Great post, Tom.
I think that Bush "won" by connecting to the audience better.
Bush's best moment, in my opinion, was on stem cell research, where he sounded thoughtful and balanced as he described the balancing act between ethics and science and the conflict that arises when one must decide whether to take life to save a life. Bush's line of thinking on that topic could easily be applied to national security.
Bush also did well while explaining that sometimes America must "go it alone," which really means that America must govern itself. Kerry, on the other hand sounded like he is too beholden to the views of foreigners and foreign despots.
Kerry got defensive about the liberal label, while Bush was not defensive about the American economy: 1.9 million jobs over the past 13 months.
Here's an excerpt from a National Review column by John J. Pitney Jr. about last night's debate:
[John Kerry] continued his pattern of self-contradiction. At first, he held himself up as a model of consistency on Iraq: "Well, let me tell you straight up: I've never changed my mind about Iraq. I do believe Saddam Hussein was a threat. I always believed he was a threat." But in discussing Iran a few minutes later, he had a sudden change of heart about the Iraqi threat: "And what's interesting is, it's a threat that has grown while the president has been preoccupied with Iraq, where there wasn't a threat."
Kerry was his usual "I have a plan" (for everything) and "I would have done it BETTER" (on everything) self. What exactly is in these plans? How exactly would he have done better? I thought he was supposed to talk about all that last night. Guess he was just too busy defending himself and whining about "labels" to do that. And what he said about tort reform was laughable. I mean, the Kerry-Edwards ticket has the backing of the trial lawyers (whom I'm sure were none to happy to hear what he said). But, give him a week or two, I'm sure he will be out there speaking to the trial lawyers and reversing himself, as usual.
I suppose that there were a couple of things that Bush let him get by on, but all in all I thought Bush did d*mn good last night.
Here is a funny Hillary story.
IMHO Bush spanked Kerry and spanked him good! He obviously got some much-needed rest and ate his bowl of Wheaties. While awaiting their turn to speak Kerry smirked like a smart-ass throughout the night while Bush looked like a hungry linebacker waiting to blitz a quarterback.
In this debate I think Bush won on style (if ‘down-to-earth’ trumps grandiosity for style) as well as substance. Yet, many will still flock towards the snake-oil utopian platitudes that promise everything. If we just bleed the “rich” and apologize to all the appeasing leaders of the world, all will be good.
Kerry: “It's very hard to get other countries to give up their weapons when you're busy developing a new one.”…I guess we should just wait for N.Korea and Iran to catch up.
Larry,
Agreed. I think Kerry might actually be hurting himself with this "We can't keep building weapons of our own if we want North Korea and Iran to stop" argument.
And then there's the "We need to make ourselves look better in Europe" argument. It's similar to the "global test." Kerry seems to think that Americans should have the right to elect their own governments. But they shouldn't demand that their elected officials do anything without getting it approved by France first.
Btw, Larry.... I liked the football analogy. ...while Bush looked like a hungry linebacker waiting to blitz a quarterback.
A humorous note. Today a Fox commentator was interviewing the usual Repub and Dem talking heads about the debate. The Dem made this statement:
"By using the "liberal label" against Kerry, Bush was trying to scare the voters".
To which the commentator (a young woman whose name I can't think of) replied:
"Oh, is it scary to be liberal?"
Jamie,
This should convince the Bush-Cheney campaign to continue this line of attack. They can't let Kerry get away with this bunk that he will model his foreign policy on Ronald Reagan's, John F. Kennedy's or Dwight Eisenhower's foreign policies. How often did Kerry agree with Reagan when Reagan was President, anyway?
Mark,
I envy your going to the Bush rally Monday! Good luck on your campaign help. Are you canvassing on the phone?
Jamie, that funny Hillary story was Hillary-ous!!! Bill was probably thinking: "Damn Kerry makes me look good!"
Tom, Great Posting!
P.S.- VIVA JOHN HOWARD!!!!
- Thank you everybody for your comments.
“It's very hard to get other countries to give up their weapons when you're busy developing a new one.”
This reveals Kerry as his true self; a moral equivalence liberal.
No, Senator, let me spell it out for you: A gun in the hands of a cop or a law abiding citizen is good, a gun in the hands of a crook is bad. A nuke in our hands is good, one in the hands of a rogue nation is bad.
Tom,
That's exactly right. I am waiting for John Kerry to say that Israel's nukes represent as big a threat as those from North Korea.
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