The Second Presidential Debate

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I don't know about you, but overall I was underwhelmed by the second presidential debate. Both candidates were repetitive, inaccurate, and avoided answering questions. I was disturbed enough by Kerry's lackluster performance that I sent off an email to the campaign offering some suggestions.

I am concerned by the repetition of points in the debates by John Kerry. I suspect that there were fewer people watching the second debate than the first, and further that most of those watching the second also watched the first. These are people who are watching closely. They don't want to hear the same thing over and over. AND they don't want to hear the same distortions.

Break new ground. Address new issues. Kerry brought up the issue that malpractice cases represented less than 1% of the increase in insurance costs. That was a huge point. He could have explained. Explained why capping awards serves the interests of insurance companies and HMOs - not the interests of the public or of those damaged. Instead he went of on a tangent and a TREMENDOUS opportunity for him to show he cared (and to address the good that Edwards has done) slipped away.

Bush brought up the 9/11 Commission report. One of the biggest critiques in that report was a lack of imagination on the part of our leaders. That lack of imagination was not pie in the sky fantasy, but the ability to extrapolate from the information in their hands. From what was known, they should have foreseen an attack was probable, and using "planes as bombs" was a very likely scenario. That lack of imagination is both a character fault and an ideological blindness - it played out again in letting bin Laden run loose, and in the rush to invade Iraq (and the consequences of that).

The final debate will likely be a subset of folks who have already seen debates 1 and 2 (and likely the VP debate as well). Repeating the same rhetoric will not win anyone undecided, or show those already leaning towards Bush to think again.

I strongly urge not covering the exact same ground again. Leave that to Bush who can't think of anything else to say.

John Kerry is a smart man. So is Edwards. Let it show, but use straight language. Bush lives in a black and white world (even if he constantly swaps what is black and what is white). People (even the undecided) know that things are not going well. Add substance. For example, don't elaborate job loss numbers. Talk about net jobs lost. Talk about what the quality of the jobs are that are replacing those that are lost (part time for full time, temporary for permanent, lower wages and no benefits). If you lost a full time $40,000 a year job with benefits and it was replaced by a $22,000 temporary position without benefits, this is not a gain. People understand that. Even if there had been a net job GAIN, the replacement jobs are (on the whole) of much lower pay, stability, and benefits.

Make it real. The people watching can handle it. We are well past the point where you can just keep it simple and use rhetoric.

Posted by rowan at October 9, 2004 07:14 AM | TrackBack | Printable Version | [eMail this article!] |