Thursday, 14 October 2004

Bob Schieffer as Moderator

Bob did an absolutely awful job as moderator. It was embarrassing watchinghim lob softball after softball at John Kerry while he asked fastball afterfastball of Bush. Below are the most bizarre and egregious questions in theorder they were asked by Bob along with my comments.

And that is, will our children and grandchildren ever live in a world assafe and secure as the world in which we grew up? What is he talkingabout? Didn't we grow up in a world with fear of a nuclear war? a fear ofcommunism? I am not sure what he is talking about.

Both of you are opposed to gay marriage. But to understand how you havecome to that conclusion, I want to ask you a more basic question. Do youbelieve homosexuality is a choice? What the hell kind of question isthis? The issue of gay marriage is a real issue, but this is a questiontrying to trap Bush

Health insurance costs have risen over 36 percent over the last four yearsaccording to The Washington Post. We're paying more. We're getting less.Nice editorial of we're paying more and getting less. That comes rightout of the Kerry talking points

The gap between rich and poor is growing wider. More people are droppinginto poverty. Yet the minimum wage has been stuck at, what, $5.15 an hournow for about seven years. Is it time to raise it?This question fired me up more than any other question. The gap betweenthe rich and poor is growing wider? This is a flat out lie perpetrated bythe left for years and to add it into a question is a complete outrage.

Mr. President, I want to go back to something Senator Kerry said earliertonight and ask a follow-up of my own. He said, and this will be anew question to you, he said that you had never said whether you would like to overturn Roe v. Wade. So I'd ask you directly, would you liketo?Since the candidates can't ask each other questions, I guess it is okfor the moderator to ask the question for Kerry?

Senator, the last debate, President Bush said he did not favor a draft. Youagreed with him. But our National Guard and Reserve forces are beingseverely strained because many of them are being held beyond theirenlistments. Some of them say that it's a back-door draft.More Democratic talking points

Senator Kerry, after 9/11 -- and this is a new question for you -- itseemed to me that the country came together as I've never seen it cometogether since World War II. But some of that seems to have melted away. Ithink it's fair to say we've become pretty polarized, perhaps because ofthat would be your attitude on that?Gee, I wonder how Kerry will answer this one? This time we will putthe softball on a tee!

After going over the questions, I can tell you one thing for sure. BobSchieffer didn't do anything to lessen the charge that CBS is a biasedshill of the DNC.

Posted by elendil at 12:57 AM in National Politics
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Bush vs Kerry - Round 3

As we came into the final debate, the pundits thought Kerry would dominatedomestic issues. I didn't think that would be the case. I thought Kerrywould pour on the doom and gloom and suggest bigger government was theanswer to every question and Bush's moderately conservative stands on theissues would be much more effective.

After watching the debate, it appears that I was proved right. As Ilistened to Kerry I was reminded of the Fed-Ex commercial where the actorskept saying they were "doomed" because they couldn't get their packagesdelivered. Every time Kerry opened his mouth all I heard was "doomed".Kerry's view of America was incredibly bleak, and all he had to fix it wasa plan to increase governments involvement. But as Bush said "a laundrylists of complaints is not a plan , and a plan is not to lay out programsthat you can't pay for.".

Bush on the other hand had a positive message for the future. A futurewhere government is not the answer, but the people empowered to act are thefuture of this country. Bush's positive view of the future continued:

  • He wants to continue to take the battle to the terrorists, and not treat it as a law enforcement effort.
  • He wants people to be able to control their own retirement
  • He wants people to choose their own insurance and to reintroduce competition to health care.
  • He wants to promote a "culture of life"
  • He wants to continue to close the education gap
  • He wants to educate people so they can compete in the jobs of the 21st century
  • He wants to make the streets safer by prosecuting criminals that use guns in crimes.
  • He wants to limit liability lawsuits which increase the costs of practicing medicine.

That is a positive vision of America that will be compelling to voters inMiddle-America. Bush was also more person than Kerry. His answers on thefaith and strong women questions showed a warm personal side that Kerrywasn't able to do. Heck Kerry didn't even mention his wife in his answer.The bottom line is Bush knocked Kerry out in this debate, and the momentumis clearly shifting back to Bush.

I want to close by highlighting the best exchange of the debate. In thisexchange Bush set up Kerry, Kerry bit, and Bush knocked it out of the park.

BUSH:
My opponent, the senator, talks about foreign policy.In our first debate he proposed America pass a global test. In order todefend ourselves, we'd have to get international approval. That's one ofthe major differences we have about defending our country.I'll work with allies. I'll work with friends. We'll continue to buildstrong coalitions. But I will never turn over our national- securitydecisions to leaders of other countries.We'll be resolute, we'll be strong, and we'll wage a comprehensive waragainst the terrorists.
KERRY:
I have never suggested a test where we turn over our security to anation. In fact, I've said the opposite: I will never turn the security ofthe United States over to any nation. No nation will ever have a veto overus.But I think it makes sense, I think most Americans in their guts know, thatwe ought to pass a sort of truth standard. That's how you gain legitimacywith your own country people, and that's how you gain legitimacy in theworld.But I'll never fail to protect the United States of America.
BUSH:
In 1990, there was a vast coalition put together to run SaddamHussein out of Kuwait. The international community, the international worldsaid this is the right thing to do, but when it came time to authorize theuse of force on the Senate floor, my opponent voted against the use offorce.Apparently you can't pass any test under his vision of the world.
Posted by elendil at 12:31 AM in National Politics
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