Well.. I guess I’ll be the one to broach the subject.
I am the person these guys wanted to get. I am a registered republican who is dissatisfied with much of what the current presidential administration has done.. and it is now possible for either candidate to get my vote.
Going into the Debate last night, here’s what I was thinking.. BUSH: Pros: I think he believes what he’s saying, that he’s a relatively honest guy, that he believes in his heart that he’s doing the right thing and that with him it is a lot more “what you see is what you get” Cons: I think he’s not as smart as Kerry, that he relies on his advisors(who suck) too much, and that even if he was the best president in the world, he is personally disliked by people who I want to be reallied with us (Gemany, France)
KERRY: Pros: He can help restore alliances, he seems smarter, he says he wants to be relatively conservative regarding the war, and he’s not afraid to say he wants to Kill the terrorists. Cons: I don’t know what to expect from him. He flip flops, he doesn’t seem genuine at all, he has alredy said things that could alienate Allies we have, and he has not given a really good, solid, laid out plan (the way both Bush and Gore did 4 years ago).
After the debate, I came away feeling much the same as when I went in. Bush got flustered, but seemed genuinely passionate about what he was saying, but he wasn’t quick on his feet and he wasn’t able to deftly command the situation.. and that makes me worry.
Kerry was too aggressive, seemed unfriendly, mentioned his combat experience way too much, and spent all his time attacking Bush when given the opportunity to lay out a plan.
So, I don’t know who I’m going to vote for.. right now.. personal poll.. Bush 55%, Kerry 45%. Today, I’d vote Bush.. but I’m very persuadeable.
Same Thing Over and Over
About 45 minutes into the debate, I got restless. Because they chose foreign policy as their topic, Kerry and Bush were hearing the same campaign slogans they’ve been preaching in their TV ads. On top of that, it was the same answer over and over from both, as if they were afraid to waver from core messages, as if it would create openings for attack from their opponents.
At 60 minutes I walked into the other room, keeping an ear open to see if anything changed.
Justin: agree that Kerry was aggressive. I think that’s core to the Dem strategy, although I’m not sure it’s a good strategy.
One thing I didn’t like was that the Republicans continue to attach Kerry to this “wavering” characteristic, even after Kerry clearly answered it (albeit, over and over) and resolved it.
Bam!
Personally, I thought that Kerry hit one out of the park. He HAD to make a good showing at this first debate, and he scored big. He was confident, calm, resolute, and clear – nothing like the wimpy flip-flopper the Republicans attempted to characterize him as.
By contrast, Bush seemed petulant, annoyed, and out of his depth. He kept repeating the same meaningless soundbites about not sending “mixed messages”. His entire argument is that you can’t change your mind in the middle of a war. Well, I think that’s a terrible idea — if you’re driving a car and you’re headed for a brick wall, you turn the steering wheel. You don’t say, “This is the course I chose and I don’t want to send mixed messages to the passengers in the car.” You own up to the poor decisions that have been made, and you make a course correction.
In response to your critiques of Kerry — by my memory, he mentioned his combat experience once in 90 minutes. It may have been twice, and I may have missed one. As to having the opportunity to lay out a detailed plan, one of the biggest criticisms of Kerry in the press has been that he is long-winded and boring, so I’m sure it was a conscious decision that he speak about his plan only in succinct headers (i.e. his four-pronged plan for dealing with Iraq). He then suggested that interested voters could find more details about his plans on his website. As for being unfriendly, we can see what happened last time when we elected the nice guy over the smart guy.
— Ben Schuman Mad, Mad Tenor
he is a *****
he is a ******
EDIT by matthew: We get the gist of your comment, but this is a family-friendly site, and the use of insulting language is frowned upon.
grammer police
Moreover, the antecedent for your pronoun is less than well-defined. In simple terms: Who is “he”? I’d also have to say that your argument is ummm… less than well-formed. I mean, we all know what a $%&@ is. But why do you feel that way about “him”? What did “he” do to shape your opinion? Healthy expression of feelings involves more work than just blurting profanities. Try developing and expressing a coherant structure for your feelings. Perhaps some therapy may be in order as well. Often people who are raised in an environment where they have not been trained in appropriate expression of feelings have trouble as adults learing that skill. A qualified counselor or 12-step program can often help.
Dude, you’re awesome.
Paul’s simply awesome. Christy and I are laughing our butts off right now at the posting 🙂
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Hear, hear..
He is F****n AWESOME.
Note my use of pronouns AND obscene adverbs.
Paul is a giant among men.
yeah
F’n a, dude. F’n a.