Wednesday, 13 October 2004
Bush vs Kerry - Round 2.5
I didn't get a chance to comment on the second debate for a couple ofreasons. On the night of the debate, I was attending a bourbon tastingparty and didn't watch my taping of it until I got home at 3:30am. Needlessto say, I didn't take any notes for commenting. The next day, My wife and Ipacked up for a weekend backpacking trip. When we returned Sunday night,I was to tired to write anything. So, I decided to wait until I previewedthe final debate before talking about the second.
In the second debate, Bush showed an energy level that was not there in thefirst debate. He came out swinging and really took it to Kerry which I amsure invigorated the base. Besides the energy, I knew that Bush had won thedebate when Kerry kept going back to the previous question whichwas a sign he was having difficulty saying what he wanted to say.
As for the content of the second debate, I had trouble following all of thenuances of Kerry's shifting opinion on Iraq which blurred the differencesbetween the two candidates. This was frustrating because I don't thinkKerry truly believes half the things he said. That to me was a bigger"nuisance" than Kerry's comments on Monday about terrorism.
It was on the domestic issues where the differences between the candidateswas more stark and less murky. Bush came across as a moderatelyconservative candidate while Kerry came across as a wacky leftistscandidate. Four positions really solidified this thought in my mind.
- Kerry kept talking about raising taxes on the "rich" which of course is code word for everyone. He is also the last candidate since Mondale to run on a platform of raising taxes.
- Kerry talked about socializing Health care which is a blatant attempt to try Hiliary care again.
- Kerry talked about wanting to sign the Koyoto treaty which was filled with enough leftist environmentalism that would have cost our economy billions of dollars in regulations. The worst part is that much of impetus for the treaty was based on flimsy science and leftist propoganda.
- Kerry also came out against the ban on partial birth abortions. This is a truly barbaric procedure where a child is pulled partially from the womb, killed and then left for delivery. That is the most extreme pro-choice position once can possible have.
With this as a backdrop, we head into the third debate. The last twodebates have entailed a lot of slugging it out back and forth. What I amlooking for in this debate is who delivers a positive message about thefuture of the country. Kerry's campaign is based to much on doom and gloomto be able to carry such a postive message. So, I look to Bush to continueto contrast himself with Kerry, but in a way that reflects positive andsunny view of America's future.
