Duh Debates

FROM: Dave Walls [E-Mail]
DATE: Friday October 1, 2004 -- 11:31:44 am

The only winners were those who didnt watch the debate. Most God-awful boring thing I've ever seen.

As far as Kerry/Bush, I don't think either "won" the debate, which is fine for Bush. Kerry is the one behind, and as far as the two just trade rhetoric, as they did last night, Bush has nothing to worry about.

FROM: Zack
DATE: Friday October 1, 2004 -- 11:33:51 am

Didn't watch it. I don't like either of them, but when was the last time I was enthusiastic about any actual nominee, as opposed to a candidate during the primaries? I can't remember.

I am from Mass., and this is my one encounter with that arrogant prick Kerry. I was in the classical dept. of Tower Records in Boston many years ago. I have almost always voted Democratic, and Kerry had been in a tight race early in his career with a Republican candidate I definitely did not like, so much so that I had made a contribution directly to his campaign, which is something I rarely do except for organizations like the League of Conservation Voters, which is more of a PAC.

I happened to look up, and there is this guy that looks like Kerry the next aisle over. So I went over and said "Mr. Kerry?". Now I wasn't wearing a suit at the time, but I was well dressed, and completely normal in appearance. But he looks at me up and down (I am 6'5", so he couldn't look down on me physically, much to his chagrin, no doubt), says "yes", and does an abrupt 180 and walks straight away from me like I had a contagious disease. I stood there absolutely stunned for a second. You might think I was some shitbum out on Mass. Ave. asking for loose change. Hell, he might have been more polite to him, and given him some change; God knows he could afford to even back them before he married his billionaire wife.

Needless to say, this was the last time I ever contributed to that arrogant m*therf*cker's campaign, and the last time I ever voted for him too. I would not bite my nose to spite my face by voting for a conservative Republican candidate who opposed him, but I will be damned if I will actively support him either. Subsequent elections have been done deals, so I have just abstained.

My feeling is that if you don't want to greet a constituent out in public, you are not fit to be an elected official and should not run.

I know someone who is a top aide to a high ranking representative in the Mass. legislature, and he told me that Kerry is like that to everyone in the state house, arrogant and haughty. Kerry is the lesser of two evils, so I will either vote for him, or maybe a third party candidate. After Florida in 2000, unless the polling is at all close, I will stay away from Kerry. He will probably carry his home state easily without my support.

And I make it a point not to buy Heinz products like Classico, etc. I wouldn't put a penny into that ditzy woman's pocket.

FROM: Paul
DATE: Friday October 1, 2004 -- 1:24:56 pm

I did watch it, and while I have no personal anecdotes about Kerry or Bush to share, I can say that my opinion was solidified.

Bush did stay on message, but to my ears it was a little too much like a broken record. Over. And. Over. Then Kerry started doing that, too, towards the end. It was just grating. "Wrong place, wrong war, wrong time!" "It's hard work!"

FROM: Chris
DATE: Friday October 1, 2004 -- 4:53:56 pm

I'm the winner, because I didn't watch.

FROM: Joseph
DATE: Friday October 1, 2004 -- 4:59:51 pm

As for running away from a constituent--perhaps Kerry was afraid. Who knows if he was receiving death threats at the time? A lot of public officers and personalities do. It's what someone has to deal with as a public figure.
Some handle it better than others do. But for completely disparaging a candidate because he barely acknowledged a total stranger who came up to him at a record store and perhaps caught him off guard? Sound to me like Zack has a bit of the pot calling the kettle black syndrome. Does he think Bush would have treated him any better in the Country and Western section?

As for the debates, I watched them. It was not unlike viewing Al Gore and Bush. I thought Gore ran circles around Bush. I didn't think Kerry did, however. This is smart because I think a lot of people voted for Bush, because interestingly, they felt sorry for him because it appeared that Gore was intellectually bullying him.

Bush doesn't seem to speak from a postion of power that you would normally expect from an incumbent. He withers under attack and just sticks to his guns. "It's hard work, Kerry waffles while I stay the course," etc. Kerry lumbers forward with the ol' "Wrong war, or perhaps right war, but how would we know with the way you burst into it, and you've got to be flexible and also try not alienate your allies--by the way, the real threat of weapons of mass destruction in places like Iran and North Korea has increased exponentially while you've had your back turned to face Iraq."

Who won? Who cares? I'll vote, but I'm sure it will do just as much good as it did last time.

FROM: Paul
DATE: Saturday October 2, 2004 -- 12:20:40 pm

Does he think Bush would have treated him any better in the Country and Western section?

Everyone knows Bush loves gangsta rap.

FROM: snaily
DATE: Friday July 1, 2005 -- 5:59:27 pm

i did watch the debate, and kerry sooo won. but of course bush thinks he did perfect