The Presidential Debates: The Common Cure to Insomnia

As promised, I said that I would give my opinion on the presidential debates. First, a major disclaimer. I am a member of the Green Party and, if you couldn't tell from the previous post, am choosing to break with my party and vote for John Kerry in the upcoming election. Mostly, I think that President Bush has the possibility of going down as the worst administration in the modern era (by that, I mean post-FDR), and while I don't totally support Kerry I feel he's the best option to correct the disastrous course are nation has taken.

I strongly encourage anyone who watched the debate to follow up on what was said by using an independent resource such as the University of Pennsylvania's FactCheck.org (and not FactCheck.com as Vice President Cheney said during his debate). These websites take claims made during debates, campaign appearances, and television ads and casts them in the proper light or debunks them all together.

Finally, I didn't watch the debate or any since the first one from the University of Miami. Instead, I've listened to the rebroadcasts available on NPR's website. So I couldn't view their demeanor or non-verbal communication expressed during the debates, only what was said.

So, here's some comments on last night's debate:

• First, can we please get off of the topic of Dick Cheney's daughter. In 1960, the Republicans tried to throw the fact that John F. Kennedy was a Catholic in everyone's face. This term, the Kerry team is trying to do the same with the sexual preference of Dick Cheney's daughter. Now I'm a realist and know that if the situation was reversed and one of Kerry's daughters was a lesbian this would have been a HUGE campaign issue, but since the Christian Coalition supports the Republican ticket we're not really hearing about. Unfortunately, that's the way it should have remained.
• Secondly, the tax cut. I'm a 27 year-old, single male with no children. Kerry had my predicament pegged right on the head. Since I don't qualify for a child tax credit nor did I suffer under the unbearable burden of the "marriage penalty", I didn't qualify for ANY tax cut. Instead, even with cost of living adjustments and annual raises, my most recent tax return showed a DECLINE in take-home pay of over $350 between 2002 and 2003. The decrease stemmed from a rise in the premium of the health insurance plan offered by my employer, which went up again at the beginning of this year.
• In each of the debates following the first, President Bush and Vice President Cheney mentioned a reference that Kerry made to a "global test" in response to a question on preemptive attacks. So, lets revisit the first debate and focus in on that question:

LEHER: New question. Two minutes, Senator Kerry. What is your position on the whole concept of preemptive war?

KERRY: (excerpt) 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.

OK, sounds more to me that he's talking about using the definition of "global" as "covering a wide scope" and not saying that anytime the U.S. faces a threat we have to get approval from a world organization such as the United Nations. Pretty much, to put it in Bush English "make sure you're doing the right thing". But, it can be kinda vague until you look at the sentence RIGHT BEFORE THIS STATEMENT:

KERRY: (excerpt) No president, through 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.

So it goes from Bush possibly not understanding the multiple definitions of the word "global" (his grasp of the English language was highlighted by his attempt to pronounce the word "exaggeration") to a blatant attempt to mislead the American public.
• Back to Bush's "ex-ag-ger-A-shun" line, John Kerry referenced a quote where Bush made some startling references to the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Bush's response to that:

  BUSH: Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations.

  Well golly gee, Mr. President, lets refresh your memory as we go all the way back to a press conference you held on March 13th, 2002. When a postage stamp cost just 34 cents and gas was under $2 a gallon.

  Q: Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? Also, can you tell the American people if you have any more information, if you know if he is dead or alive? Final part, deep in your heart, don't you truly believe that until you find out if he is dead or alive, you won't really eliminate the threat of...

  BUSH: (excerpt) So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him Kelly, to be honest with you.

  Q: But don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?

  BUSH: (excerpt) I... I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.

I don't know about you Mr. President, but it sounds to me that Kerry didn't make an exaggeration... He damn near quoted you VERBATIM (Sorry, sorry... Got back to using those big FSU words. Let me get it back into how you Yale graduates would say it... "He done said exactly what you done said"). And folks, don't just take my word for it. I admittedly will say that I cut out portions of his quote regarding this manner. But you can listen to the press conference and hear for yourself. I remember when you said this Mr. President. I was STUNNED that just six months following the attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania that not only did you not know where bin Laden was... You didn't even care!!! It's almost like over 3,000 deaths in the U.S., 137 American casualties in Afghanistan, an additional 25 casualties to coalition forces aren't worth your time.

There's so, so much more that I can get into, and I'll try again soon. Just one man's observations of last night's events.