Posted on 09/30/2004 10:10:14 AM PDT by rumrunner
DJ Kerry Team Wants Debate Lecterns Free Of Timing Lights
09/30/2004
Dow Jones News Services
(Copyright © 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP)--Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign demanded Thursday that the lights signaling when a speaker's time has expired during debates with President George W. Bush be removed from the lecterns because they are distracting, but the commission hosting the debates refused.
An angry exchange between representatives of the Kerry campaign and the Commission on Presidential Debates took place just hours before the candidates were to meet at the University of Miami for the first of three debates, The Associated Press learned. Kerry's team threatened to remove the lights when they visit the debate site with the candidate later in the day.
"We'll bring a screwdriver," said a Kerry aide familiar with what several people called an angry exchange. The commission did not return a call seeking comment.
The commission placed the lights on the lecterns in clear view of the television audience and those in the auditorium. An agreement between the Kerry and Bush campaigns specified that timing lights "shall be placed such that they are visible to the debate audiences and television viewers."
However, Kerry's team contended that the agreement doesn't specifically say where the lights should be placed, and it said putting them on the lecterns creates a distraction. The Bush team pushed for the lights in negotiations with Kerry advisers.
The commission is a nonprofit and nonpartisan corporation that has sponsored all the presidential debates since 1988.
The real reason he wants the lights removed is because he's afraid his orange face will look like a piece of chicken under the heat lamp at the deli counter....
You're right. The tan would over-shine the light, it couldn't be seen.
Prairie
Sure, I think they should let him remove the lights. Let John Kerry himself do it at 8:00 with all of America watching.
One question...do we cut power to the timing light BEFORE or after he sticks the screwdriver in it?
Just let Kerry spend the whole 90 minutes debating himself.
His teeth will.
BURGERFRICKEL!!!!
Ooops...the debate starts at 9:00, doesn't it? Well let him do it at 9:00 then. :-)
Honestly, have you ever seen a man who was more vain? Botox, bleached teeth, Christophe haircut.
Ugh.
An excellent idea.
1. when 30 seconds remain, the ultra-violet light goes on.
2. When time is up, the infra-red light goes on.
-PJ
LOL!
Have the voltage start at 10VDC, then increase it by five volts per second until he stops talking. He might just get the picture that "Oh, the rules apply to me also."
They're ALL the Queen of Diamonds, Raymond!
Perhaps that is where he got his negotiating skills. Is that why McCain and Kerry only got a few of the MIA's accounted for from Viet Nam with their "negotiating" ??
In that case, shouldn't the last word of your tagline be capitalized? BTW, I thought Ron Spurrier coached for the Florida State Gators.
Let me say for one final time before the start of this fiasco tonight (that is not a debate), that a mutual news conference is a bone to the media and has nothing to do with the ability to lead. I do not choose my leader based on his ability as "American SpokesMale of the Year" honors.
Kerry's leadership ability seems to have been tested by:
1. A few years in the Navy, primarily in the grade of ensign and j.g.
2. A few years as a lieutenant governor...where one gets to learn nearly as much as comes from being a vice president.
3. A number of years in the US Senate. The senate requires little leadership skill since it is primarily a glorified "Statement Making Society." What little leadership skill it offers comes, perhaps, from heading up a major committee -- something that Kerry didn't get selected for.
The leadership skills of George W. Bush are shown in:
1. His time in the Air Force from Lt to Cpt.
2. Time as campaign director for a congressional campaign.
3. Time as a small business owner running a Texas Oil Company, during which time he had to meet payrolls, contracts, and taxes.
4. Time as owner/director of a major league baseball team, during which time he had to play the "sports ego" political game, monitor drafts and trades, manage multi-million dollar budgets, meet payrolls, satisfy fans, fulfill contracts, pay taxes, and interact with city officials.
5. Time as Governor of Texas, one of the nation's largest, most ethnically diverse, most internationally located, and most fiercely independent states.
6. 4 years as President of the USA in one of the most trying, dangerous, challenging times in US history.
How about instead of a bic, GWB uses a ZIPPO lighter instead??
Ding, ding, ding, ding...
...WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!
Flame thrower?
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