herr_Nosferatu
14th October 2004, 11:19
Fellow friends and comrades, I found that Bush made another idiotic claim that went unoticed by most here:
Bush attacks 'far left' Kerry
Final showdown of U.S. campaign
Candidates duel over jobs, health
TIM HARPER
WASHINGTON BUREAU
TEMPE, AZ - George W. Bush sought to regain his lost momentum in the U.S. presidential race here last night, painting Democrat John Kerry as a politician out of touch with the American mainstream and with no record of leadership.
In a 90-minute debate on U.S. domestic issues — the last of the campaign — Bush repeatedly told Americans his opponent cannot pay for the programs he has proposed and Kerry's campaign "rhetoric" does not match his legislative record.
"There's a mainstream in American politics and you sit on the far left bank," Bush told Kerry. *(Come on, that's completely and utter false !!!!!)"
The Democratic challenger fought back, telling the president that under his watch there are fewer jobs in this country, wages have fallen and fewer Americans have health insurance.
In a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll of 511 debate watchers, Kerry was seen as the winner by 52 per cent to 39 per cent. A CBS post-debate poll also found respondents said Kerry outperformed Bush, while an ABC poll found viewers thought their performance was even.
CBS said its poll of uncommitted voters found 39 per cent said Kerry performed better, 25 per cent picked Bush and 36 per cent called the results a tie, Bloomberg reported. The ABC poll of 566 voters found 42 per cent picked Kerry as the winner, 41 per cent chose Bush and 14 per cent said they tied.
The two men faced off over the U.S. health-care system, their religious faith, abortion rights and gay marriage — with the war in Iraq and homeland security bubbling to the surface even on a night that was to have been devoted to economic and domestic issues.
The final of three confrontations, this one on the campus of Arizona State University, could prove to be the most pivotal moment of a marathon race for the White House and Americans were again given a stark choice when they go to the polls on Nov. 2.
Bush, after two lacklustre debate performances, had to turn perceptions around last night and his aides furiously sought to convince journalists gathered here that an optimistic president had won over a dour challenger.
The Kerry campaign countered with instant polling data that they said showed their man had won three debates in a row.
In speaking of his religious faith, Bush said he can feel Americans all across the country praying for him and said he believed God wanted freedom in the world.
Bush accused Kerry of pulling a "bait-and-switch" by offering Americans a government-run health-care system they cannot afford.
The president even called U.S. health care "the envy of the world."
"He's been in the United States Senate for 20 years and he has no record on health care ... no record of leadership," Bush said of Kerry.
The Democrat, for his part, dismissed Bush's claim his plan would cost $5 trillion (U.S.) over 10 years and said the president had turned his back on the "wellness of Americans."
He said a shortage of flu vaccine in this country — which Bush will try to make up from Canada — is another signal that health care is not working in the U.S.
Last night's debate followed the same format as the Sept. 30 debate where Bush fared poorly.
The two men took questions at separate podiums from CBS moderator Bob Schieffer.
The second debate in St. Louis, Mo., had a town hall format where questions came from undecided voters.
"There was only one president on that stage (last) night and it was John Kerry," said Terry McAuliffe, chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Republicans, however, said Kerry would be perceived by Americans as pessimistic and defeatist.
"The last thing I said to the president was `show us your heart,'" adviser Karen Hughes said. "I saw that tonight.
"All we saw from John Kerry was a long list of complaints and, as someone said, some of those two-minute answers seemed to go on for two hours."
As they have in two previous debates, the two men clashed on the war in Iraq.
Kerry said Bush had "broken faith" with Americans in the way he took the country to war and he accused the president of running a "back door draft" by extending the tours of duty of an overextended military.
But Bush told him the best way to improve morale in the military is to finish the job in Iraq and he said soldiers he has spoken with are proud of serving their country and don't believe they are part of any "backdoor draft."
The two also clashed again on homeland security, with Bush taking Kerry to task for referring to terrorism as a "nuisance" in a New York Times interview and Kerry saying Bush had once said he wasn't interested in Osama bin Laden.
Bush denied saying he was not that concerned with bin Laden.
"It's kind of one of those ex-ag-gerations," he said, pulling on the word for effect.
But the Kerry campaign produced a quote, released by the White House on March 13, 2002, in which Bush said of bin Laden: "I'm not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him when he had taken over a country."
Bush saved his harshest lines for when he went after Kerry on his "liberal" habits of spending taxpayers' money. "A plan is not a litany of complaints. And a plan is not to lay out programs you can't pay for," Bush said.
In return, Kerry made a rare detour into jocularity.
"Being lectured by the president on fiscal responsibility is a little bit like Tony Soprano talking to me about law and order in this country," he said.
Kerry also boldly invoked Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, when answering a question on whether homosexuality is a choice. He said if you asked her, she would probably just say she was who she was.
As the two men prepared for their last head-to-head showdown, both campaigns were dealing with the fallout from missteps — important gaffes in a race so competitive.
Kerry's running mate, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, appeared to cross a line in exploiting the death of actor and activist Christopher Reeve during a campaign stop in Iowa when he raised the issue of stem-cell research.
"If we do the work we can do in this country, people like Christopher Reeve are going to get up out of that wheelchair and walk again," Edwards said.
The Republicans immediately responded by putting Senate majority leader Bill Frist on the phone with reporters and the issue lit up the lines on talk radio in this country yesterday.
"As a physician I find that crass," Frist said. "I find it opportunistic to use the death of someone like Christopher Reeve. I think it is shameful in order to mislead the American people."
He said political leaders should offer hope, not hype. "It is cruel to the patients, it is cruel to people who have disabilities and chronic disease, and on top of that it's dishonest," Frist said.
A Republican misstep by Treasury Secretary John Snow was magnified by the venue in which he chose to make the remark. In Ohio, possibly the key battleground state in the country where the campaign could hinge on employment issues, Snow called claims Bush has presided over a net job loss over four years a "myth."
In making the charge, which he denied yesterday, Snow was ignoring his administration's own statistics.
Snow appeared on CNN yesterday to engage in some classic damage control.
"We're on the right path, we're creating lots of new jobs," he said. "The charge that the president's record on job creation is the worst in decades is just not credible."
Kerry said the comments showed a "callous disregard" for millions of Americans who are out of work.
"It reflects the degree to which the White House tries to spin its way out of the problems facing working America when it should be focusing on solutions," the Democrat said in a written statement.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=968350060724 (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1097704210343&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724)
Bush attacks 'far left' Kerry
Final showdown of U.S. campaign
Candidates duel over jobs, health
TIM HARPER
WASHINGTON BUREAU
TEMPE, AZ - George W. Bush sought to regain his lost momentum in the U.S. presidential race here last night, painting Democrat John Kerry as a politician out of touch with the American mainstream and with no record of leadership.
In a 90-minute debate on U.S. domestic issues — the last of the campaign — Bush repeatedly told Americans his opponent cannot pay for the programs he has proposed and Kerry's campaign "rhetoric" does not match his legislative record.
"There's a mainstream in American politics and you sit on the far left bank," Bush told Kerry. *(Come on, that's completely and utter false !!!!!)"
The Democratic challenger fought back, telling the president that under his watch there are fewer jobs in this country, wages have fallen and fewer Americans have health insurance.
In a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll of 511 debate watchers, Kerry was seen as the winner by 52 per cent to 39 per cent. A CBS post-debate poll also found respondents said Kerry outperformed Bush, while an ABC poll found viewers thought their performance was even.
CBS said its poll of uncommitted voters found 39 per cent said Kerry performed better, 25 per cent picked Bush and 36 per cent called the results a tie, Bloomberg reported. The ABC poll of 566 voters found 42 per cent picked Kerry as the winner, 41 per cent chose Bush and 14 per cent said they tied.
The two men faced off over the U.S. health-care system, their religious faith, abortion rights and gay marriage — with the war in Iraq and homeland security bubbling to the surface even on a night that was to have been devoted to economic and domestic issues.
The final of three confrontations, this one on the campus of Arizona State University, could prove to be the most pivotal moment of a marathon race for the White House and Americans were again given a stark choice when they go to the polls on Nov. 2.
Bush, after two lacklustre debate performances, had to turn perceptions around last night and his aides furiously sought to convince journalists gathered here that an optimistic president had won over a dour challenger.
The Kerry campaign countered with instant polling data that they said showed their man had won three debates in a row.
In speaking of his religious faith, Bush said he can feel Americans all across the country praying for him and said he believed God wanted freedom in the world.
Bush accused Kerry of pulling a "bait-and-switch" by offering Americans a government-run health-care system they cannot afford.
The president even called U.S. health care "the envy of the world."
"He's been in the United States Senate for 20 years and he has no record on health care ... no record of leadership," Bush said of Kerry.
The Democrat, for his part, dismissed Bush's claim his plan would cost $5 trillion (U.S.) over 10 years and said the president had turned his back on the "wellness of Americans."
He said a shortage of flu vaccine in this country — which Bush will try to make up from Canada — is another signal that health care is not working in the U.S.
Last night's debate followed the same format as the Sept. 30 debate where Bush fared poorly.
The two men took questions at separate podiums from CBS moderator Bob Schieffer.
The second debate in St. Louis, Mo., had a town hall format where questions came from undecided voters.
"There was only one president on that stage (last) night and it was John Kerry," said Terry McAuliffe, chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Republicans, however, said Kerry would be perceived by Americans as pessimistic and defeatist.
"The last thing I said to the president was `show us your heart,'" adviser Karen Hughes said. "I saw that tonight.
"All we saw from John Kerry was a long list of complaints and, as someone said, some of those two-minute answers seemed to go on for two hours."
As they have in two previous debates, the two men clashed on the war in Iraq.
Kerry said Bush had "broken faith" with Americans in the way he took the country to war and he accused the president of running a "back door draft" by extending the tours of duty of an overextended military.
But Bush told him the best way to improve morale in the military is to finish the job in Iraq and he said soldiers he has spoken with are proud of serving their country and don't believe they are part of any "backdoor draft."
The two also clashed again on homeland security, with Bush taking Kerry to task for referring to terrorism as a "nuisance" in a New York Times interview and Kerry saying Bush had once said he wasn't interested in Osama bin Laden.
Bush denied saying he was not that concerned with bin Laden.
"It's kind of one of those ex-ag-gerations," he said, pulling on the word for effect.
But the Kerry campaign produced a quote, released by the White House on March 13, 2002, in which Bush said of bin Laden: "I'm not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him when he had taken over a country."
Bush saved his harshest lines for when he went after Kerry on his "liberal" habits of spending taxpayers' money. "A plan is not a litany of complaints. And a plan is not to lay out programs you can't pay for," Bush said.
In return, Kerry made a rare detour into jocularity.
"Being lectured by the president on fiscal responsibility is a little bit like Tony Soprano talking to me about law and order in this country," he said.
Kerry also boldly invoked Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, when answering a question on whether homosexuality is a choice. He said if you asked her, she would probably just say she was who she was.
As the two men prepared for their last head-to-head showdown, both campaigns were dealing with the fallout from missteps — important gaffes in a race so competitive.
Kerry's running mate, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, appeared to cross a line in exploiting the death of actor and activist Christopher Reeve during a campaign stop in Iowa when he raised the issue of stem-cell research.
"If we do the work we can do in this country, people like Christopher Reeve are going to get up out of that wheelchair and walk again," Edwards said.
The Republicans immediately responded by putting Senate majority leader Bill Frist on the phone with reporters and the issue lit up the lines on talk radio in this country yesterday.
"As a physician I find that crass," Frist said. "I find it opportunistic to use the death of someone like Christopher Reeve. I think it is shameful in order to mislead the American people."
He said political leaders should offer hope, not hype. "It is cruel to the patients, it is cruel to people who have disabilities and chronic disease, and on top of that it's dishonest," Frist said.
A Republican misstep by Treasury Secretary John Snow was magnified by the venue in which he chose to make the remark. In Ohio, possibly the key battleground state in the country where the campaign could hinge on employment issues, Snow called claims Bush has presided over a net job loss over four years a "myth."
In making the charge, which he denied yesterday, Snow was ignoring his administration's own statistics.
Snow appeared on CNN yesterday to engage in some classic damage control.
"We're on the right path, we're creating lots of new jobs," he said. "The charge that the president's record on job creation is the worst in decades is just not credible."
Kerry said the comments showed a "callous disregard" for millions of Americans who are out of work.
"It reflects the degree to which the White House tries to spin its way out of the problems facing working America when it should be focusing on solutions," the Democrat said in a written statement.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=968350060724 (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1097704210343&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724)