After Debate III: 2004

Debate III: 2004
The transcript of the debate as provided by CNN.COM is here.

Note: Style Points: Aggressiveness to Bush...especially the pounding on the lectern, and the frequent use of body and facial motions. Nuance to Kerry...with medical cost escalation, where funds would come from to pay for his plans. Party buzzword propagation was a draw. Personal attacks: Bush did many more, and attempted to affix Republican party labels onto Sen. Kerry; whereas Kerry spoke somewhat kindlier about Bush the man. The more accurate statistics and analysis came from Sen. Kerry. Best one-liner from Kerry: "Being lectured by the president on fiscal responsibility is a little bit like Tony Soprano talking to me about law and order in this country." Avoiding a reply to the question asked was Pres. Bush, most tellingly with his response to support for a proposed minimum wage increase.

Addressing the core constituents that need to be energized was a draw as well, with Kerry's remarks about the Congressional Black Caucus, the Annual NAACP convention, Union workers, women, and the "common man", while Bush provided fuel for his candidacy by addressing immigration "as a Governor of Texas", by regurgitating the Republican talking points on steadfastness versus nuance, the "culture of life", faith based initiatives, and the "partial birth abortion" mantra.

Part way thru the debate I recalled a quote from Bertrand Russell:
"A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand."

...thus putting the debate into context, each contestant was successful in showcasing the merits of their positions as seen by their respective supporters, while attempting to show the faults of their opponents position. In that, there remains one huge difference, and that is: America and the World has seen and experienced what Pres. Bush has and has not done during his term. To use Pres. Bush's phrase against him, one could say: "Bush can run, but he cannot hide." Ross Perot's question can easily be answered by comparing almost any facet of contemporary America with how it was in Nov. 2000. Bush must accept some blame for that; but again, tellingly he does not personally accept blame or responsibility for anything. To Pres. Bush, problems that occurred are not directly attributable to his decisions and actions, rather they are the fault of those to who he entrusted tasks to, whether it was the military brass for not demanding more troops for Iraq, the CIA for not providing accurate information, the Government Regulatory agencies responsible for Corporate oversight, or homeland security agencies that have failed to address vital national concerns.

The 9/11 tragedy occurred over three years ago; but Pres. Roosevelt did not take three years to get the country solidly behind him after the attack at Pearl Harbor. Bush tries to assert the economy was going bad before he came into office in Jan. 2001 and four years later is now finally recovering. Unfortunately his argument is not supported by the GAO, the editors of the Wall Street Journal, the Economist Magazine, or any non-partisan economic institution, and is vocally denied by at least three senior members of his own Administration who left the Administration over Bush's handling of the economy.

There were also a few troubling sections: with Pres. Bush's dogmatic, reflexive, and oblique arguments that are full of sound bites; but devoid of internal cohesion or logic; and Sen. Kerry's lack of vigor in "going for the jugular" when he clearly could have inflicted real damage to the presidents arguments, for example on prescription drugs, or the job creation picture, (specifically where the argument was over 1.6 million vs 500k jobs lost...(ie: a Republican president was responsible for the addition of 843,000 Federal employees during his term, whereas the Clinton Administration presided over a decrease of 335,000 employees on the Federal payroll.)

Today on Teri Gross's Fresh Air program, Pat Buchanan asserted he is supporting Pres. Bush for reelection in spite of the fact he disagrees with almost everything the President has done related to Iraq. If the electorate can truly give Pres. Bush a bye on his handling of the Iraq War, the World will come to the realization there is no sanity in this years election. That fear manipulation, hierarchically rewarded greed, blind faith, spin, scientific enquiry restrained by politics, and money are the real values America abide by. Hopefully we will not have to see this envelope expanded in the next four years.