Why Bush lost the first debate

Very quickly and succintly.

1) Bush, even after 4 years of being president, still can't quite put together a complete sentence or a complete thought. He stammers. He makes weird juxtapositions. Take this one:

BUSH: People out there listening know what I believe. And that's how best it is to keep the peace.

What the hell does that mean? Or this vaguely childish statement, about foreign leaders:

I know how these people think. I deal with them all the time. I sit down with the world leaders frequently and talk to them on the phone frequently.

Or this weird exchange:

LEHRER: New question, Mr. President, two minutes. You have said there was a, quote, "miscalculation," of what the conditions would be in post-war Iraq. What was the miscalculation, and how did it happen?

BUSH: No, what I said was that, because we achieved such a rapid victory, more of the Saddam loyalists were around. I mean, we thought we'd whip more of them going in.

huh?

2a) Party talking points don't really work in a debate setting, because the response time is rapid. Straw men don't really work. When Kerry was talking about how Bush doesn't create alliances, he said:

KERRY: Secondly, when we went in, there were three countries: Great Britain, Australia and the United States. That's not a grand coalition. We can do better.

Clearly meaning three major countries. But Bush responded by saying:

BUSH: Well, actually, he forgot Poland. And now there's 30 nations involved, standing side by side with our American troops.

And I honor their sacrifices. And I don't appreciate it when candidate for president denigrates the contributions of these brave soldiers.

Well, clearly, Kerry didn't denigrate anyone's contribution. He was criticizing the president for not forming two alliances. And with the two statements side by side, it's obvious to anyone that Bush's rebuttal is a straw man.

Or this one. Here's Kerry on bin Laden:

KERRY: And I believe that a fresh start, new credibility, a president who can understand what we have to do to reach out to the Muslim world to make it clear that this is not, you know -- Osama bin Laden uses the invasion of Iraq in order to go out to people and say that America has declared war on Islam.

and Bush responds to something that Kerry clearly didn't say:

BUSH: My opponent just said something amazing. He said Osama bin Laden uses the invasion of Iraq as an excuse to spread hatred for America. Osama bin Laden isn't going to determine how we defend ourselves. Osama bin Laden doesn't get to decide. The American people decide.

Does anyone really think that Kerry was claiming that Osama bin Laden should decide how the US defends itself?

2b) If you speak only in talking points, it's hard to connect the dots:

BUSH: I don't see how you can lead this country to succeed in Iraq if you say wrong war, wrong time, wrong place. What message does that send our troops? What message does that send to our allies? What message does that send the Iraqis?

No, the way to win this is to be steadfast and resolved and to follow through on the plan that I've just outlined.

how are those two things related?

3) Bush is bad on the defensive:

BUSH: First of all, of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us. I know that.

Does anyone think that he doesn't know that?

4) Kerry was as clear as he's ever been. Short, declarative sentences:

KERRY: It [Iraq] was a threat. That's not the issue. The issue is what you do about it.

or

KERRY: I can make American safer than President Bush has made us.

And I believe President Bush and I both love our country equally. But we just have a different set of convictions about how you make America safe.

I believe America is safest and strongest when we are leading the world and we are leading strong alliances.

I'll never give a veto to any country over our security. But I also know how to lead those alliances.

This is very bad for the Bush campaign. They insisted that the foreign policy debate be first, because it was Bush's strong suite. It will only go downhill from.

-- Michael

Comments

[d meyers]

I disagree completely. As I said earlier both sides held ground. I think both Kerry and Bush hit singles. Singles are positive but they are not extra base hits or homeruns.

Kerry did nothing to show he can be trusted with national security, talking about "global tests", outsourcing Tora Bora (how lame is that, is he saying he will be field general Kerry), reviving the nuclear freeze lingo and back to cancelling weapon systems (he will end the development of bunker buster nukes).

I don't think Bush was at the top of his game, he had the chances to completely knock Kerry out of the ball park. Instead of the homeruns, Bush hit the singles and doubles.

Kerry's performance does nothing to get him above the 45-47% range, Bush's performance does nothing to move him below the 52% range.

[d meyers]

Why Kerry loses when it comes to Iraq/National Security

"No president, though 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 have to do it 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."

There is always a "But" and passing a "global test" is the WRONG ANSWER for the majority of the American people

[d meyers]

looks like kerry must have been getting his nails done during History class

"John Kerry called the Moscow headquarters of the KGB "Treblinka," which was a Nazi concentration camp, rather than by its actual name, "Lubyanka."

Nice one Kerry....

This is meaningless to me but I find it funny because it is exactly the type of screw up that the Dems would be all over GW if he said that. All the "he is not intellectualy curious" statements would be being thrown about....

[d meyers]

As I suspected the fact checkers out and Kerry is not fairing well

LEHRER: New question. Senator Kerry, two minutes. You just -- you've repeatedly accused President Bush -- not here tonight, but elsewhere before -- of not telling the truth about Iraq, essentially of lying to the American people about Iraq. Give us some examples of what you consider to be his not telling the truth.

KERRY: Well, I've never, ever used the harshest word, as you did just then. And I try not to

WRONG ANSWER KERRY

BUT IN DECEMBER 2003, KERRY TOLD NEW HAMPSHIRE EDITORIAL BOARD BUSH "LIED" ABOUT REASON FOR GOING TO WAR IN IRAQ. "Kerry also told a New Hampshire newspaper editorial board Friday that Bush had 'lied' about his reasons for going to war in Iraq, a word Kerry has been reluctant to use publicly for months. Yesterday he said he did not plan to use the word again." (Patrick Healy, "Kerry Camp Lowers N.H. Expectations Behind In Polls, Senator Now Seeks Spot In 'Top Two,'" The Boston Globe, 12/8/03)

AND IN SEPTEMBER 2003, KERRY SAID BUSH ADMINISTRATION "LIED" AND "MISLED." "This administration has lied to us. They have misled us. And they have broken their promises to us.

Oh and there is more:

KERRY: The president hasn't put one nickel, not one nickel into the effort to fix some of our tunnels and bridges and most exposed subway systems. That's why they had to close down the subway in New York when the Republican Convention was there. We hadn't done the work that ought to be done.

John, you need to do some fact checking on that one... (just a little lie on this one)

[here's what's left]

yes, i suspect that this is the only strategy that republicans will have, especially since kerry performed so well compared to bush, who really looked like a moron. find some insignificant fact and correct him on it. you're wrong about dems being all over bush about a comparable mistake viz. the name of the square in moscow, because would never have even said a name.

this statement is perfectly reasonable:

But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it 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.

the test that he's talking about is your "countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing." it's not some sort of global security test that would give another country veto power over american security, as you well know, since he said that at the beginning of the debate.

but really, let's talk about fact checking:

Saddam Hussein had no intention of disarming. Why should he? He had 16 other resolutions and nothing took place. As a matter of fact, my opponent talks about inspectors. The facts are that he was systematically deceiving the inspectors.

is bush somehow continuing to lying suggest that Saddam had WMD? if so, that truly is irresponsible. or will you somehow not accept that that's lie?

[d meyers]

"is bush somehow continuing to lying suggest that Saddam had WMD? if so, that truly is irresponsible. or will you somehow not accept that that's lie?"

When 10's of thousands of people are gassed that means Sadaam had WMD's. Did Sadaam ever get rid of all those chemical weapons??? I don't know and you don't know.

Yeah, I knew you would love the "global test" but passing a "global test" doesn't fly with a majority of people.

The only reason I put up all the Kerry "lies" is because you are so quick to find "lies" under every rock....

Kerry's N. Korea and Iran position is incoherant and dangerous. Bush pulls together allies for Iraq, for Iran and most importantly for N. Korea. But for some reason Kerry believes one on one talks with N. Korea is the way to go... What a moron. Why not enlist Jimmy Carter to lead the delegation again and send over Ms. Albright to clink champagne glasses with Kim J. One on one talks with N. Korea is a joke. As Ms. Albright says, N. Korea cheated on our agreement.. Well DUH...

The only way to get N. Korea to comply is to get all the major countries in the area, China, S. Korea, Japan, Russia, to put pressure on them and what does Kerry want?? to have one on one talks... What a bozo