Time to focus on Friday's debate.

[Bullshot]

With all due respect to the Edwards/Cheney debate on Tuesday, it's time for Kerry supporters to conclude celebrating Thursday's victory and focus on Debate II between Kerry and Bush.

The Kerry campaign has to go into Friday thinking that Bush got a wakeup call Thursday night, and he'll be more prepared and ready for bear.

Kerry needs to be prepared to answer the rhetorical questions about how expensive his economic proposals will cost taxpayers and somehow put the ball in Bush's court by coming up with figures on how much Bush's program will cost taxpayers, inflate the national deficit, and drive home the point that it will have to be paid for, sooner or later by our children and grandchildren if allowed to pass.

Kerry also needs to hammer home the fact that 35% of Bush's tax cuts have benefited the richest 1% of Americans. To put this in layman's terms, he needs to explain that the richest 1%, without the tax cuts, already have the disposable income to purchase cars, appliances, houses, extravagant vacations, etc. Putting more money in their pockets accomplishes nothing except making a bigger estate to pass on to their heirs, creating another generation of out-of-touch people who don't have a clue on living paycheck to paycheck.

Targeting the benefits to the middle class will give them more money to purchase the consumer items mentioned above, creating more jobs and rippling through the entire economy to benefit everyone, including the upper class.

If any questions come up on Iraq and terrorism, Kerry just needs to hammer the same message that he gave on Thursday, and perhaps expand on some things pertaining to the Bush-bin Laden and Bush-Saudi royal family connection that he was unable to discuss on Thursday.

Thursday was Round-1 of a three-round fight between Kerry and Bush. Kerry needs to win all three. Thursday was a good start. (A damned good start, actually.)

[bushwakker]

1. Kerry needs to deal with the GAY issue and Taxes

He needs to find an effective, concise answer to his middle ground position on gay marriage and use the tax cut issue against Bush. #1 is a little tricky, #2 SHOULD be esay.

[ropi]

11. #1 is not tricky

kerry only needs to frame the question in the manner, which was covered in a thread i saw here a few weeks ago. i'll drag up the link and post it here.


ah, it's in archives:

OK KERRY PEOPLE WHO MAY READ THIS THREAD... READ UP and use this!


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=898207#898256

edit: added link

[bonddad]

2. Great Point

I firmly agree.

Bush got a wake-up call in a big way and will be looking to score major points. I anticipate he will be far more aggressive. Actually, he has to be because he has a far weaker position on the domestic front.

Kerry can repsond with several points. He should repeat these points in different ways, but with the same content.

1.) Are you better off now then 4 years ago?
Are you health insurance premiums under control or out of control?
Is your job secure? Are you going to be outsorced?

2.) Hammer the deficit. Absolutely hammer it. Remind the voters that the only administration to balance the budget in the last 25 years was Clinton's.

3.) Loss of jobs. Loss of jobs. Loss of jobs.

[Cheswick2.0]

4. exactly...take a play from the Dean book

stress how the deficit forces us to pay millions in interest before we even begin to pay for education, healthcare or security.

[Cheswick2.0]

3. he needs to pin bush with all the expensive things we are paying for

that we don't want to pay for. He needs to hit bush with the expense of the Iraq war and mention the millions that have disapeared due to the bad management of Haliburton. Then he could tell us what those millions could have paid for here in america.... new teachers, smaller classrooms, healthcare for all the people who currently have none....etc...

He should talk about his energy initiative and stress as Gore did how we could be a leader in the renewable energy industry which would create thousands of new jobs and be a benefit to our economy.

[rndmprsn]

5. It's already happening...

sounds like you haven't seen his new "domestic" stump speech...

alot of pivoting from tuesdays speech into the new one...some examples:

yesterday in FLA he talked about shrubs tax relief...he said it was like someone coming into your house and relieving you of your TV....he talked about how america was relieved of the budget surplus, how 5 million americans were relieved of healthcare, how we were relieved of 100,000 cops on the streets etc...brilliant to use their own language against them.

then he talked about homeland security and mentioned what shrub said on tuesday "well hows he gonna pay fer it?...he's got a tax gap"

TAX GAP! kerry exclaimed to the excited audience...this guy has the largest deficeits in history! then went into...how shrubs tax cut to the wealthiest americans short-changed homeland security! these are not my values he went on to say...as he listed one by one what he'd do differently.

he talked about science and how he believes in it. he talked about kennedy's space race and tied that to american ingenuity creating renewable fuel sources and stopping our dependence on the saudi royal family.

all in all kerry looked sharp and in command, and most importantly on the offensive and with new found wind in his sails...the crowd was more pumped up than i have ever seen, interrupting more than a few times with the "kerry, kerry, kerry!" chant...something has changed, and it was this: these people watched their guy take it to bush, stand toe to toe and previal! the emperor's false aura of invincibility had been breahced and now the truth about bush is out...

not a strong leader and is stubborn to the point of ignorance...and is just plain WRONG!

i have every confidence that kerry will stick to this and take it to shrub again....you can say, i'm cautiously excited!

peace

[Longhorn]

6. Thanks for the great account!

It must have been so exciting to be there! I doubt I'll ever get to see Kerry as I live in Texas so I enjoy hearing about his appearances elsewhere.

[SangamonTaylor]

15. i'm so glad that I saw Kerry in Houston on Earth Day

I guess at the time I didn't quite realize that he most likely wouldn't return to our state for long time.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. I agree with you!

I think that these are the points Kerry will make-and more.

But since this next debate is "town meeting" style, I suspect that Rove will plant some ringers in the audience who will have questions phrased to trip Kerry up-like on abortion and same-sex marriage. These marginal issues, which, to some groups of people, are all-important, will be brought up in a desperate effort on Bush's part to keep people in the Republican camp. IMHO, Kerry should be as clear and as on point about these issues as he is about domestic ones.

And I think he can turn some of Bush's own actions around on both of them-on abortion, talk about cuts in funding for health care for the poor ("he wants people to have the children, but isn't willing to provide health care for babies once they are born"). And the fact that Cheney has said he's for civil unions could, and should be brought up as well.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

[Bullshot]

9. On abortion, Kerry can state that he believes that our concern for life

should not end when the baby leaves the womb. Bush's war-mongering, based on lies, has led to the deaths and maiming of tens of thousands of people.

[ropi]

10. i disagree

kerry needs to really point out how bush and company, along with his fundamentalists have spun pro-choice, which is about a woman's right to choose and to make decisions over her own body, as meaning pro-abortion. he needs to really bring home the point that being pro-choice is not being pro-abortion.

kerry really needs to appeal to his women voters as a president who would not support legislation that would allow women to not have control over decisions concerning their bodies. he needs to point out bush and company only wish to make it possible for women to not have any access to the RIGHT TO CHOOSE. He needs to point out that BUSH wants to take their right to control their bodies.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

14. On abortion, Kerry should co op just a bit from Sharpton

and say, "He is preoccupied with your bedroom but couldn't care less if you have a roof over your head. Home forclosures are at record highs."

[ropi]

12. and if rove

and company have bush pushing the 'religion' agenda by making shrub allude to scripture to point out how christian he is...then kerry needs to point out how the RNC, which supports bush, has lied and sent out mailings stating that kerry wants to take away their rights to have bibles. kerry needs to show that he's devoted to protecting the constitution--he needs to show how the patriot act, which was rammed through the house and senate by bush and company--undermines the constitution. and to really get bush in a corner...he needs to point out how instead of being seen as a flip-flop on that issue.. he needs to show how bush and company used 911 to ram the patriot act down our throats by stating that if you dont support it..then you're against 'US' and this gave him an advantage to undermine the constitution.

if bush brings up activist judges... kerry needs to take lead from what hippie wrote a few days ago when she pointed out that Marilyn Musgrave frames her debates with how she wishes to defeat activist judges....kerry should show how dangerous activist representatives are just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than the activist judges

[kentuck]

8. Kerry needs to exploit Bush's weakness as exposed in last debate

His anger. That and his body language were a turn-off to most viewers of the debate, including most Repubs. Kerry should keep him on the defensive by criticizing his "war on terror" as taking away money from domestic "needs". Bush cannot take criticism. Kerry does not need to discuss any periphereal or controversial issues unless he is directly asked.

[crazylikafox]

13. "Hard Work"

The first time Shrub says the words "Hard Work", Kerry just needs to say "Ladies and Gentlemen, if Mr. Bush thinks that running the War on Terror is Hard work, he's welcome to step aside. I can handle it"