Before we begin, LAist would like to eat crow (low carb bread, please, and hold the mayo). Yesterday in this space, the suggestion was made that last night's Presidential debate would be devoid of substance and drama—not unlike an Ashley Judd movie, or Orange County.
We were wrong.
Instead, we were treated to the sight of President George Bush confronted with a thoughtful, reasoned critique of his foreign policy, and brother, it wasn't pretty. When he wasn't petulantly complaining about the "hard work" of his Iraq misadventure, Bush settled for smirking and sighing at Senator John Kerry's jabs, as if he was annoyed that anyone would have the cojones to disagree with his decisions. After all, 9/11.
Right?
As for Kerry, he left his caveats and codicils at home, staying on message and dancing rhetorical circles around the slouching, overmatched Bush. He had a few shaky moments (John, the electorate doesn't give shit one what Charles de Gaulle thought about JFK), but pulled through with a decisive, Presidential-seeming performance.
Not that this thing is over. Kerry still has a propensity for sticking his foot in his overactive mouth, becoming entangled in his love of nuances. And Bush has shown that he will stoop to almost any dirty trick or smear to cling to power.
But last night's debate has, for the first time, crystalized the real differences between the two men. The campaign, in a sense, begins now.
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If you're one of those simpering maggots i see on every news channel "who still hasn't made up my mind," then listen up milquetoast, you're either not too bright or you've just started to pay attention...this is the most polarized contest in many years and i don't care what side you end up voting on (that's not true - i care a lot)
just make sure you vote. (Let's give Dubya lots more time to work on his golf game...heh heh.)
The DeGaulle comment was a brilliant way to work in a key point that Kerry tried to make once and for which he got pilloried: that foreign leaders overwhelmingly prefer him. He can't say that outright anymore without carting out some foreign leader to back him up.
I cheered at the DeGaulle comment. I thought it was clever for the above reason, but on a more basic read it made the frightening point that other nations simply don't trust us anymore. What's more, it wasn't a bad idea to hearken back to Camelot--especially when a not-so-brainy portion of the electorate seems to cling to nostalgia as a guiding political philosophy.
I guess my concern is that the right-wing hacks at Fox News and elsewhere are banging on Kerry for being somehow in cahoots with Europe, especially France (remember the "Kerry looks French" smear?), and then he up and quotes a socialist French president as proof that America has lost its credibility.
Already, the drumbeat of "Kerry will give veto power over our self-defense to countries like France" has begun in the President's post-debate stump speech.
I think it's better to drop that line of argument, though I agree wholeheartedly that we are less secure now that we find ourselves isolated and mistrusted by our allies in Europe.
I felt the DeGaulle was effective for what it was: a way of showing the complete loss of respect for America that has happened under Bush's "leadership". On a nation-to-nation level, we are not trusted because of the falsehoods we used to sell the war to our coalition allies, who it turns out wouldn't have been so willing if they knew the truth about why they were headed to war. Every article I've read since the debate gets better and better with regards to showing that among average voters, Kerry won the debate, improved his standing, and ultimately made people doubt Bush's ability to be an effective President. I only wish tomorrow was November 2!
I must admit that I was pretty worried about the outcome of this debate beforehand, as I knew the first debate would be the most important in terms of setting the stage for Kerry-as-President, and that this was also the debate the Bush was going to win (if he was going to win at all).
But now I can't wait for the rest of the debates—Kerry will surely own the domestic policy debate. November 2nd is looking brighter every day!
But what about Poland?