Remarks by BC04 Campaign Mgr Ken Mehlman And Chief Strategist Matthew Dowd On Tomorrow's Debate

George W. Bush ^ | October 7, 2004

[RWR8189]

Remarks by Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign Manager Ken Mehlman And Chief Strategist Matthew Dowd in Conference Call Regarding Tomorrow's Debate

(title edited for length)

ARLINGTON, VA - Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign Manager Ken Mehlman and Chief Strategist Matthew Dowd made the following remarks today in a Bush-Cheney '04 conference call regarding tomorrow's debate:

Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign Manager Ken Mehlman:

"Tomorrow night's debate provides an important opportunity for Senator Kerry to answer a number of questions that have arisen in the course of these debates and in the course of this campaign by the American people about the issues that will be discussed on national security and the War on Terror and also on domestic issues. 

"It's an opportunity for Senator Kerry to defend a thirty-year record of being wrong with defense, which even John Edwards was unable to defend.  It's an opportunity for him to explain what he meant by the 'global test' and how America would pass it under his leadership, and why an American Commander in Chief should have to pass a 'global test' before defending our country.  It's an opportunity for him to explain how a record of eleven different positions on the war in Iraq can be called 'consistent.'

"It's an opportunity for him to explain which taxes he would raise to pay for the $1.5 trillion healthcare program he has come out in favor of, and which he has said he would raise taxes to pay for and how he would close the tax gap between the costs of his other promises and the effect of just raising taxes on the rich. 

"It's an opportunity for him to explain how he can be for the findings of the 9/11 Commission yet yesterday miss a vote on the 9/11 Commission Report findings being enacted into law, and how he can be for middle class tax cuts having just a few weeks ago along with Senator Edwards missed a vote on the middle class tax cuts. 

"So, this debate will be another opportunity for Senator Kerry to do something which he did not do in the first debate, and which his running mate did not do in the vice presidential debate, which is to overcome the threshold question -- given his record and given his vision why the American people should trust him to be Commander in Chief at this critical time -- and for him to explain his domestic policies to the American people."

Bush-Cheney '04 Chief Strategist Matthew Dowd:

"Last Thursday in Miami, just looking ahead for viewership and what we think might happen, sixty-three million people watched the debate, the highest number since 1992.  This weekend in Cleveland the vice presidential debate had nearly 44 million people watch the debate, which is the highest number since 1992.  As we said before, people are engaged, they're listening, they want to know where the candidates stand on policy and what their vision is for the next four years.  We expect this next debate to be well-watched.  The only question is, because it's a Friday night what does that mean for viewership, but my guess is it's going to be a pretty high number, higher than the second and third debates in 2000, not knowing exactly what that is. 

"The other thing is where we think the race stands today.  We think this race has settled into about a two-point advantage for us right now.  If you take a look at all the public polls that have come out since the debate was ended, the average of all of those public polls is about a two-point average.  There are some lower than that, some higher than that, but the total of them is two points, and we think the battleground states are reflective of that. 

"We said, to reiterate along since March 3 when this race began, that we thought it would ultimately be a three or four-point race at most.  It's settling into that.  We expect it to finish up that way through the course of these debates and on to Election Day.  So we said that when we were up in the polls and we said that when we were down in the polls and that's still what we think this race is going to settle into."

[Avenger]

"It seems dangerous to bring it up so much, because its obvious that Kerry had just gotten through saying he would never give away veto power over defending our country."

---

Here is what he said:

"No president, through all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America. But if and when you do it, Jim, you've got to do in a way that passes the test—that passes the global test—where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing, and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."

So, yes, America has the right to pre-emptive action but before we can carry out pre-emptive action we must first pass the "global test" which involves, among other things, being able to "prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons." The obvious problem with this is that our so called allies (the French in particular) were up to their ears in bribe money from Saddam and wouldn't have supported us no matter what. According intelligence findings in Iraq, the French had promised Saddam in May 2002 that they would veto any military action against Iraq and in return for that promise they got fat oil deals and contracts . Don't you lefties feel pathetic for thinking for a moment that the French and Russians were actually against the war for principled reasons?

[Avenger]

France's GLOBAL TEST for America:

Mark T for true, F for false.

1) Will you give me more money than Saddam Hussien is giving me?


This is the end of the GLOBAL TEST.
Please close your test booklet and put down your pencil.

[prairiebreeze]

"It's an opportunity for him to tell the nation why he lied about and sold out his fellow VietNam veterans and met with the enemy while we were still at war and while he was still a Naval officer.

Prairie