Bangladesh view of Bush-Kerry debate

[Guest guest]

Bush, Kerry brawl over Iraq, taxes, jobs

http://independent-bangladesh.com/news/oct/10/10102004ap.htm#A1

Re-match shows poise, tantrum

 

AGENCIES, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

 

Oct 8: A fiercely passionate President George W Bush, fury bubbling

under his skin, brawled with a cool, forensic and lawyerly John

Kerry on Friday in their second televised debate.

 

Bush, with the compact build of a rugby half-back, struck a contrast

to the tall, angular and athletic senator, his wavy grey hair

expensively coiffed.

 

They sat on high bar-style stools next to tall tables, to which they

returned after giving each answer, like boxers returning to their

corners at the end of a round.

 

As a town-hall audience of undecided voters watched, the two men

bickered on a red carpet over Iraq, terrorism and the economy, and

the subtext of the evening became clear.

 

Kerry goaded the President with often highly personal criticism,

while Bush struggled to control the ire fomenting under his

carefully neutral expression.

 

Unlike in last week's first debate, when Bush appeared tired,

irritable and unleashed a now notorious repertoire of scowls and

snarls, the President looked like a man determined to keep his job,

and fiercely proud of his record.

 

Kerry, less passionate, yet matching Bush for conviction, prowled

the floor engaging the audience, like a lawyer coaxing a jury.

 

On Iraq and terrorism, Bush mounted a passionate defence of his

decision to wage war against Saddam Hussein, and his efforts to

protect Americans after the September 11 attacks.

 

In the testy debate rematch Bush defended his invasion of Iraq and

said: "I wasn't happy when we found there weren't weapons" that

prompted his administration to go to war against Saddam Hussein.

Democratic challenger John Kerry responded that Bush had made the

world more dangerous "because the President didn't make the right

judgements."

 

The commander in chief insisted that Saddam posed a unique threat

and the world was safer without him in power. But Kerry answered

that Bush's handling of the war had left Iraq in chaos.

 

The two candidates quarreled aggressively over the war in Iraq,

jobs, education, health care, abortion, the environment, and cheaper

drugs at a town-hall session 25 days before the election. Just over

90 minutes, they fielded 18 questions from a select audience of

uncommitted voters.

 

Bush said that if Kerry were President, Saddam Hussein "would still

be in power." The senator replied: "Not necessarily be in power ..."

 

Bush drew criticism in his first debate with Kerry last week for

scowling at his opponent's criticism. The President's frustration

showed again on Friday night when he jumped from his seat for

forceful answers. At one point, he interrupted moderator Charles

Gibson after Kerry had said he was "not going to go alone like this

President did" in Iraq.

 

"I've got to answer this," Bush said, cutting off Gibson, then

indignantly responded to Kerry. "You tell Tony Blair we're going

alone." There were noticeable snickers in the audience when Bush

referred to rumours on the "Internets" about the draft.

 

As Kerry accused Bush of taking "his eye off the ball -- Osama bin

Laden," Bush stared from his stool, rising anger betrayed by his

rapid blinks, and a vein pumping on his temple.

 

The dam broke when Kerry, arguing that he would enlist US allies in

a way that Bush never did said: "We're not going to go alone like

this President did."

 

Bush leapt off his stool, rasping, "I got to answer that," as

moderator Charles Gibson vainly tried to put another question.

 

"Tell Tony Blair, we're going alone. Tell Silvio Berlusconi we're

going alone. Tell Alexander Kwasniewski of Poland we're going

alone," he shouted.

 

Kerry aides painted the President's flash of anger as the furious

thrashing of a wounded animal.

 

"He was screaming, he was stamping around, he charged Charlie at one

point, he clearly didn't look like the President of the United

States," said Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe.

 

But one of Bush's closest aides, Karen Hughes, not surprisingly had

the opposite view.

 

"Senator Kerry looked testy. I think President Bush was the clear

winner."

 

While the debate was open to all subjects, Iraq was a dominant theme.

 

Criticising the President's decision to invade the Arabian Gulf

nation, Kerry said, "If we'd use smart diplomacy, we could have

saved $200 billion and an invasion of Iraq and right now Osama Bin

Laden might be in jail or dead. That's the war on terror."

 

The debate came two days after the chief U.S. arms inspector

reported that Saddam did not have illicit weapons nor the means to

make them. Bush said: "We didn't find out he didn't have weapons

till we got there." Weapons of mass destruction was the central

rationale for the war that has cost more than 1,000 American lives.

 

The debate - the second of three - opened with a question to Kerry

about whether he was too wishy-washy. Kerry turned that question

into an attack against Bush, saying the President "didn't find

weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so he's really turned his

campaign into a weapon of mass deception" by claiming that the four-

term Massachusetts senator had changed his mind when he had not.

 

"I can see why people think he changes a lot," Bush

retorted, "because he does." He pointed out that Kerry had said he

had voted for an $87 billion appropriation for Iraq and Afghanistan

before he voted against it.

 

Kerry used the opportunity to point out that the nation has suffered

a net job loss under Bush.

 

Expanding his criticism of Bush on Iraq, Kerry said the President

had diverted resources from the war against terror and also ignored

a threat from Iran as it accelerated its nuclear programme. "It's a

threat. It's a huge threat. It has grown while the President was

preoccupied with Iraq," the Democratic challenger said.

 

After stumbling in the first debate with a scowling performance,

Bush sought to regain his footing, reassure Republicans and throw

Kerry on the defensive. Kerry, meanwhile, hoped to build on the

momentum of their first encounter, which gave him a lift in the

polls.

 

Responding to criticism from Kerry in their second debate, Bush

said, "That answer almost made me want to scowl." He went on to

accuse the senator of advocating a policy that was "naive and

dangerous" for bilateral talks between the United States and North

Korea rather than the six-nation negotiations set in motion by the

Bush administration.

 

Bush also set to lay to rest persistent rumours that the war in Iraq

would require the United States to return to a military

draft. "We're not going to have a draft. Period," the President said.

 

The Republican incumbent accused Kerry of denigrating the U.S.-led

coalition in Iraq with his claim that the United States is

shouldering 90 per cent of the costs and casualties. "We've got 30

countries there," Bush said, his voice rising. He mentioned Britain,

Italy, Poland as well as other allies.

 

"Mr. President, countries are leaving the coalition, not joining,"

Kerry said, asserting that eight countries are pulling out their

troops from post-war Iraq.

 

Bush and Kerry also were put on the spot about their plans for the

economy.

 

Kerry accused Bush of transforming huge budget surpluses into

massive deficits with tax cuts for the rich during wartime. Bush

said Kerry would have to raise taxes on middle-class Americans to

pay for $2.2 trillion (1.8 trillion) in new spending

programmes. "That's just reality," Bush insisted.

 

One questioner asked Bush whom he would pick if there were a Supreme

Court vacancy. "I'm not telling you," the President said. "I really

haven't picked anybody yet." He added lightheartedly, "Plus I want

them all voting for me."

 

Kerry said that if he had to pick a Supreme Court justice, "I want

to make sure we have judges who interpret the Constitution of the

United States according to the law."

 

Asked about abortion, Kerry, who supports a woman's right to have an

abortion, noted that he was a Roman Catholic but said he could not

let his faith influence his decision. In a long, rambling answer, he

said the United States should not bar the use of federal money for

family planning programmes overseas.

 

Referring to Kerry's answer, Bush said, "I'm trying to decipher

that." Confronting the question directly, he said, "We're not going

to spend federal money on abortion."

 

The third and final debate will be held Wednesday in Tempe, Arizona,

with the focus on domestic issues.

 

Both men came across as well prepared, each with an eye for engaging

the audience, hoping to connect with not just them, but tens of

millions of viewers at home.

 

Kerry tried to speak in snappy short sentences, to counter his

reputation for windy rhetoric -- though Bush did try and skewer him

with his reputation, saying "I am just trying to decipher that."

 

At times, however, Kerry's style, though effective, did seem

slightly forced, as when he was asked if he would swear not to raise

taxes on the middle classes.

 

"Absolutely. Yes. Right into the camera. Yes. I am not going to

raise taxes."

 

The first two polls taken immediately after the debate gave a slight

edge to Kerry.

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