanan and Ron Reagan’s commentaries.

By the way, today’s NY Times had published “sample questions” from readers that were so visceral to Bush and such softball lobs to Kerry that they should be banned. There needs to be a credible ranking of newspapers in this country, similar to what U.S. News does with hospitals and colleges. Despite their reputation, I think the Times journalistic ranking would be just ahead of Massachusetts Communism Daily and the Texan Cowboy Chronicle. It should no longer be referred to as “The Gray Lady.” How about “The Red Daily”? Much more appropriate.

DEBATE BEGINS

Once again, a reminder. I'm typing this in real-time, so my quotes may be paraphrased. If you want the actual quotes, read the transcripts. Now...

9:00 Charles Gibson is moderating, which is a welcome choice. He at least gives the appearance of impartiality, unlike Gwen “your 15 minutes were up 75 minutes ago” Ifill. Kerry comes out looking like Howdy Doody. Bush continues with his Alfred E. Neumann impersonation.

8:02 It’s the first question and the network is already showing Bush reaction shots. Whether reaction shots are “breaking the rules” or not, he doesn’t seem to understand that they’re going to be shown. As a contrast, Kerry remains cool and composed in his reaction shots.

8:09 Bush says that “we’ve brought 75% of Al Qaeda to justice.” Big opening if Kerry can ad lib…wait, we’re talking about Wooden Johnny here. My bad. Bush is still on the WMD argument, and he’s strident and shrill. He seems to be picking up where he left off. Who’s his debate trainer, his mom?

Kerry is offering a panacea: “I would have gotten more allies into our coalition.” Yes, John, I keep forgetting the force of your personality. You’re a veritable Kennedy and all countries of the world will fall right in line behind you.

Bush rebuts with the WMD argument yet again. Clueless, meet Dumb Ass. Kerry rebuts by looking at Bush and speaking directly to him. It doesn’t matter what they’re saying; Bush is angry and he doesn’t know why. Kerry is controlled. Both are dreaming.

8:15 Kerry continues his line of crap (“If we’d brought NATO into this”) while looking directly at Bush. Bush has an opening, and unlike Kerry he exploits it. “My opponent says ‘let’s have a summit. ‘ And what’s he’s going to say? Let’s get you into a wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time? They’re not going to follow him!” Kerry counters with the same “Osama bin Laden cornered in Tora Bora.” I am rubber, you are glue.

8:18 Bush finally acknowledges that Saddam had no WMD. And, he’s saying that the war is about terror. Will he talk about the money trail from Saddam to Hamas and Islamic Jihad? Alas…almost…almost, George.

8:19 A woman asks Bush how to repair diplomatic relations with other countries. Tough question, yet Bush is calmed by it. Then he gets shrill again. Kerry, but he, unlike Bush, has been talking directly to whichever person asks the question. On the other hand, Bush is looking around the room after each question. Bush is now riding the “I am the president and presidents do X” horse over and over and over. How tenuous was Bush’s lead? After having a chance to close out Kerry last Thursday he’s now in danger of losing this election right here.

8:26 Bush finds his rhythm with North Korea. This is reminiscent of the Cubs clobbering the Reds after losing 2 of 3 to the hapless Mets, only to miss the Wild Card by losing their next 5 games.

8:28 Kerry is now talking about the generals who support him and mentions “Wes Clark, who won the war in Kosovo.” Invoking Wesley Clark as winning anything other than the Peter Principle Award is fairly stupid. I guess Kerry thinks it’s valuable to keep those 12 people that actually voted for Clark in his corner.

8:32 Bush interrupts Charles Gibson when Gibson is offering him a rebuttal opportunity. This will be a pivotal moment later and could be spun a variety of ways. Hard to say how it will be spun. In my view, Bush has lost it to the point where Republicans need to hope everyone’s watching the baseball playoffs. There’s an hour to go; Bush is starting to resemble Ross Perot, only less in control.

8:33 Kerry is asked why there haven’t been terrorist attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11. He talks about how the intelligence needs to be revamped…and then talks about tax cuts. Bush is finally not shrill and rebuts the question well.

8:37 Kerry is trying to show that the tax cut is somehow tied to the President not doing everything he can to make the country safe, i.e. “Rich people get a break instead of putting that money towards security.” That’s a stretch and encapsulates why I can never be a Democrat again. Their philosophy seems to be “Are you successful? Don’t worry, we can fix that.”

8:38 Next question: “Why did you block the importation of drugs from Canada?” Bush’s answer is that drugs imported from Canada need to be safe and he’s not sure they are. That’s disingenuous, but it will probably play. Bush is now saying that we need to speed up generics. The Liberal-In-Denial Dad now has a reason to vote for Kerry.

Kerry: “The President didn’t level with you just now. The reality is that they’re drugs made right here in America, and they are safe.” Yes, John…that IS one of the points. And do you know why they’re so cheap? Price controls. Ah, but that's a story in and of itself, is it not? (e.g., Why do drug companies sell drugs to countries like Canada where they know the price controls are below a reasonable profit margin?)

SIDE NOTE: If I were the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, I would be exploring every way possible to not sell drugs to Canada. Yes, they’ll make knock-offs. But at least then the safety argument is a valid one.

8:43 Kerry is actually talking that he and Edwards support tort reform. OH, PLEASE. 8:46 Bush: “He (Kerry) says that it (malpractice insurance) is only 1% of health care costs? Defensive medical practices are part of the cost. His plan is the largest increase in federal spending in history.” Correct; I believe the figure is $620B according to U.S. News. That makes the cost of the Iraqi War pale just a bit. How are you going to pay for that one, John?

8:49 Bush talks about the recession that he inherited and when it happened (starting in late 2000). He talked about winning the war. He also says that he gave a tax increase to everyone and it was necessary to jump-start the economy. Good, solid answer. “Like you, I’m concerned about the deficit, but I’m not going to short-change troops and I’m not going to tax the economy when it’s going to cost us jobs.”

Kerry says that the President was handed a huge surplus. Uh…no. The economy had already gone south, and whatever surplus was left was dwindling in a big hurry.

8:55 Some guy in the audience seems to be a plant. He asks Kerry to look into the camera and say that he won’t raise taxes on families below $200K. Kerry acted as if he knew this was coming. That guy was a plant. But I’m not sure that this was a good idea for Kerry. He has now officially entered “Read My Lips” territory.

Bush is finding his stride. He’s less shrill, and he’s talking about what’s wrong with Kerry’s plan in a credible, logical way. “Look at the man running for the President. They don’t name him the most liberal in the Senate because he doesn’t show up. He shows up and he votes to raise taxes.” Kerry internally says “oof.”

9:00 Bush is asked about what he’s done to improve the environment. He talks about “Clear Skies” where Kerry will likely skewer him. Oh, no….Kerry’s response has NOTHING to do with the environment. After rambling for 90 seconds of his 2 minute allotment he does talk about Clear Skies. But he doesn’t say what’s wrong with it. Sigh.

Bush skewers Kerry on this. “He must be talking about the Kyoto Treaty. We would have lost jobs. But the fact is, our air is cleaner since I’ve been President.” Kerry…you have reclaimed the moniker of the current dumb ass.

9:05 A woman asks a question about how we can remain competitive wage-wise in manufacturing. Kerry doesn’t answer the question: he talks about how he’s going to give a break in other ways, like health care. “I have a plan.” Of course you do. That seems to be his talking point of the night: “I HAVE A PLAN.” He has yet to mention anything about how he’s going to help manufacturing wages.

Bush counters with various ways to help small business, including pooling small businesses into health care plans and tax breaks. The Centrist Dude and the Conservative Wife both clap and pull the imaginary Republican lever.

EDITORIAL: In the 50s through the 70s(pre-global economy) we could get away with paying a ridiculous wage to people who put Bolt A on Nut C. But the reality is that we can no longer do that. You want to stop a major amount of outsourcing? Quit giving people false hope that they can get a middle class wage for lower class work. I'm not being partisan here, that's reality. 9:10

Next question is about the Patriot Act and how he thinks it takes individual rights away. Bush gives a great answer: “Whoever is President has to take care of your individual liberties. I hope you don’t think that’s what it’s about. The Patriot Act gives the FBI and the CIA the same power it takes to get to white collar criminals and the Mafia.” Might not be true, but it’s a good answer.

Kerry: “We can’t let the terrorists change your rights.” Great retort.

9:15 Woman asks Kerry about embryonic stem cell research. Kerry looks at her the entire time, even though his answer is against what she wants to hear. That was smart. Bush: “Science is important, but so’s ethics.” George, I can’t believe your grammar is that bad.

9:19 Question is asked of Bush who he would pick for the next Supreme Court nominee. He made a joke, and then said "someone who interpreted the Constitution as opposed to someone who would try to make law." He should have stopped there, but nooo…he goes on to give Kerry points to debate by expanding on his views ( “someone who wouldn’t strike down the Pledge of Allegiance because it has the words ‘Under God’ in it.”) George…you should take a cue from your VP and stopped when you were ahead.

9:23 Kerry: “I’m a Catholic….but I can’t take what is belief for me and legislate it for someone else.” That’s a great American statement. Bush needs to respond by saying what his faith can do. Even the Conservative Wife agrees on this one. Bush is talking the Right-to-Life stance. The Conservative Wife disagrees, and so does the Centrist Dude. This is a major reason why the Centrist Dude can’t be a Republican.

9:28 Last question comes from a woman who asks what 3 decisions Bush has made that were wrong. Bush doesn’t answer. He paraphrases by saying “You were asking about big decisions and I didn’t make any wrong decisions there.” Kerry: "I voted the way I voted because I wanted accountability, and I didn’t want to give a slush fund to Halliburton. He wants your kids to pay for it. I wanted us to pay for it, since we're at war. I don't think that's a bad decision.Kerry: “I have a plan….I have a better plan.” It’s pretty obvious that he has no plan. The Conservative Wife says he’s trying to invoke MLK:” I have a dream.”

POST DEBATE “Coming up in this hour….Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.” The Conservative Wife flips off the TV, saying it’s too early for Halloween.