October 9, 2004

• The debate: President John Kerry

  
  

  I’m not bothering to read the analysis on last night’s debate.  The media is going to show this things as a tie somehow, because they want to keep this race tight to the finish to keep people buying their papers and reading their tv shows.

  
  

  I watched a unique version of the debate from the campus of Washington U., only a 2min. walk from where Bush and Kerry were actually debating, and from a camera feed that began 30min. before the debate began.  I got to see Charles Gibson, the anchorman of the morning tv show, “Good morning America,” speak to the audience.  For about 10min. he joked w/ them, he told them the highlights of the end of the Red Sox game.  What he did was, he built a relationship with the audience.  They were enjoying him being there.

  
  

  A small, but large thing happened in the debate, that you might not see any commentary on.  I didn’t take notes, but there was one question that Kerry answered, that angered Bush.  Bush got up to respond, and Charles Gibson politely said, “Pres. Bush, the question is over.”  Bush continued to more forward.  Then, Mr. Gibson more powerfully tried to tell Mr. Bush, “i’m running the debate, you need to sit down.” 

  
  

  Mr. Bush did not respect the moderator of the debate.  Certainly, everyone in the audience saw it, but more importantly, I think most of America who watched the debate probably picked up on it.  I remember saying out loud, “Oh my god, that’s how he does diplomacy.”  People say the debate was like seeing the emperor w/out any clothes on.  Without having a friendly audience, and without someone to explain what he was saying or doing, Pres. Bush showed his natural personality.  If he wanted to talk, he was going to talk.

  
  

  I’m not going to talk too much about the policy differences between Bush and Kerry, but last night revealed their personality differences.  And for most Americans, that makes all the difference.  Kerry consistently showed respect, genuine respect to audience members.  I say genuine because it was in his tone (i guess i can’t explain it too much better).  Let me compare it to Bush.  He ended every comment with this awkward smile, and then a wink to someone in the audience.

  
  

  Kerry made respectful comments to those he disagreed.  When asked about abortion, he said, “I know where you’re asking this question from.  Even I’m a Catholic, but as President, I have to do what’s in the interest of all Americans, not just imposing my own beliefs.”  Bush comes back talking about, “life, we need to preserve life.”  Bush was extreme, Kerry tried to reach out to both sides.  Bush openly attacked, “liberals,” Kerry said, “enough of these labels, because they don’t mean anything.” 

  
  

  For once, I saw Kerry as someone Presidential.  He not only related to the people, but he didn’t have those obvious word blunders like Pres. Bush, who said, “there’s a lot of rumors about the draft on the Internets.”  I’m afraid there’s only one internet out there.  Bush also said something about “batting green eyeshadow.” 

  
  

  Being Pres. is about being intelligent and thoughtful as much as about policies.  Last night’s debate finally showed the difference between the intelligence and thoughtfulness of Kerry and Bush.

  
  

  The best question of the night, was, “Mr. Bush, how would you rate yourself as an environmentalist.”  Any person who is a true environmentalist will say, Bush is the worst person in the world for the environment.  And Bush answered the question the best that he could, and ended by saying, “you might say, i’m a good steward for the environment.”  This was definately the question of the night, because you could see the reaction of the questioner, who wasn’t going to be taken for a bullshit ride.  And you could see how Bush can use some policy and some rhetoric, but can be out of touch w/ reality.  Kerry showed the reality, “The Bush administration has been called by both Democrats and Republicans alike, the worst administration for the environment ever.”  He explained how Bush had flat out walked away from the Kyoto agreement, which Kerry said was flawed, but was certainly worth working on.  “You want to know why the world hates us, because we walk away from them rather than negotiating.”

  
  

  Time and time again, Kerry showed he knows the reality of the world.  Time and time again, he hit Bush where it hurts.  He actually gave me belief that he could pull off some of his plans.  “How will i pull off my plans, I will roll-back the tax cuts that Bush so strongly fought for, for the top 2% of America, those making over $200,000 a year.  And that should only effect 3 people in this room, myself, the president, and Charles Gibson (the moderator).”  Bush had no defense for rolling back at least some of his tax-cuts.  He also had no defense for not passing Kerry’s test of “not just spending, but spending enough for homeland security.”  Kerry listed the areas where we weren’t doing enough, and Bush never responded.

  
  

  Kerry through out the reality that Iraq won’t be ready for elections.  He painted the real picture out there, a picture that even Republicans said is, “a disaster.”  Bush could only be optimistic.

  
  

  Oh…and if you’re still reading, this was my favorite.  When asked about Supreme Court judges, Bush made a sick joke, “I’ll apoint whoever will vote for me.”  In case you forgot, Bush’s presidency over Al Gore was decided by the votes of the Supreme Court.  Here was Bush, telling a joke w/ some amount of truth to it, saying, “The Supreme Court is the only reason why i’m president.”  Bush never gave a direct answer for who he would want on the court, but Kerry was able to answer for him.  “Four years ago, Pres. Bush said he’d appoint more conservative judges like Thomas and Scalia, and you can tell where that’s going to lead you.” 

  
  

  You see, Bush has pulled the cloth over people’s eyes for four years.  The media has helped.  The fact that he’s held the least number of press conferences in American history has helped.  The fact that most Americans don’t follow the news (a problem that can be fixed through real education reform, as laid out in my book College Daze, which i still need to plug) has allowed people to not understand our President.  He can convince people with his words that he would “appoint judges who interpret the law not with their opinions,” when in reality, he would appoint judges who hold the conservative values he holds.  Kerry answered, “I’d put conservatives and republicans up there.” at least acknowledging some of the reality behind judge nominations.

  
  

  Last night’s debate was a landslide victory for Kerry.  If you were undecided, you’re not anymore.  This is no longer a debate about Republicans vs. Democrats, it’s a debate about the person who should run the country.  Many Republicans will be voting for Kerry in this election.  Many non-voters in past elections (who are left out in all of the media polls) will be voting for Kerry in this election.  I may be naaive in calling for a Kerry landslide, but from now until election day, I will sleep confidently that unless Bush finds Osama, as we all joke he will, Kerry will be the next President of the United States of America, and in become so, will restore at least some feeling of what a president should be, something I, at 23, have never experienced.

  
  

  -dan

  • 12:20 pm
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