The Third Presidential Debate

Kerry in a walk.

Seriously. Bush’s entire rhetorical arsenal seemed to consist of just flatly denying whatever Kerry said. Weak, weak, weak.

And the “Massachusetts liberal” thing? Tired. It actually surprised me how off-key it sounded hearing Bush harp on it. Calling a Democratic candidate a “tax and spend liberal” had a lot more sting in 1988. Today — when Democrats have a decade-plus record of paying down budget deficits, and a Republican President and Congress have managed to run them right back up again — it just defies reality.

Of course, “denying reality” seems to be a large component of the Bush strategy, so I probably shouldn’t be surprised. But I don’t think it paid him any dividends tonight.


Comments

JohnSwords.com: Politics

October 13, 2004
11:38 pm

Bush Wins Final Presidential Debate

Bush did better in this debate than in the past because it’s not quite his bedtime yet. After all, he is no longer in EST. Interesting that both the President and the senator are wearing red power ties. Bush’s is…

JohnSwords.com: Politics

October 13, 2004
11:39 pm

Bush Wins Final Presidential Debate

Bush did better in this debate than in the past because it’s not quite his bedtime yet. After all, he is no longer in EST. Interesting that both the President and the senator are wearing red power ties. Bush’s is…

JoeyJoejoe shabadoo

October 15, 2004
2:37 pm

Hmmm, actually i would call what bush did DEFENDIND, rather than denying. Denying does not involve a rebuttal, bush was able to defend with accurate (look into them yourself) facts and dollar amounts. Everytime kerry was accused of a tax gap he would DENY by saying, “thats false” or “thats completely fictitious”. While i do agree the ‘liberal’ name calling by bush is very tiresome… i also find it equally tiresome that every question asked of Kerry caused him to divert to iraq as a reason not to vote for Bush. Seems to me that’s his only fair shot at Bush because Kerry’s soft on homeland security, his tax plan will kill small businesses and his plan to stop outsourcing is unrealistic.

Jason Lefkowitz

October 15, 2004
2:45 pm

“Defending” usually involves making an argument, not just waiting for the other guy to finish and then saying “No, you’re wrong.”
If you can’t explain WHY he’s wrong, all you’re doing is jerking your knee.
And if you think Kerry’s got problems on security, you should take a look at the hash Bush has made of it. I recommend a stroll through my archived posts in the Terrorism, Security, and Defense Reform category to see just what a mess this “strong” leader has made.