2004 Presidential Election
Vice President Cheney was in Denver to watch the presidential debate (and raise some money for Greg "Water Grab" Walcher) Thursday, according to the Rocky Mountain News [October 1, 2004, "Cheney cracks wise"]. From the article, "Cheney made Denver the backdrop of his debate reaction, going live from the hotel in satellite interviews after it ended. His campaign said the visit underscores their fight to win Colorado, where recent polls show Bush and Kerry running close. Cheney criticized Kerry before and after the debate, warning beforehand that the Democratic candidate was 'not quite certain what he believes' and afterwards calling him 'unrelentingly negative' about the war in Iraq. The partisan crowd showered Bush with cheers early in the 90-minute exchange, which they watched live on two big screens in a basement ballroom, before falling quieter as the debate wore on. They booed Kerry throughout, and a few people shouted profanities at the screen when he spoke."
Mike Littwin reviews the presidential debate in his column in today's Rocky Mountain News [October 1, 2004, "Littwin: Debate was the real deal, in spite of rules"]. From the column, "Despite everything, this was a real debate. You just had to look at George Bush's not very happy face while John Kerry was speaking (and no wonder his campaign didn't want the cameras to move away from the speaker) to see that much. There were few memorable lines. In fact, there may have been no memorable lines. But there was a clear story line. And it's the story of the decision to go to war in Iraq, where, just hours before the debate, as many as 35 Iraqi children were killed by car bombs as U.S. soldiers were handing out sweets. Even though this was the debate - on Iraq and foreign policy - that the Bush campaign wanted first, this turned out to be a debate that seemed tailored for Kerry. And by the night's end, the buzz was that Kerry had taken advantage of the moment. Of course, you trust the buzz at your own risk. But if you watched, you saw the lines drawn starkly. These were not stump speeches. This was Kerry directly challenging Bush and Bush having to answer as millions of viewers looked on."
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [October 1, 2004, "Differences over Iraq dominate first debate"]. From the article, "But most of all, Bush and Kerry argued over the war in Iraq - over Bush's justification for launching the invasion when he did, over his handling of the war now and over what the United States needs to do to extricate itself. Kerry, while stopping short of offering a timetable, made clear that he would try to minimize American involvement as soon as possible; Bush said he would not do it until he was assured that stability had returned to Iraq. Again and again, Bush pointed to Kerry's vote in favor of the Iraq invasion as evidence that he was inconsistent. And he said that Kerry's criticism disheartened troops in the field and allies abroad, while emboldening the enemy. And again and again, Kerry portrayed Bush as a headstrong leader whose rush to war in Iraq had isolated the nation in the world community, enraged the Arab world and permitted Osama bin Laden to remain free. At one point, Kerry quoted from the memoirs of Bush's father in arguing what he said was the folly of trying to unseat Saddam Hussein without a clear plan for how to get out."
Jim Spencer reviews the reviews the debate in his column in today's Denver Post [October 1, 2004, "Finally, Kerry takes the offensive"]. Spencer writes, "Tony McPeak pulls no punches when he talks about the war in Iraq. He doesn't have to. A retired four-star general and a former Air Force chief of staff, McPeak has the credentials to call Iraq a 'wall-to-wall mess.' More important, he has the nerve. 'I'm not against war,' McPeak told a meeting of military Veterans for Kerry in Denver on Wednesday night. 'What I'm against is this carelessness, the sloppiness, the stupidity. What I'm against is having a commander in chief who lives in a fantasy world. Because if he makes a mistake, we pay for it with our daughters and sons.'"
Here is the reaction from the Denver Post editorial staff [October 1, 2004, "Bush and Kerry clash over Iraq, terrorism"] and here is the reaction from the Rocky Mountain News editorial staff [October 1, 2004, "Kerry's strong showing tightens campaign"].
Electoral-vote.com: "The first polls are already in on the debate. The American Research Group ran three quickie polls on the first debate and in all three sample groups, Kerry won, by margins of 10%, 10%. and 18%, respectively. But I wouldn't take these instant impressions too seriously. Did you notice that BOTH candidates got the colors wrong though? Kerry had a red tie on and Bush had a blue tie on...In regular polling, we have contradictory polls in some states. Rasmussen has the candidates tied in Michigan, but the Detroit Free Press has Kerry still ahead. Similarly Rasmussen has Kerry ahead in Ohio while Strategic Vision (R) has Bush ahead. Again, we use the most recent poll on the map although software is being developed now to average the past three polls.
Josh Marshall thinks that John Kerry had a good showing last night but he reminds the candidate that now the democrats need to win the post-debate spin.
The 'Ol Coyote is having fun now! I can't wait for Cheney and Edwards on Tuesday.
6:41:59 AM 
|
|
