TEAM KERRY after last night's debate....
Posted on 10/14/2004 6:50:17 AM PDT by UsnDadof8
Since it was a holiday weekend right after the last debate, I never got the chance to put out my take on Friday nights debate. So, just as a quick summary:
Debate #2
Kerry said, "I have a plan I have a plan I have a plan"
Bush said, " Yeah, a liberal plan to cede America to the UN and lose the war on terror"
Bush was the winner of that debate. You can tell that by listening to the liberal pundits who claimed it was a draw or slight Kerry victory, which strangely turned into a big victory over the following few days
Debate #3
I might as well say it up front. The president CRUSHED John Kerry in this debate, and Kerry made some glaring errors, which I am all too glad to point out for you.
By the numbers: Astonishingly, Kerry never once mentioned Christopher Reeve, probably because his partner John Edwards was good enough to blame his death on President Bush the week before. Also, he never once uttered the phrase "I have a plan" although he did make one reference to Viet Nam. You think the guy would learn. I also intended to count the number of times the president made references to Kerry's sorry senate voting record, but I stopped counting after the ninth time. Suffice it to say, if anybody remembers anything besides the 5 major errors that Kerry made, it will be the fact that his record got HAMMERED by the president like a sheet metal fabricator working on a new hot rod.
Zingers: I only counted 2 of what I would call "zingers" in this debate, both of them on the president's side. The first was the reference to Kerry's health care plan being a "bait and switch". Pretty much all American adults know what a bait and switch is and so it was a good job by the president to attach that negative connotation to Kerry's plan. His plan pretty much constitutes a government takeover of an industry that is 1/7 of the gross national product. Pretty amazing. The other zinger was when the president referred to Kerry's war on terror policies as "retreat and defeat".
Dagger to the Heart Moment: When the president pointed out that Kerry voted NO on the liberation of Kuwait.
Okay, I referred to Kerry's five major mistakes (and I'm not even going to go into his assault weapons ban mumbo jumbo). Here they are:
Mistake #1: Negativity. I believe most Americans, like myself, want to believe that although our country is not perfect it still is the greatest place in the world and we are improving things here. If that is the case, then Kerry is completely out of touch with most Americans. On virtually every question, Kerry responded with negativity and gloom. His basic premise the entire night seemed to be "America sucks, and it's Bushes fault." Well, Mr. Kerry, we don't think America sucks. If you think it does, then go to France where you belong.
Mistake #2: Reference to Mary Cheney. Bringing someone's family member into a political debate is inexcusable. He made the reference when asked if homosexuality was a choice. Astonishingly, the Kerry advisor that Fox News talked to seemed to think she was "fair game" which led the Fox analyst to question what in the world she meant by that. Kerry is going to have to apologize for this, and if he doesn't it WILL hurt him in the polls. Even the liberal media in the media room disagreed with what Kerry did.
Mistake #3: Know your own record. Bush said only 5 of Kerry's bills his entire career have become laws. Kerry countered by referring to 56 bills that he had worked on in his career. (never mind the fact that comes out to a "whopping" 2.5 bills per year.) Kerry misled us on that one. He did work on 56 bills, which by way included bills he co-sponsored (which as you know entails no more work than saying "I like that bill, I think I will co-sponsor. Add my name to it".) and of ALL those 56 bills, only 5 were ever signed into law by a president. The president was right on that one. Think about it. A professional law maker, who only made 1 law every 4 years. I guess it's hard to do better when you don't show up for work half the time.
Mistake #4: The Wife Joke. Kerry made the colossal blunder of letting the president sucker him into making a self-deprecating joke. The president is very good at self-deprecating humor (for my younger readers that's when you make a joke poking fun at yourself) and so Kerry I suppose thought he could do it too. Unfortunately the joke referenced the fact that he married a billionaire, which is constantly a source of derision where I hang out, and it came out sounding like "I am a kept man".
Mistake #5: Talking about Religion. Everyone knows that the president is a religious man. He's not ashamed to talk about it either, and when he does you can tell he is nothing if not sincere and open. When Kerry talks about religion he sounds like he is pandering, and even I was embarrassed for him last night when he started talking about his religious background. He claims to be a Catholic, yet does not subscribe to the traditional Catholic views as outlined in the Catechism. (I'm not a Catholic but I have studied the Catechism and know somewhat of Catholic matters). I'm not sure how he is allowed to stay a Catholic and be able to publicly disagree with the Church and not be censored (in Catholicism, the teaching arm of the church, The Magisterium, is one of the three prongs of authority, along with scripture and tradition). Overall, it just felt icky. I wanted to take a shower after I heard him talk about faith.
THE Issue: Border Security. This has been getting a lot of attention by the talking heads lately, and rightfully so. How can we claim to be fighting a war on terror and still leave our back door open ? Here's how the candidates responded to the question.
Bush: We are increasing our border patrols, using new technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles, and I believe we ought to issue temporary worker permits, so as to ease pressure on our borders (so we can go after the terrorists). I don't believe in amnesty. The president also cited his experience as a border-state governor.
Kerry: Criticized Bush again, then said he is for a guest worker program (I suppose similar to temporary worker permits. Something tells me Kerry made this up on the fly after hearing Bush say it.) I want to crack down on illegal hiring, and I am in favor of an "earned legalization program" (PS that is double-speak for AMNESTY). And I would use technology (another on the fly comment because it sounded good when Bush said it)
I would as usual say pass this on to your undecided friends, but let's face it, if you are still undecided, chances are you are too dumb to vote. So if you have any undecided friends still, encourage them not to vote. Let the smart people decide.
A whole thread about your opinion?
State your opinion on one of the hundreds of threads on the subject.
It DOES say VANITY, does it not ? Where were you when I posted my VP debate column ?
Why should he.
He's clearly smarter than all of the rest of us put together. /s
Methinks two groups watched last night's debate: dedicated dems and dedicated repubs. The undecided were probably few and far between.
It's a shame to listen to the MSM try to spin this debate to sKerry - he's all hat and no cattle. All manicure and tan in a can - no man strength.
Bush is down to earth - a real man, father, husband, etc.
Let's get this over with - my vote is going to the only true man in this race.
Please try to cut the poster some slack. This is a well-thought-out, full-length opinion piece. I'd suggest saving the "useless vanity" flames for the silly one-line comments.
Good breakdown on Kerry's mistakes in debate. The one thing that was truly Geniune and factual in Kerry's remarks last night, was his praise of What a good Father President Bush is.
So you admitted in advance that it was a whole thread about your very important opinion.
Where were you when I posted my VP debate column ?
Thankfully I missed that huge hole in my knowledge on that subject. Why do you think your opinion on these subjects deserves it's own thread? Methinks you take yourself a tad too seriously.
This kind of thread is discouraged by management. Post your opinion on one of the HUGE NUMBER of threads already up on the subject. If you think your opinion is important enough to have it's own thread, ping a mod or Jim Robinson to the thread and ask them.
Ask Jim what his suggestion is.
I watched the debate last night and I'm a ardent Bush supporter. To say Bush crushed Kerry is a ludicrous statement and damages your credibility. The President handily won debate #2, but his performance last night was disappointing to this conservative.
Tan in a can? Last night, Horse-face, AKA Soldier Killer, looked like his skin was falling off. It was disgusting to watch.
Paul
UsnDadof8 gave you five strong reasons he thought Bush Beat the Heck out of Kerry in Debate, maybe you would like to tell us what Kerry's strong points were.
I agree this poster did his/her homework but the avalanche of vanities from the avalanche of enthusiastic newbies is often a bit funny...or maybe colorful.
I bet there have been at least 20 vanities over last nite's debate.
Rathergate really opened the floodgates here....mostly good but a lot of moderates who can't bear the Dems (not claiming this thread is by one of those).
I've always claimed FR's rightiness gets diluted a bit by it's success. The 97/98ers probably think 2000 election newbies like me did the same.
It's fun to watch. This place is so unique and at times intoxicating and addictive.
You watched a different debate than the rest of America.
Sounds like a "SEMINAR" to me!!!
If want to believe Bush crushed Kerry in the last debate, fine.
Btw, calling someone whose been on FR for five years, a "SEMINAR" poster shows how out of touch with reality you are.
If this thread bothers you so much, why keep posting to it ? There's such a thing as ignoring it. Are you one of those people who want the government to do their parenting for them ? Change - the - channel.
I hope you're not referring to me. I've been here since 2001.
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