Kerry Did a Good Job
My wife and I saw and heard a number of things we liked in tonight's presidential debate.
1. Kerry said it's one thing to be certain, but it's another thing to be "too certain" about important issues... effectively demonstrating that Bush is inflexible.
2. Kerry got Bush flustered a number of times. Bush wanted to interrupt a lot more that Kerry did. Kerry actually looked like he was enjoying the debate, taking notes and smiling during times when Bush was speaking.
3. Bush had to rely on overuse of particular phrases such as "it's hard work". He would become silent or frustrated, then resort to the usual cliches.
4. Kerry only had to mention Vietnam two or three times, and when he did so... it was effective.
5. Kerry is a far superior candidate to Al Gore when it comes to being articulate and persuasive in a debate.
6. Kerry drove home the point about how it was Osama Bin Laden who attacked our country, and how it wasn't Iraq.
7. Kerry made Bush visibly angry by recalling the first Gulf War, in which George Sr. didn't move on to Baghdad because the U.S. didn't have an exit strategy for a prolonged war. This effectively made the point that Dubya is not even as good a president as his dad, who was pretty pathetic, in my opinion.
8. Kerry put Bush on the defensive for more than half of the debate. Dubya's uneasiness was demonstrated by the way in which he turned the "Texas accent thing" on and off. He tried to get the "swagger" going and it didn't really happen. Bush appeared meek and inarticulate more than he appeared macho.
9. Kerry wanted to deal directly with North Korea in a bilateral manner. Bush, almost gleeful, claimed this would leave China and other nations of that region out of the picture. Kerry calmly reminded Bush that simply by the proximity of those nations to North Korea they would not be excluded. He wants us to take the lead, but we won't be excluding anyone.
10. Kerry took advantage of his opportunity to clear up the silly "flip-flop" accusations. He came across as being determined and decisive.
11. Kerry clearly beat Bush in style, as he was articulate but not to the point of using words that were too big, or language that average people couldn't understand.
12. Kerry gave a good picture of what he would do with Iraq. Bush? He basically said he would keep it going over there, no matter what. Kerry brought up the point that Bush really doesn't have an exit strategy, evidenced by the U.S. building at least a dozen permanent military bases in Iraq.
13. Kerry continually emphasized that we have to deal with our allies on a daily basis, and that we need to regain the respect we had from the rest of the world prior to the current war.
14. Kerry pointed out that to the world, it looks like we are in Iraq for the oil... especially when that's what we are mostly protecting there!
15. Kerry wisely brought up the realization that we ought to help out in the effort to stop nuclear weapons by stopping our own testing and production! What a concept! Glad to hear him say it.
16. Kerry seemed natural. He was animated enough to shake off the "wooden" tag, and he spoke concisely enough that people shouldn't have considered him "boring". I thought Bush had nothing new to say... his cliches made HIM seem "wooden" and "boring". Touche!!
1. Kerry said it's one thing to be certain, but it's another thing to be "too certain" about important issues... effectively demonstrating that Bush is inflexible.
2. Kerry got Bush flustered a number of times. Bush wanted to interrupt a lot more that Kerry did. Kerry actually looked like he was enjoying the debate, taking notes and smiling during times when Bush was speaking.
3. Bush had to rely on overuse of particular phrases such as "it's hard work". He would become silent or frustrated, then resort to the usual cliches.
4. Kerry only had to mention Vietnam two or three times, and when he did so... it was effective.
5. Kerry is a far superior candidate to Al Gore when it comes to being articulate and persuasive in a debate.
6. Kerry drove home the point about how it was Osama Bin Laden who attacked our country, and how it wasn't Iraq.
7. Kerry made Bush visibly angry by recalling the first Gulf War, in which George Sr. didn't move on to Baghdad because the U.S. didn't have an exit strategy for a prolonged war. This effectively made the point that Dubya is not even as good a president as his dad, who was pretty pathetic, in my opinion.
8. Kerry put Bush on the defensive for more than half of the debate. Dubya's uneasiness was demonstrated by the way in which he turned the "Texas accent thing" on and off. He tried to get the "swagger" going and it didn't really happen. Bush appeared meek and inarticulate more than he appeared macho.
9. Kerry wanted to deal directly with North Korea in a bilateral manner. Bush, almost gleeful, claimed this would leave China and other nations of that region out of the picture. Kerry calmly reminded Bush that simply by the proximity of those nations to North Korea they would not be excluded. He wants us to take the lead, but we won't be excluding anyone.
10. Kerry took advantage of his opportunity to clear up the silly "flip-flop" accusations. He came across as being determined and decisive.
11. Kerry clearly beat Bush in style, as he was articulate but not to the point of using words that were too big, or language that average people couldn't understand.
12. Kerry gave a good picture of what he would do with Iraq. Bush? He basically said he would keep it going over there, no matter what. Kerry brought up the point that Bush really doesn't have an exit strategy, evidenced by the U.S. building at least a dozen permanent military bases in Iraq.
13. Kerry continually emphasized that we have to deal with our allies on a daily basis, and that we need to regain the respect we had from the rest of the world prior to the current war.
14. Kerry pointed out that to the world, it looks like we are in Iraq for the oil... especially when that's what we are mostly protecting there!
15. Kerry wisely brought up the realization that we ought to help out in the effort to stop nuclear weapons by stopping our own testing and production! What a concept! Glad to hear him say it.
16. Kerry seemed natural. He was animated enough to shake off the "wooden" tag, and he spoke concisely enough that people shouldn't have considered him "boring". I thought Bush had nothing new to say... his cliches made HIM seem "wooden" and "boring". Touche!!
3 Comments:
I definitely agree....
Excellent job by John Kerry last night. Not too wordy or too lengthy in his answers. Bush was repetitive. I think the best part of the night was when Kerry caught Bush saying that Saddam had attacked the US on 9/11.
Hopefully Kerry does just as well next debate. I think Edwards will clean up on Cheney next week as well.
Again, I couldn't agree more.
Post a Comment
<< Home