Democratic Presidential hopefuls don't understand the meaning of the word "debate".

The BBQ Pit
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  • ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —

(Partial transcript of the debate.)
The first question was directed to Howard Dean.

Q: “Mr. Dean. What should be done with Iraq?”

A: “We should surrender immediately. Or hand it over to the United Nations to figger out. President Bush is a miserable failure. His policies are a miserable failure. And, might I add, I am much better looking than President Bush.”

:::: Senator John Kerry pipes up ::::

“Me too!”

Moderator: “Mr Kerry. We will get to you in a minute.”

“Are you done Mr. Dean?”

“No. I’m Dean. There are no Dunns in this debate!”

“Let’s try to keep the humor out of this debate, okay Mr. Dean?”

“Okay.”

Q: “Now Senator John Kerry. What should be done with Iraq?”

A: “I am undecided at this point, but I can guarantee the American public this. I can definitely swagger much better than our current President. President Bush is a miserable failure. His policies are a miserable failure. Even his hair is a miserable failure. And one other big reason to vote for me is that I am taller than the current shrimpy little President.”

Q: “Are you finished?”

A: “Finished??? I have not yet begun to fight!”

Q: “Are you finished answering the question about Iraq?”

A: “Oh. Yeah. I guess so.”

Q: “Mr. Gephardt. What should be done with Iraq?”

A: “President Bush is a miserable failure. His policies are a miserable failure. His clothes are a miserable failure. Even his hair is a miserable failure. And we should invade Iran.”

Q: “The current question is regarding Iraq, with a “Q”. Do you have a position about Iraq?”

A: “Um. No. My staff will have to study the issue for me. Can I get back to you in the next debate?”

“We’re not sure if America can survive a second debate Mr. Gephardt. For now we will move on.”

Q: “Ms. Braun. What should be done about Iraq?”

A: “As we all know, President Bush is a miserable failure. His policies are a miserable failure. His clothes are a miserable failure. His hair is a miserable failure. Even his children are miserable failures. Why are you attempting to derail this debate with questions about Iraq?! Hasta la vista Bushie baby!!!”

“Thank you Ms. Braun. We appear to have run out of time. We’ll be right back after this brief commercial interuption.”

:::: click ::::

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It was Gephart with all the “miserable failure” talk IIRC, like a desperate comedian trying to get cheap laughs.

I thought Braun was pretty focused, when they would actually let her talk; she seemed the most intelligent and rational of the bunch, along with the little big-eared guy (name eludes me at the moment) although he did a little grandstanding of his own.

I agree, not much of a debate, more a showplace for the candidates, I would have liked to have seen a little more substance from Gephart and Liberman, our “front runners” kinda let me down.

I really want to hear more from Ms. Braun, I don’t see her as presidential material, but she’s definitely got a good head for social policy.

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GOM,

I didn’t see the debates, so I have no idea if they were worthwhile or not. If you’d post the portions of the actual transcripts that you have issues with, we can probably find a debate in there somewhere.

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Shouldn’t this be in the Pit? The OP reads like something GOM found dried onto his bedsheets when he woke up.

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Is this one of those quotes out of context things that is supposed to get all of the Liberals riled up? Like the transcript will turn out to be from a Knights of Columbus meeting or something.

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It wasn’t a debate. I doubt it was really supposed to be a debate. The Democrats have a reputation that they have very well earned. The Democrat reputation is that they adore tearing each other to shreds, utterly destroying each other in the primaries. Then, when their last mand standing is ready to face off against the Republicans in the real election, he’s pre-tenderized and ready to be devoured. Likewise, the extremely typical Democrat backbiting and nastiness of their primary gives trainloads of grist for Republican spin doctors and sound bites.

It may very well be that the Powers that Be in the Democratic party have finally managed to distill out a clue for themselves. I would not be surprised for more Democrat primary “debates” to play out like this. Very little debate, but a large platform for “pre-running” the general election campaign. Since, with one or two circus clown exceptions, the Democrat candidates are all essentially identical to each other, this makes for good strategy.

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There is a good reason for unity and a singularity of voice. It doesn’t matter what ideals a Democratic candidate has, he/she most certainly agrees with all of the others that Bush is a miserable failure and needs to go. Any means necessary. If this means they do a ‘debate’ and use it as a platform to highlight the failings of the Bush administration, why not? After all, discussing the failings of the Bush administration is JUST AS worthy of a cause as is debating various differences in policy.

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Moderator’s Note: The OP of this thread seems more like a rant than an attempt to start a debate.

Down to the Pit.

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It’s also early in the race, people aren’t thinking about the primaries yet, and none of the candidates have really high name recognition yet. This was mainly a “I’m running for President” thing…actual, meaty debates will happen later.

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Just call it a candidate’s forum and be done with it. Heck even the presidential debates are fairly meatless… Have 8 (plan for 9) and “debate” is impossible in a 90 minute session.

And I am upset by KQED, the SF affiliate for PBS. They aired it at 11pm. They’ll trash their schedule for pledge drives and pledge drive programs (Doo-Wop/R&B, financial planners, how to fake the piano)… This forum seems more relavent.

Not as bad as the recall debate airing at 4pm (on other channels), but still.

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The OP is obviously a Republican rant…so using subtelty against a Republican is like throwing marshmallows at a tank.

First of all, it was the first debate. The Democrats know that although they are all trying to edge foward in the polls, it is probably not a good idea to call the other candidates muthafuckin’ assholes.

Secondly, despite the fact that they are all different, they are from the same political party and do hold one belief in common - Bush is an idiot and has to go.

I am a Dean fan. The other candidates were hoping he would make some gaff that would make headlines and create an opening for them. That is their goal. Supposedly Dean has a temper and as the current surprise frontrunner, they are just waiting for it. At least Lieberman, who I really dislike, was clever enough to try to goad Dean into a pissing match, but it didn’t happen. Maybe next time.

Back to the OP…wait until there is a debate between Bush and whoever wins the Democratic primary. To steal a phrase from another thread, about another person, Bush has “the IQ of a particularly bright ferret.” Maybe you didn’t like what you heard, but I notice a lot of Republicans are starting to get antsy…they see what is coming and they don’t see any light coming from the tunnel.

I still firmly believe there are enough pissed of Democrats to get out the vote and slam Bush in the next election. I am happy to say two good friends of mine moved to Miami recently, so that should be enough to carry Florida this time…assuming we have enough National Guard to fend off Jeb Bush’s snipers.

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I saw Howard Dean speak here in town several days ago, and his position on Iraq seemed to be nearly the opposite of whatever it is you’ve so cleverly paraphrased. According to my notes: “Can’t leave Iraq - keep the peace - reestablish relationships Bush damaged - UN Resolution - more international troops - same in Afghanistan”

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I saw a recent interview with Dean and I concur with this assessment. His position is that whether or not we should have been in Iraq in the first place, we’re there now and we need to deal with the consequences of it, not just abandon it.

The OP is more like the wet dream of what Republicans want to hear Dean (or any Democrat) say, but what he actually says is actually much more interesting.

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Loved the Hell-oooooo from Kucinich.
heh.
Did Dean really say that? funny.
Dunn, Dean. Who’s on first?
:slight_smile:

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Here’s an actual news story on the debate. Although it’s from the Guardian here, I found it in several places.

Here are some
[quotes]
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3109296,00.html) from the debate. And here is the PBS site with Real Audio of the debate.

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I’m waiting for GOMs transcript of the California Recall debates.

Q: Mr Schwarzenegger what is your postion on …

A:

Would that be a good guess??