Posted 1:25 a.m. Oct. 1, 2004.
Wow, that debate was a big mistake - for George W. Bush.
No wonder his campaign was so reluctant to agree to a debate. I had braced myself for the rampant butchering of the English language and the simplistic rhetoric. The confused pauses were just icing on the cake, as was the POTUS's frequent changing of the rules.
What had me shouting "you are a tool!" though, was Bush's stubborn reiteration of his absurd thesis: John Kerry changes not only his opinion, but his values; revising policy in the face of new intelligence is demoralizing to the troops; John Kerry sends "mixed messages" to the troops and the rest of the world when he calls Iraq "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time." Bush is known for his ability to stay on message. However, last night this hurt him more than it helped him.
I had to chuckle at Bush's repeated emphasis on Poland - I guess Condi forgot to tell him that Poland was pulling out of Iraq. But that was just silly; what really concerned me was Bush's assertion that we should not pursue bilateral talks with North Korea because that is what they want. International relations is not a zero-sum game unless you make it one with normative statements such as the ones this administration thrives on. North Korea needs to normalize relations infinitely more than we do. But Bush and his neo-con cronies don't believe in win-win situations, and this has tremendous foreign policy implications.
As for Kerry, I think he did a much better job than usual in terms of clarity and accessibility to the general public. While watching the DNC this summer I got a big kick out of hearing CNN's Aaron Brown refer to the Democrats as "the party of the compound sentence." I personally think this is a good thing, but I can definitely see how this hurts Kerry with Middle America. Kerry seemed intelligent, thoughtful, firm (though flexible), and even statesman-like.
Running against a wartime incumbent is always an uphill battle, but with a few more debates like this one, grammar, nuance and diplomacy can and will take back the White House.
