I have rarely witnessed either organ get him anywhere. 
Eh, you wanna Googlefight, eh?
There are seventeen thousand hits for “George W. Bushs,” and the top three are at georgewbush.com and whitehouse.gov.
They’re here already! You’re next! 
With regard to the “Three things you’ve done wrong” question, I don’t think it was fair. Of course Bush has fucked up plenty and (in spite of his intractable public stance) it’s a safe bet he knows it. In the context of a political campaign, though, you can’t expect him to say “I made really regrettable choices here, here, and here.” It’s way off the message of “I’m the guy you want in charge.”
Specifically, I don’t think it was fair because of the way it was put to both men. “Mr. President, please itemize the colossal errors you’ve made.” “Senator Kerry, please itemize the colossal errors President Bush has made.” I think to be even-handed, Kerry should have been asked to name three mistakes he’d made, and what he’s done to correct them.
I was disappointed that Kerry let slide Bush’s protest of “Tell Alexander Kwasniewski of Poland we’re going alone. It denigrates an alliance to say we’re going alone, to discount their sacrifices.” Kwasniewski seems to be moving toward telling Bush that they’re going it alone, complaining about being misled about the justification for the invasion, flatly refusing to send more troops, and talking about beginning to withdraw troops in a few months, with a full withdrawal by the end of 2005.
As for “Bushisms,” I think he spoke better than usual, for what it’s worth. Apart from the couple of oddments already mentioned, nothing really stood out to me, apart from manglings and sloppy speech that may well be affectations to appeal to “plain folks.”
previews
That’s it. I can’t remember which instances kept raising the hairs on the back of my neck, but it seemed like an awful lot of “Whaddya” and “Wuhden-uh” at points. I thought, “What the…? It’s like an auditory beer and baseball cap.”
It was a loaded question and I don’t think anybody should have expected a straight answer. But he’s drawn criticism for his refusal to admit mistakes, and he didn’t do anything to defuse that. Left Hand really nailed the problem with what he did say.
Essentially the same thing happened (in reverse) at the VP debate, and even Cheney seemed a bit taken aback: “Er…you want me to comment on his record?”
Yeah, I saw the wink and I thought it was inappropriate.
I thought Bush bombed on the environment and the supreme court questions. I thought he was stronger than usual the rest of the evening and quite a bit better than the last debate. Nonetheless, I found myself shouting at the t.v. and filling in the words (“INQUIRY!” You’ve commissioned an INQUIRY!") he just couldn’t find. He’s just not a great orator and I find myself cringing whenever he speaks.
And then we have the hapless Sen. Kerry. I say hapless because the poor man resembles an Airedale Terrier. Shallow of me, I realize, but there you have it.
If Kerry said, “I have a plan!” one more time, I was going to reach through the t.v .and strangle him. Can we be more nebulous? Anyone can SAY they are going to fix Social Security. I want specifics and at least one or two key points of that plan. Give me SOMETHING, Sen. Kerry! And really. Does anyone with any measure of intelligence believe that he’s going to increase spending on education, stabilize Social Security, insure uninsured Americans, fix the Iraqi mess, AND reduce the deficit by one half in four years all while not taxing us further? T’aint possible, Sen. Kerry. Thanks for playing!
I have more news for Sen. Kerry. 75% of the people in the United States can’t name two Supreme Court justices, let alone know how Justices Scalea and Thomas vote.
Oh, and this is to both candidates: This “middle class American” doesn’t buy either of your claims that you are out there pitching one up for me. Bush has his oil cronies and the Halilburton debacle. Sen. Kerry picked a freaking trial lawyer as his running mate. Neither of them mentioned one obvious way to reduce health costs in this country: CAP THE SALARIES OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL CEO’S. Oh, and don’t be fooled that we working schleps don’t know WHY Congress has dropped the ball on this, as well as tort reform and capping the payout to class action lawyers.
The whole debate depressed me, frankly. Once again, we have Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum to choose from. Is this the BEST either party can offer?
Yes, shame on him for not dumbing it down. (By the way, it’s spelled Scalia. ;))
No, they’re waiting for you to run. I always wonder what the fuck people mean when they ask this question. I’m also getting the feeling a lot of people ask it every four years.
Will he? I seriously doubt it, because it’s one thing to have a plan, however well-considered, however many educated minds have looked at it, but getting it passed through the house and senate? Usually concessions have to be made, and unless Kerry starts it off considerably more skewed one way just so the concessions will match what he wanted in the first place, I doubt it’ll pass having 75% the efficacy of his theoretical plan.
How depressing. I mean, Hell, I can’t name all 9, but two seems like it shouldn’t be so much of a problem for your average American who can turn the TV away from MTV or whatever for 30 minutes once in a while.
Personally, I buy Kerry’s bid a heaping handful more than Bush’s, but that’s because Bush seems to me to have been cultivating a soft spot in the hearts of the rich while giving lip service, at best, to the middle class. All Kerry has to do is improve upon that.
They do indeed.
But seriously, there are very, very few people who can do the jobs of those two men, run for office, and be as poised under extreme pressure as they are. Bush’s command of facts is pretty weak for president, but it’s a hell of lot better than the vast majority of Americans could even dream of doing, on National TV, with the camera on you the entire time, with so much at stake.
The really lame argument is demanding specifics about plans mentioned in a debate. First of all, because it’s only applied to Kerry and NOT to Bush, and second of all because town debates and stump speeches are clearly not the best places to get into nitty gritty details. These details about Kerry’s plans are however NOT hard to find. His website is a good place to start.
I’d like to see PunditLisa come up with a comprehensive national health reform plan, provide all the details about how it works, and explain in detail how it is to be funded, all in a 1.5 minute spot, on national TV, in the middle of a wide-ranging debate. Good fucking luck.
:wally
Basically, people who are demanding specifics–but only from Kerry–and go on claiming Kerry isn’t providing them are dolts.
What a dishonest asshole you are, PA. So he made a minor slip of the tongue, big deal. But here you are trying to say that it was totally intentional, and simply conveys a more subtle way of thinking. Shut the fuck up.
Was the Supreme Court Justice thing a statistic or a theory? Not an attack, I’m just curious.
And as far as Kerry revealing the details of his plan, you KNOW, don’t you, that if any its components are really GOOD ideas, the Bush administration will steal them and say, “No, really, we were gonna do this all along.” Kerry’s in a lose-lose situation on this one, so I don’t blame him for being cautious.
Just to repeat myself for a moment, I still think that the context of the “internets” response makes it a bit more damaging than just any old slip up. He was trying to convince 20 year olds that he knows what he is talking about when he says that there will be no draft. 20 year olds for whom the internet has been a “thing” since they were kids. Well, moreso than they are now, anyway. Kind of undercut his message, I think.
“Don’t believe your internets, believe me!”
I interpreted the question as asking each man to talk about his own errors, and I was peeved at Kerry until someone corrected me over in the GD thread. I agree you’ll never get a straight answer to it. Still a good question, you never know what might happen when you put a stick in the spokes.
Not that Bush knows about the second one, or meant it.
Take a look at The Internet 2 Project . This is a project to develop a next generation internet, without some of the problems this one has.
But besides this, there is only one Internet, which is connected from a formerly unconnected set of networks, like Arpanet.
I’m not asking for minute details, Knorf. I’m asking for a freaking topline summary. “My plan will provide catastrophic coverage for the 35 million uninsured and under-insured Americans. I estimate it will cost $10b. I will fund the program by imposing a sales tax on Viagra. (Senator Byrd alone will pay for half the program!)”
If he can’t come up with a topline summary of his most awesome plans, then I refuse to put a plus in Kerry’s column. At best he rates a neutral and at worse a minus because I don’t believe he can fund all these plans without raising taxes.
Since Bush opposes a national health plan it would be a little silly of me to expect him to be more detailed about his plan. I assume Bush’s plan is, as Kerry said again and again, “More of the same.”
Marley, my friend read it and weep
In other news, 1/2 Dopers can’t spell Scalia correctly. 
Lissener, Kerry is in a very tight race with less than a month to go. Now is not the time for caution. Now is the time for the Hail Mary pass.
Haha, I didn’t say I didn’t believe it was possible. I was just asking if it was a statistic. 
Anyway, a lot of people watched these debates in groups. If there were 4 or more people in the group, odds are one of them could explain what the tall guy was talking about.
As far as Bushisms, what’s up with the “you can run but you can’t hide” catchphrase? I saw footage of him in Chanhassen, MN, today, and not only did he say it again like it was a big ol’ snap, but the crowd shouted it along with him.
Really, is that the best thing he can come up with? Perhaps the third debate will be a “yo’ mama’s so fat” contest. C’mon, Kerry, BRING IT! You got SERVED!
ZJ
Ok tough guy, I didn’t say that it was intentional. He may have had a slip of the tongue, but either way, he’s not wrong. So please, open your mouth :eek: , and eat a dick.