God bless our friends, the Australians. They have returned their stout-hearted Prime Minister, John Howard, to power. The Australians know that we can't flag or falter in our war for freedom against Islamofascism; on November 2, I believe the American people will vote for winning the war, not for trying to appease an enemy and hoping for the best.
Now, as promised, more about the debate last night . . .
Senator Kerry is the more skilled debater, in the traditional sense. But last night, the room was President Bush's. How does one know? Look at the reaction to the jokes. When President Bush joked about Kerry's assertion that he owns a timber company ("need wood?"), the room laughed, too. In the response to the question about whom he would pick for the Supreme Court, he responded "I'm not tellin'" and they laughed at that, too. At one point, Kerry tried to make a lame joke about the Red Sox -- and as a St. Louis girl myself, I could have told him that you needn't bother in a room full of Cardinals fans. The reaction was dead.
Several times, audience members began nodding when President Bush spoke, as if to indicate that he was making sense to them -- especially a woman in the front row with dark hair worn in a pageboy style. At least on television, I didn't see any of the same visual cues when Kerry was speaking.
Finally, at the end of the debate, people pressed around President Bush for handshakes and pictures. Then Mrs. Bush joined him, and they both posed, hugged, patted and interacted with the crowd. In contrast, John Kerry shook a few hands until he thought the television might have cut away, then made a beeline to shake hands with Charlie Gibson (at least he knows who his constituency is -- the press). Then he tried awkwardly to interact with some members of the crowd, though not with the evident zest of the President. One shot of Teresa Kerry showed her standing awkwardly in the middle of a crowd -- they weren't trying to interact with her, and she wasn't trying to interact with them.
One of the most helpful things the President did was to lay out his positions for voters who might not be tuned in 24/7. Among the key points he articulated were:
- The War on Terror is not all about Osama bin Laden;
- Reagan stood on principle -- and was right -- even when Europe didn't like it;
- Kerry's "plan" for Iraq is nothing more than the Bush Plan, half-heartedly executed;
- He has been aware of the dangers of Iran & N. Korea -- remember the Axis of Evil?;
- "We are not going to have a draft so long as I am the President";
- We can't win in Iraq with Kerry, who thinks it's the wrong war -- but if we don't win, Iraq will become a haven for terrorists;
- "The best way to beat the enemy long-term is by spreading freedom";
- Kerry's assertion that less than 1% of health care costs result from lawsuit abuse shows ignorance of the fact that it requires doctors to practice defensive medicine;
- Kerry wants government-run health care, has voted for tax increases 98 times, and would raise taxes on 900,000 small businesses;
- The deficit needs to come down, but "we are at war and I will pay what it costs to win" -- "I'm not going to run up taxes and make us lose jobs"
- Because of the tax cuts, the recession was one of the shortest in history
- I have an environmental plan -- we have reduced off-road diesel engine pollution by 90%; refurbished brown fields; proposed Clear Skies legislation; have a healthy forests bill; promote conservation; and seeking technology to solve environmental problems
- The Patriot Act is important so that law enforcement can share intelligence -- "we must have every tool to disrupt the terrorists";
- I am the first president to allow federal funding for stem cell research; I doubled the budget for adult stem cell research; believes in a "balance" between science and ethics
- I would pick judges for the Supreme Court who will interpret the Constitution, not legislate based on personal preferences;
- "We're not going to spend federal money on abortion"
There are a couple more things I don't understand about Kerry's "plans" after the last debate, including
(1) How he plans to "put people back to work" by raising taxes on 900,000 small businesses.
(2) How the world is "more dangerous today" with Saddam Hussein out of power, and 75% of the upper echelons of Al Qaeda either killed or captured.
(3) How his "plan" for Iraq is different than President Bush's, aside from his emphasis on wooing allies who have already said they won't send troops.
(4) Is the war on terror limited only to Osama bin Laden and his henchmen?
(5) Why he is "convinced that the U.N. would have helped us if we had given Hans Blix time", after learning that there are currently no WMD in Iraq, and in light of reports that Saddam was bribing the U.N., the French and the Russians to obtain the lifting of sanctions.
(6) Does he think that it's just as bad for the US to develop nuclear weapons as for Iran, Iraq or North Korea to do so?
(7) If he believes there is already a "back-door draft" with the National Guard, is he suggesting he'd institute a real draft to get the 40,000 active duty soldiers he wants to add?
(8) He will protect the homeland by "getting better intelligence." How, specifically?
(9) He says, "We fixed Medicare and I was part of it." How, exactly?
(10) Does he really favor capping non-economic damages, as he said last night?
(11) How does he plan to pay for $2.2 trillion in new programs, but only raise taxes on those earning more than $200,000?
(12) Does he agree with his running mate's characterization of a typical millionaire as someone "sitting by their swimming pool, collecting their statements to see how much money they're making"?
(13) He has said he will "roll back" the tax cut to pay for homeland security AND health care AND all this new programs. Does he really expect the rollback to cover all this, and allow him to cut the deficit in half?
(14) He said not to throw the "liberal" label around. Was The National Journal poll wrong to rank him more liberal than Ted Kennedy? If so, why?
(15) He said the Patriot Act means that authorities "can go into churches now." Does he not believe that an FBI agent should be able to attend a public religious ceremony, if there is concern that violence against the American people is being fomented there?
(16) If he had a splendidly-qualified judge with an excellent judicial temperament, and with whom he agreed on everything but abortion, would he nominate this person to the Supreme Court?
(17) How does he square his pro-choice views with his stated commitment to the Catholic faith, especially in light of St. Louis Archbishop Burke's assertion that it is a grave sin for Catholics to support a pro-choice candidate over a pro-life one?
Now, as promised, more about the debate last night . . .
Senator Kerry is the more skilled debater, in the traditional sense. But last night, the room was President Bush's. How does one know? Look at the reaction to the jokes. When President Bush joked about Kerry's assertion that he owns a timber company ("need wood?"), the room laughed, too. In the response to the question about whom he would pick for the Supreme Court, he responded "I'm not tellin'" and they laughed at that, too. At one point, Kerry tried to make a lame joke about the Red Sox -- and as a St. Louis girl myself, I could have told him that you needn't bother in a room full of Cardinals fans. The reaction was dead.
Several times, audience members began nodding when President Bush spoke, as if to indicate that he was making sense to them -- especially a woman in the front row with dark hair worn in a pageboy style. At least on television, I didn't see any of the same visual cues when Kerry was speaking.
Finally, at the end of the debate, people pressed around President Bush for handshakes and pictures. Then Mrs. Bush joined him, and they both posed, hugged, patted and interacted with the crowd. In contrast, John Kerry shook a few hands until he thought the television might have cut away, then made a beeline to shake hands with Charlie Gibson (at least he knows who his constituency is -- the press). Then he tried awkwardly to interact with some members of the crowd, though not with the evident zest of the President. One shot of Teresa Kerry showed her standing awkwardly in the middle of a crowd -- they weren't trying to interact with her, and she wasn't trying to interact with them.
One of the most helpful things the President did was to lay out his positions for voters who might not be tuned in 24/7. Among the key points he articulated were:
- The War on Terror is not all about Osama bin Laden;
- Reagan stood on principle -- and was right -- even when Europe didn't like it;
- Kerry's "plan" for Iraq is nothing more than the Bush Plan, half-heartedly executed;
- He has been aware of the dangers of Iran & N. Korea -- remember the Axis of Evil?;
- "We are not going to have a draft so long as I am the President";
- We can't win in Iraq with Kerry, who thinks it's the wrong war -- but if we don't win, Iraq will become a haven for terrorists;
- "The best way to beat the enemy long-term is by spreading freedom";
- Kerry's assertion that less than 1% of health care costs result from lawsuit abuse shows ignorance of the fact that it requires doctors to practice defensive medicine;
- Kerry wants government-run health care, has voted for tax increases 98 times, and would raise taxes on 900,000 small businesses;
- The deficit needs to come down, but "we are at war and I will pay what it costs to win" -- "I'm not going to run up taxes and make us lose jobs"
- Because of the tax cuts, the recession was one of the shortest in history
- I have an environmental plan -- we have reduced off-road diesel engine pollution by 90%; refurbished brown fields; proposed Clear Skies legislation; have a healthy forests bill; promote conservation; and seeking technology to solve environmental problems
- The Patriot Act is important so that law enforcement can share intelligence -- "we must have every tool to disrupt the terrorists";
- I am the first president to allow federal funding for stem cell research; I doubled the budget for adult stem cell research; believes in a "balance" between science and ethics
- I would pick judges for the Supreme Court who will interpret the Constitution, not legislate based on personal preferences;
- "We're not going to spend federal money on abortion"
There are a couple more things I don't understand about Kerry's "plans" after the last debate, including
(1) How he plans to "put people back to work" by raising taxes on 900,000 small businesses.
(2) How the world is "more dangerous today" with Saddam Hussein out of power, and 75% of the upper echelons of Al Qaeda either killed or captured.
(3) How his "plan" for Iraq is different than President Bush's, aside from his emphasis on wooing allies who have already said they won't send troops.
(4) Is the war on terror limited only to Osama bin Laden and his henchmen?
(5) Why he is "convinced that the U.N. would have helped us if we had given Hans Blix time", after learning that there are currently no WMD in Iraq, and in light of reports that Saddam was bribing the U.N., the French and the Russians to obtain the lifting of sanctions.
(6) Does he think that it's just as bad for the US to develop nuclear weapons as for Iran, Iraq or North Korea to do so?
(7) If he believes there is already a "back-door draft" with the National Guard, is he suggesting he'd institute a real draft to get the 40,000 active duty soldiers he wants to add?
(8) He will protect the homeland by "getting better intelligence." How, specifically?
(9) He says, "We fixed Medicare and I was part of it." How, exactly?
(10) Does he really favor capping non-economic damages, as he said last night?
(11) How does he plan to pay for $2.2 trillion in new programs, but only raise taxes on those earning more than $200,000?
(12) Does he agree with his running mate's characterization of a typical millionaire as someone "sitting by their swimming pool, collecting their statements to see how much money they're making"?
(13) He has said he will "roll back" the tax cut to pay for homeland security AND health care AND all this new programs. Does he really expect the rollback to cover all this, and allow him to cut the deficit in half?
(14) He said not to throw the "liberal" label around. Was The National Journal poll wrong to rank him more liberal than Ted Kennedy? If so, why?
(15) He said the Patriot Act means that authorities "can go into churches now." Does he not believe that an FBI agent should be able to attend a public religious ceremony, if there is concern that violence against the American people is being fomented there?
(16) If he had a splendidly-qualified judge with an excellent judicial temperament, and with whom he agreed on everything but abortion, would he nominate this person to the Supreme Court?
(17) How does he square his pro-choice views with his stated commitment to the Catholic faith, especially in light of St. Louis Archbishop Burke's assertion that it is a grave sin for Catholics to support a pro-choice candidate over a pro-life one?
posted by LadybugUSA at 10:36 AM
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