Round 2 to Bush
Town hall setting serves president
Oct. 9, 2004 12:00 AM
The central question going into the second presidential debate was simple: Would the re-election campaign of George W. Bush collapse under the weight of two consecutive poundings from John F. Kerry?
Another stylistically impressive presentation by Kerry notwithstanding, the pillars of Bush House are still standing.
In contrast to his distracted, ill-prepared show Sept. 30, Bush fairly leaped out of his chair Friday night, at some points seeming to overwhelm the sound system at the debate site at Washington University in St. Louis.
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This clearly was a different Bush, one who seemed far more comfortable in the town hall format - a setting that he often uses on the campaign stump, including an appearance at Mesa Community College earlier this year.
Prompted, perhaps, by that lackadaisical first showing by Bush, the questions to both candidates from the audience seemed to focus on the essentials of leadership.
To Kerry: Are you truly wishy-washy?
To Bush: How are you going to repair relations with foreign allies?
Once the answers from both candidates are run through the fact-check strainers, plenty of dubious lumps no doubt will be found. But in terms of the manner in which they offered themselves as candidates, Bush at the least stood even with Kerry, and on the crucial issue of the war in Iraq, came out a bit ahead.
Almost shouting, Bush consistently referred to the apparent incongruence in Kerry's assessment of Iraq currently and his proposed resolution for the future: Castigating Iraq as a mistake - the wrong war at the wrong time - works against lining up the allegiances Kerry contends he will lead in raising Iraq from its current chaos.
"Nobody," Bush declared, "is going to follow somebody who says the war is a mistake."
Whatever ground Bush may make up as a result of this debate will not come, however, as a result of Kerry missteps. The Democrat again was composed, prepared and self-assured.
That preparation may have served him best when an audience member asked about legislation to allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada. Bush said he was considering it, and may decide to allow the cost-saving measure by December. Kerry noted that in debate four years ago, Bush said he supported it then, but has blocked it since.
Kerry also recalled Bush's comments regarding a huge issue of this election that has been largely smothered by the Iraq war - the likelihood that the next president will name at least two U.S. Supreme Court justices. Despite Bush's contention that he would have no other "litmus test" than a fair interpretation of the Constitution, Kerry noted that Bush has said several times that what the court needs is a few more conservatives.
Regarding Kerry's favorite domestic Bush-bashing cudgel - the enormous number of jobs lost since Bush took office - the challenger needs to play a bit more fair. The figure Kerry consistently cites - 1.6 million jobs lost - is wrong by about half.
The Friday debate employed the same format as in 1992, when Bush's father, George Herbert Walker Bush, made the infamous blunder of glancing at his watch while waiting for Bill Clinton to finish speaking. This time, this Bush came across assured, winking at people off camera, and for all appearances happy to be there.
At the very least, George W. Bush did not do himself in with some careless foible. On that alone, victory was his.
This op-ed is crude selective interpretation, and we all know why. Let's make sure they hear about it.
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