Presidential Debate #1

The first debate between John Kerry and George Bush occurred last night. It was an interesting debate and I was glad to see that each candidate often had to address the other candidate and not just spew campaign rhetoric. Here is what I got out of the evening.

• 1) Jim Lehrer did a good job of moderating and allowing for extra responses; however, his questions clearly favored Kerry.
• 2) George Bush is still an idiot and did not do well. He kept saying the same thing over and over again, but they lost a lot of their impact early on. Also, when he is not talking, Bush looks like a cartoon monkey.
• 3) Kerry did well, but missed on a few big opportunities and did not do anything to dispel the idea that he is a flip-floppers.
  a. Lehrer set up Kerry by asking what lies Bush has told. This was a huge opportunity for Kerry and he blew it. He concentrated on things Bush said that were misleading, like WMD. However, Kerry should have just stuck with Bush quotes and nothing else. For example, how Bush completely changed his stance on if Osoma Bin Laden is important. http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blbushtwofaces.htm
  b. Kerry still can’t make up his mind about why the war was wrong. He said that Saddam wasn’t connected to terrorism, and that we didn’t have international support, and that other countries has WMD, and their was genocide in other countries, and that we should have focused in Afghanistan. When he has so many reasons, it is hard for his to justify his plans for the future of Iraq without contradicting himself.
  c. Kerry should have seen this coming and said something like “Being about to change your mind when you get new information or when the situation changes is what makes a leader strong and smart. Every time President Bush says I changed my mind, what he is really saying is I assessed a changing situation and then make the best decision for the future of the country. President Bush refuses to ever change. ‘If you find yourself walking into a river and it gets to deep, the wise man builds a bridge, while the fool keeps walking until he drowns.”
• 4) Kerry relied to heavily on bringing other countries to help. What if they don’t want to? What than?

Overall
Bush has screwed up the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, ruined our international relationships, allowed North Korea to get nuclear weapons, let Bin Laden get away, and yet he still managed to hold his own. Ascetically, he didn’t look good, mumbled, and often babbled. I give him a C.

Kerry did well, but didn’t have any impact statement; i.e. nothing that people will remember clearly. He started very well, but than he missed some opportunities, but just getting on TV and speaking the truth did him well. The bated should get Kerry 2-3 points among undecided, but not much more. I give him a B-.

In the end, Kerry only said this once and it should have been his basis for everything.
“Thirty-five to forty countries in the world had a greater capability of making weapons at the moment the president invaded than Saddam Hussein. And while he's been diverted, with 9 out of 10 active duty divisions of our Army, either going to Iraq, coming back from Iraq, or getting ready to go, North Korea's gotten nuclear weapons and the world is more dangerous. Iran is moving toward nuclear weapons and the world is more dangerous. Darfur has a genocide.”

Complete transcript - http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2004a.html

Stats
7 - Number of times Bush said “wrong war at the wrong time at the wrong place”
11 – number of times Bush said “hard work”
There are more but I am tires now.
1 – Bible quotes for Bush
0 – Bible quotes from Kerry