From Free Republic:
Bush's opportunity: make a pre-emptive strike, that is, expose Kerry's strategies to the American people up front. Imagine Bush making the following opening statement in the next moderated debate:
"Tonight my opponent will once again call my actions and intentions into question. He will tell you that I play the favorites game, that is that I love big business and don't care about the little guy. He will intimate that I don't care one wit about senior citizens, the sick, veterans, and all those who are disadvantaged by circumstances beyond their control. He will try to convince you that I don't care about the fate of our children, that I am not concerned with their health, education, and prospects for the future. He will try to convince you that I despise and devalue anyone who is not wealthy, successful or a stockholder in Halliburton. He will tell you that I think the only person who deserves a tax break is someone who is already wealthy. You all know that isn't the truth."
"He will not only attack me, he will attack reality. He will tell you that this is the worst economy since Herbert Hoover, he will gleefully tell you about the net loss in jobs. He will claim that an inherited recession, the stock market bust, and 911 would have had no effect if only he had been in charge. He will try to convince you that our currently thriving economy is awful. He will tell you that public teachers unions do a great job of educating your children. He will tell that judges who legislate from the bench against the will of the people are protecting the people. He will tell you that trial lawyers are simply motivated by their love of their fellow humans. He will tell you that raising your taxes will increase prosperity. You get the drift. His job here tonight is to convince you of things that if stop and ponder for just a few moments you will know not to be true"
"Finally, he will give you promises and platitudes, lots of them, but what he won't give you is an actual plan. When he says, `I have a plan' and then follows it up with a bunch of promises and platitudes, he hasn't given you a plan . . . he's just given you a bunch of promises and platitudes. Plans deal with costs, availability of resources, logistics and political reality. Plans are what you must implement in the real world to move forward and solve problems. Plans are what me and my administration do. Our plans have freed Afghanistan and Iraq, killed or captured large chunks of terrorists, and are continuing to do so even as we speak. The economy was down when I got here, then to add insult to injury, it took a severe beating from 911. Where are we now? Our tax cuts have turned the economy around by any reasonable standard. Jobs, good jobs are being added daily, the stock market is solid again, and business optimism is up, way up."
"Now that you know how my opponent operates, tonight I invite the American people to listen carefully what he says and how he says it. Listen to him with these questions in mind: First, is he telling the truth about my record and if not, why not? Second, do his descriptions of current circumstances at home and abroad match reality as you know it? And last but not least, how is he going to pull off what he promises and who is going to pay for it?"
