Livestream of the debate tonight at NECN.com

[TayTay]

The New England Cable News channel will be livestreaming the US Senate debate between Senator Kerry and challenger Jeff Beatty. The debate starts at 8 pm (EST) and it would be great to liveblog it here at DU JK.

From the NECN press release:

Plus, don't forget we'll be streaming our John Kerry/Jeff Beatty Senate debate tonight at 8pm - so if you just have to watch the Patriots (or Bruins), you can watch the debate and get that civic duty done at the same time, on NECN.com.

See you then!

[Mass]

1. Thanks.

[TayTay]

2. You can pick it up here

http://www.necn.com/Boston/Politics/LIVE-FROM-NECN-The-KerryBeatty-Debate/1224544881.html

Should be fun. The debate will also be archived at this site.

[TayTay]

3. Debate

Question 1 about the bailout. to Beatty
Answer: Why I am running for the Senate.

[Luftmensch067]

4. What's wrong with Beatty's mouth?

His lip is curled funny. Is that a war wound or just a nasty sneer?

[whometense]

8. He has no lips. n/t

[beachmom]

5. Jeff Beatty is annoying me. He interrupts then whines "it's my turn"

when he is spewing his BS.

Kerry had a good line re: the bailout: "The easy thing to do is sit on the sidelines and complain"

Ugh -- now Beatty is launching into his "Drill, baby, drill" rant.

[TayTay]

6. Ah, this is not exactly a keeper for the age

Jeff Beatty is one of the ruder human beings I've ever seen.

Also, he makes no damned sense at all.

[whometense]

9. Awful.

I can't sit still and listen. What an obnoxious jerk. But what drives me crazy is that I'm so completely non-objective that I can't judge it through the eyes of someone who is neutral.

I have noticed that he is incapable of giving an answer to anything that doesn't include a slash at Kerry.

My favorite answer so far? The one where he said his tax plan is like McCains - AND Obama's.

Wow. Did I really hear that???

[beachmom]

11. Actually, even funnier. BUSH + Obama. What the heck is that?

[Mass]

12. I gave up. Impossible to listen. But Beatty is the guy who said he was closer of Obama than Kerry

(and also that McCain could win MA if he chose Romney!!!).

So, he has no brain.

[karynnj]

15. McCain's and Obama's ???

What a strange answer.

I only saw the second half because I am in a Philly suburb with my husband at his (work) conference and the meet and greet was not over until them.

Like you, I can't imagine watching it as a neutral person. The good thing is that 65% of MA in the last poll had a positive opinion - so the rudeness of Beatty should hurt him.

[MonteLukast]

26. Sounds like Schaffer-Udall on MTP all over again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLvPc6-NT7I

[karynnj]

27. The tone is so similar - it looks like many new Republicans are acting like the RW talk show people

Both he and Beatty were loudly and rudely attacking the Democrats trying to keep them from getting a word in. They are also attempting to make the issue the regulation of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. While there were abuses at the FMs, the best regulation in the world of the FMs would not have prevented the crisis. 83% of the bad mortgages were bought by the private sector, not the FMs. I don't think either party tried to regulate the private sector here.

Kerry did a far better job than Udall by bringing up his attempt to regulate the actual bad loans, which were the real root of the problem. He was at somewhat a disadvantage as the Republican media was better at getting people to hear of the Hagel bill and their miscasting of McCain's "leadership" role than the Democrats in the media have done in getting the Democratic effort to regulate the loans themselves. Also, Beatty was angry when Kerry rebutted the AIG stock stuff. The fact is that Kerry's office used the financial disclosure to say the money was in Teresa's trust which he had nothing to do with. Kerry simply gave more information - that Teresa no longer held the stock and hadn't since before all this started.

What is similar is that both Republicans simply unloaded attacks that could be made in one sentence, but took detailed answers to refute - using up the Democrats time. I'm glad at the end, Kerry started just speaking during Beatty's "turn". As Beatty had already been incredibly rude, there was no reason to accord him any more courtesy.

[YvonneCa]

7. I'm finding hard to believe that we here know more about...

...how Senator Kerry spends his time than the guy trying to unseat him.:eyes: I also thank the Senator for trying to clarify the perception (and that's all it is) of a 5 week vacation. Perceptions of teachers' hours are similarly confused.

This guy is nothing but a puppet...spouting Republican talking points. I can see why all you Massachusetts folks find him so annoying.:7

[YvonneCa]

10. Too bad Senator Kerry is such a classy...

...guy. He should have smacked him when Beatty said he had blood on his hands. What a despicable thing to say.

[whometense]

13. That was a real

low point. I don't know how Kerry managed to control himself.

[TayTay]

14. Lincoln Douglas this was not

Jeff Beatty really was a Yankees fan. I mean, come on, who else is that rude?

[whometense]

16. He was hideous.

Worse than I'd anticipated. It was like his debate prep consisted of memorizing every insult anyone's ever flung at Kerry and he kept throwing that pile of spitballs at every opportunity. No class, no ideas, and NO BRAINS. A trifecta of awfulness.

[Luftmensch067]

17. I gotta say

Despite their experience as local news anchors, neither "co-moderator" behaved as if they have much experience moderating a debate. IMO, Braude was playing the role of Hard-Hitting Newsman and cared more about his questions making him look good than about listening to anyone's answers. Sahl had a sense of decency and actually tried to be fair now and then. But JK seemed to be trying to play by the rules of a normal debate until he realized it was being run by amateurs and then he gave up and just tried to get a word in now and then.

Hard to watch that slime Beatty being given uninterrupted time to lie and smear without being challenged by newsmen who should know better what the truth is, but such is the nature of what our "fair and balanced" media have come to, I guess. At any rate, JK managed to get a lot of truth out there and to show just how disgusting Beatty's slurs were.

[beachmom]

18. Boston Globe article:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/10/20/kerry_beatty_joust_in_first_debate_in_senate_race/

[karynnj]

19. It's interesting that this is the AP article

which I didn't notice until I saw that the Worcester Telegram had the same article. It does show that the BG didn't consider the debate all that newsworthy - they did not assign a reporter and they gave the endorsement the same day before the debate.

It doesn't show how truly obnoxious Beatty was, but it does give some inkling of the lack of content in his answers. This is better that the usual AP treatment of Kerry.

[Mass]

20. The debate was exactly 10 secs this moning on the local news

(no soundbytes, nothing about what was said, just after 20 secs about "depends", where Kerry explained it was an old joke, that everybody said.

[Mass]

21. Here is the local Boston Globle article

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/10/21/beatty_hammers_kerry_on_iraq_vote/

Beatty hammers Kerry on Iraq vote
Allegations traded in first debate

Republican Jeff Beatty used his first debate with US Senator John F. Kerry last night to mount a flurry of attacks, pointedly charging that the 24-year Democratic incumbent has "blood on his hands" because of his 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq war.
...
"People are incensed about this bailout," Beatty said. "You kick the can down the road just so you can get past the election so you can go out and campaign with Barack Obama just to be secretary of state."

Kerry did not respond yesterday to the charge he was seeking a Cabinet post, but in the past he has said he is only interested in being a senator.

"I know Jeff's been running all over the state talking about AIG," Kerry said. "He needs to get his facts straight. That's part of being a senator."

Kerry said a firm handling his wife's finances once held AIG stock but that the family no longer has a stake in the troubled insurance giant.
...

Seems to have been really nasty.

[karynnj]

22. The Boston Globe has a new article

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/10/21/beatty_hammers_kerry_on_iraq_vote/?page=2

The last paragraph is ridiculous as it takes Beatty's argument that the Yankee comment was because he wore a Yankee cap in the Grenada photo.

[Mass]

23. Kerry will support Cape Wind if it gains final environmental approval.

Nothing new, but for once, it is presented positively.

http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/x270973458/Kerry-poised-to-support-Cape-Wind-project

[Mass]

24. Beatty hits Kerry on war, bailout

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081021/NEWS/810210317/-1/NEWS06

Harwich Republican Jeff Beatty on Monday night accused Sen. John Kerry of having "blood" on his hands for voting to support the Iraq war in 2002 in the most contentious moment of a spirited debate on live television.
...
Mr. Beatty, who is trailing badly in the polls, wasted no time going on the offensive. He accused Sen. Kerry of taking a five-week, paid vacation in the middle of an energy crisis. He said Sen. Kerry had accepted millions of dollars in campaign donations from special interests involved in the collapse of the nation's financial system
...
The two differed greatly on Question 1. Mr. Beatty said it would provide an economic stimulus without hurting services, while Sen. Kerry said it would devastate fire, police and schools and lead to higher property taxes.

Mr. Beatty, who called for more oil drilling, opposes Cape Wind. Mr. Braude chided Sen. Kerry for not taking a position on the Nantucket Sound wind farm.

Sen. Kerry said his position has been consistent: that he favors wind power and will support Cape Wind if it clears the necessary environmental reviews.

"I think it's important to let the process work here," Sen. Kerry said. "I'm in favor of wind power. If it comes out correctly, I support it."

I just hope that people do not fall for question 1.

[karynnj]

25. Nice find - this is what we have all needed

An article that explicitly says what we have seen said various times, but which we had no link for.

[karynnj]

28. In case anyone wants it - here's a link to the Davos panel Kerry was on with Khatami

the Pro-democracy party's former President of Iran. Not only was it NOT with the current President, Kerry blasts his outrageous comments and speaks of the problem they create (about 1 hour and a few minutes in). What is clear is that Beatty never watched this or read a transcript All he likely did was listen to Fox News.

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=196446-1

[ProSense]

29. JK responds to Beatty blog post

GOP Campaigns Should Focus on the Issues (Sen. John Kerry)

October 22nd, 2008

In 1996, Bill Weld and I held a series of eight substantive debates that cut to the core of the issues Massachusetts constituents care about. We debated the economy and education, health care and social security, tax reform and civil rights, all with the aim of presenting our positions to the voters so they could make an informed decision on Election Day. Back then, the Boston Globe described the exchanges “issue dominate” and that we consistently highlighted our “familiar differences on policy issues.”

Two nights ago, Jeff Beatty, who used this space Monday to engage in a host of hollow accusations and misguided blamesmanship, showed Massachusetts the exact direction the Republican Party has traveled since that time – directly backwards. In a debate that should have honored Massachusetts by addressing the issue that affect us most, my opponent was unable to offer one constructive plan to solve our state’s and nation’s pressing issues. No plan for health care. No solution for an ailing economy. No strategy for Iraq. Beatty provided nothing but the empty, hateful rhetoric typical of a candidate incapable of providing answers or solutions.

Sadly, we’ve seen this happening across the GOP’s field of candidates this year. From the Presidential election to state and local races, we see candidates without substance resort to the name-calling, low-brow, hate-filled tactics that escalate every day. Beatty has contracted the worst form of this disease – a penchant for baseless attacks with zero substance to back it up.

Beatty’s policy positions, while hidden from Monday’s viewing audience, will only lay harm to Massachusetts. He’s called to abolish the Commonwealth’s income tax—a reckless and disastrous measure that would lower Massachusetts’ quality of lives and take tens of thousands of middle-class jobs away from firemen, cops, and teachers at a moment when we already face a deep budget shortfall.

Again and again, he has supported the politics and policies of George Bush, John McCain, and Sarah Palin. The tax cuts for the rich. The disastrous plan to tax health benefits. Staying in Iraq indefinitely.

It’s no surprise, then, that he’d rather trade snarky attacks and loopy conspiracy theories that somehow place the blame for 8 years of a Republican White House and 14 years of Republican Congress on the Democrats. I’m proud of what I’ve gotten done for Massachusetts and America—and I’m happy to discuss and debate it anytime– but I’d rather be talking about the issues that matter.

more

This is what facilitated Kerry's response.

[karynnj]

31. Wow - Beatty is REAL garbage

That post is complete trash. Kerry explained in the debate that neither he or Teresa currently have AIG, though even if they did, that is not unethical or illegal - and it was Bush's Secretary of the Treasury who bailed out AIG. On the contributions from the FMs, only $2000 was from PACs, the rest from employees.

[YvonneCa]

30. I think I just saw an announcement for this on C-Span...

...tonight at 8:00 ET...5 Pacific. Not positive...but some here may want to check.

[TayTay]

32. Really?

Ah, ok, again, Lincoln-Douglas this was not.

However, I will try and live-blog this. Sigh!

[fedupinBushcountry]

33. Will be on at 8 p.m.

on C-Span2