Posted on 10/01/2004 4:02:08 AM PDT by Apolitical
Presidential debate moderator Jim Lehrer showed once again Thursday night why top aides to President Clinton used to call him "our moderator" when presidential debate time rolled around in 1996......
(Excerpt) Read more at iconoclast.ca ...
Lehrer played softball for Kerry, true enough.
But Kerry didn't hit anything out of the park.
Agree. Turns out that our Prez isn't as dumb as the Libs like to characterize. W recognized the pitfalls (e.g., "Mr. President, was it worth the over 1,000 soldiers killed to liberate Iraq?"). Every life, even a Lib's, is precious.
I don't think it matters either. Bush failed to rebut a few points but took no serious harm. Draw.
I thought he was going to trip on his wing tips running to Kerry on the stage so quickly.
I like Mr. Bush and I will vote for him , but the fact is he sucked last night. He had several times when he could have nailed Kerry to the cross and he let him go, He paused too often and he took too long to answer what should have been easy home runs.
Kerry started off scared , his voice quaking , but as they went along his confidence built while the President lost his. The President kept trying to put across talking points instead of asnwering the questions in his own words., He kept pushing the Wrong war at the Wrong time talking point when once was one time too many. It was like he got stage fright.
I think George Bush's election is necessary for this country, but anyone placing their vote on the outcome of
this debate isnt going to place it for Bush. We have to be honest and say either the people who prepared him for this debate didnt do their job or Bush got stage fright, he damned sure didnt win last night.You could se his confidence slip away.
Not only did Kerry not hit any out of the park, it was plain for anyone to see that Lehrer was bias in his questions.
Kerry saying that would've been just one more flip-flop given his complaint at the beginning that GW "outsourced" Bin Laden's capture to Afghans.
That was when I left the room because my democrat mother-in-law started cheering Kerry's 'zinger'.
Besides, the Prez already has a mandate as far as the WOT goes and didn't have to score big during this debate. It is better to let the Kerry team get excited, then finish strong with the best performance at the final debate. I believe the Prez will do better at the Town Hall style meeting that comes next, then be loaded for bear at the final debate.
Was I seeing things last night, or did Lehrer ONLY shake Kerry's hand at the end?
I'm not sure if he did or didn't, but Lehrer did wink at Kerry as he shook his hand.
Yes. And there were several times when Bush did nail Kerry to the cross (Global test?!?; can't form alliances while insulting our allies; " Help in on way" yet voted against funding).
Yet in your view he "sucked." Perhaps your expectations were too high. I dunno.
I happen to believe that while Lehrer was impossibly slanted towards the left, he gave our President a chance to defend his presidency and he succeeded admirably.
The wink sez - THE FIX IS IN, YOU DID GREAT BY PREPARING WITH THE QUESTIONS I'D SENT YOU IN ADVANCE.
Yes, the wording was biased. We saw it and most of America saw it, but the fence sitters probably didn't. The debate (if that's what they want to call the q&a was) isn't for those already decided voters but for those who haven't a clue. For the clueless, one must pound home your points and show them definitively where you opponent is wrong. Bush failed to understand this point. He didn't have a grasp of the target audience. Could have cleaned Kerry's clock countless times but instead, let the lies lay.
This reminded me a little of the Ali-Foreman prizefight. Kerry three a lot of punches, butr few landed. Bush threw few punches, but most of them landed. But yes, Bush seemed tired and Kerry got to let fly some unrebutted distortions.
The Tora Bora thing was tiresome. I doubt that Commander in Chief Kerry would have Al Queda shaking in their boots. Kerry's pals (France, Germany, the UN) share with the Muslim terrorists a hatred of Israel. Israel is the root issue of the war on terror, and I'm sad it did not get more discussion. I wish Bush would have said, "As we speak, Israel has just blown up the Iranian nuclear facilities."
Any moderator who is even a little competent would be required to ask that question.
Any aspiring war leader should be required to hit it out of the park.
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