Kerry’s debate– good enough?

The three folks with whom I watched the first debate last night and I all agreed that Kerry made an impressive showing and Bush looked defensive, rattled, and ill-prepared.
The most significant thing Kerry said was to promise– a couple of times– that if elected one of the first things he’d do as president would be to declare straighforwardly that the US has no longterm ambitions to control Iraq, either by keeping a longterm military presence there or (and this was by implication) by controlling the oil industry.
I thought this was an excellent thing to say. Something I’ve been urging him to say for a long-time. A strong, credible declaration like that–backed up by moves like halting the constructin of the 14 “enduring” US military bases in Iraq– can do a lot to change the whole dynamic within the country.
Another welcome thing Kerry said was that it doesn’t help the worldwide fight against nuclear proliferation if the US is busy developing a new generation of bunker-busting nuclear weapons.
So, there are some things about the US’s relationship with the rest of the world that he apparently “gets”…
Well, all well and good if the four of us, sitting in our friends Chip and Betsy’s basement, all thought Kerry did well. But how about the great “American people” out there? What did they think?
The initial poll results I’ve heard about indicate that Kerry did do fairly well with the general public. In addition, this morning I saw a segment of ABC News where the reporter had a breakfast-counter discussion with six people in Ohio who had previously described themselves as “undecided and open to persuasion”…


Right at the beginning of the segment, the reporter asked whether any of the six thought that Kerry had “won” the debate. Five raised their hands. In further discussion a couple of them said they’d thought Bush looked rattled and ill-prepared, but that Kerry had presented his case well especially on the “why did the Bushies let Osama go” theme and the question of North Korea.
I’m assuming the six Ohians had been identified by ABC News some time before the debate and had sat down last night to watch ABC’s own presentation of it. That was the one we also saw. In a discussion this morning with a neighbor who watched a different channel–PBS– it seems that the presentation of the video feeds there had been different.
As I understand it, there was one standard set of video feeds, with one covering the frontal view of each of the candidates and one covering the frontal of moderator Jim Lehrer. (Those feeds were produced by Fox News.) But different channels used the feeds differently. For example, on ABC News we generally saw a version of a split screen. So when Kerry was talking, very often we’d see right alongside his picture, the image of how Bush was reacting; and vice versa. It was in those “reaction” shots that Bush came across looking particularly rattled…
I think citizens of the US and the world have a right to see how someone who wants to be US President for the crucial next four years of our lives reacts under pressure.
In Bush’s case: not well.
In Kerry’s: much better. While Bush was speaking, Kerry stood there trying to look engaged, friendly, and masterly…
It was a substance-filled and revealing debate. How interesting that the people who designed the current series of three presidential debates came up with such a serious format. 90 minutes of, basically, one-on-one is no small challenge, even if the ground rules forbad any direct interaction or real debating between the two (who were strictly limited to interacting only with Lehrer.)
Notable too that the format-designers (basically, the two campaigns) recognized the key importance of foreign-policy issues this time around by putting that debate first.
Not surprising. But still, worth noting. Americans realize that, one or way or another, that they (we) are now deeply engaged with the affairs of the non-American world. So let’s try to put that relationship on a sound footing, eh?

9 thoughts on “Kerry’s debate– good enough?”

  2. Helena, you’re right – in fact, this was probably the best debate since 1992 (with three candidates – Perot, Clinton, and Bush I.) – very surprising given the draconian measures used to “construct” the debate.
    Bush seemed to be ill – or angry – he may have the flu (or syphillis.). Kerry seemed confident and “presidential” – he also seemed intelligent and capable.
    As far as the substance, Kerry is clearly a less brutal, less destructive, and less egregious candidate than Bush.
    Some things I liked about Kerry’s arguments:
    (1) Bilateral talks with North Korea – a good idea considering the potential for nuclear war.
    (2) Internationalism as a rubric for American foreign policy – this usually means a less brutal and more diplomatic approach to conflict.
    (3) Osama not Iraq – Kerry clearly said Osama was the threat – not Saddam.
    (4) Inspections – Kerry (albeit a change from his previous position.) said that he would have let the U.N. inspections work in Iraq.
    and finally,
    (5) Homeland Security and Nuclear Nonproliferation: this is very important considering Iran and North Korea may have a nuclear capability…
    Kerry also said that Bush’s stupid Anti-Ballistic Missile system needs serious reform (aka a buzz word for underfunding; because the ABM doesn’t work!)
    Good Job Mr. Kerry, You have my drug-induced support. (I’ll have to smoke some pot on election day.)

  3. If I had to vote, I’d choose Kerry rather than Bush, of course.
    That said, I was profoundly deceived by Kerry’s support for the right of pre-emptive wars. It keeps the door open to all kind of warmongers. A country has the right to answer when he is directly attacked, this is the only sad reason to go to war.
    Concerning Iraq, Kerry hasn’t many options left, unless he announces a complete and fast withdrawal (which he won’t). I don’t think he will wage a very different politic than Bush. He will not be able to attract more troops or more money for Iraq. Even if EU countries find Kerry more sympathetic than Bush, we still have no reasons to contribute troops or money for a war we were opposed to. Bush broke it.. now Kerry will own it, this is the harsh reality. Kerry has made one good suggestion : he would tell the Iraqi clearly that US isn’t going to stay in Iraq and he would stop the construction of permanent US military bases in Iraq. This would be a good point, provided the Pentagon allows him to hold his promise.

  4. Christiane, I agree with you – the pro-peace, anti-occupation “American Left” will have alot of work to do if Kerry is elected in pulling him away from the Pentagon solution for Iraq (more war.) and towards a peaceful solution.
    If Bush wins we will have no chance at doing that – the Left isn’t exactly a large Republican constituency; however, when the Left gets really loud (I mean civil disobedience, mass protests, Congressional sit-ins, en masse trips to Iraq etc..) the Dems have to listen – or they lose votes.

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