Bush is a strong debater..

[kerryin2004]

The idiot savant's expectations are so low that he has never been considered t0o have lost a debate.. Kerry must make sure that everyone is aware that Bush has never lost a debate, that he is the best..Public perception of the Bush debate ability must be that he will win before these debates occur so that it is him that gets any criticism if he doesn't perform magnificently..Kerry cannot allow himself to become Gore where he is the one that is scrutinized..

[Bluebear]

1. Bush is a weapon of mass debating.

Extremely strong debater, I hope Kerry can hang tough. All of America should expect George to come out with a tour de France.

[cthrumatrix]

2. bush will have the edge ..no doubt.....he is a master

[Worst Username Ever]

6. Would that make him the master debater?

[cthrumatrix]

13. hmmm....yes...Kitty Kelly covered this as well

[ComerPerro]

3. I would contend that Bush has lost every single debate he has ever been in

Its just that he won the election afterward.

But winning an election doesn't mean you have won the debate.

[cthrumatrix]

4. nope...Kerry is the "underdog" ...(get it)

[seabeyond]

9. didnt you listen to them after the gore debate

all three debates, they expected so little of bush, yet still still, the genius gore got his ass wiped by bush. all the press told us so. not a single one thought gore was smarter or better at communicating. it was all bush, kicking butt. luntz even had his people watching and rating the debates, and they too were far and away impressed with bush and totally unappreciative of gores skill. and all they talked about gores debating abilities, all for not

bush's charm and good ole folksy talk just draws people in

[Canuckistanian]

16. But on the facts, Bush lost

He pulled several economic figures out of his ass and even got corrected by Gore, as I recall.
Check out Daily Howler. There was far from any consensus that Bush won every debate.

[seabeyond]

26. bush is a godlike debater

wink wink...................

remember we be democrats

it is called the expectation game. and i have high expectations of bush in the debate. he is so damn good, i expect him to go out and kick butt and if he doenst demolish kerry simply demolish kerry, then he just doesnt deserve to be president any more. spread the word o friends and families, that after four years in office and all his experience and knowledge he has gained, that kerry is the true light weight, bush should simply wipe the floor with him. and anything less is a failure

[mistertrickster]

5. Yes, look at Gore and Bush's first debate. Bush hammered away

at Gore in two ways--"Gore wants to create big, gov't programs, and I want to get gov't out of people's lives" and "why didn't he get it done in the last 8 years."

Every plan and proposal that Gore brought up, Bush had a single retort--"they couldn't get it done; we need someone who can go to Washington and get things done."

Granted, Bush is an idiot and inarticulate as hell, but he is humble enough to know that he needs coaching and is apparently teachable.

This is actually the tack that JK now can use against Bush--with both houses of Congress and the Presidency, the only thing that the Republicans can "get done" is tax breaks for the rich.

[VolcanoJen]

7. Bush will absolutely crush Kerry in the debates.

He is a master debator, and has a crushing command of the facts. Kerry will be lucky to come out of this thing without bleeding.

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[mac56]

18. Absolutely right.

I'm sure Kerry is shaking in his boots even now. If Bush does anything short of soundly kicking his ass on national TV, well, that could only be considered a sorry defeat for Bush.

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[KurtNYC]

8. We might also point out that Bush lies his butt off in the debates

The 2000 debates included these gems:

I'm worried about overcommitting our military around the world. I want to be judicious in its use. You mentioned Haiti. I wouldn't have sent troops to Haiti. I didn't think it was a mission worthwhile. It was a nation building mission,..

more:
Maybe I'm missing something here. I mean, we're going to have kind of a nation building core from America? Absolutely not. Our military is meant to fight and win war. That's what it's meant to do. And when it gets overextended, morale drops.

I'm not so sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say this is the way it's got to be. ...but I think the United States must be humble.

http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2000b.html

These only scratch the surface. Too many to cite. Bush knows what people want, he talks about it then does whatever. We wanted to get bin Laden, Bush says we will get bin Laden then bingo...Iraq and Osama been Forgotten. Bush will be lying again and we need to have people remember the lies he told in 2000 as a defense.

[seabeyond]

12. bush 11 flat outlies in one debate

gore three exaggerations, and that was a stretch calling them exaggerations.

and still still they called him the honest straight shooter and gore the liar

[Cartooner]

10. NOT STRONG! He's likeable. That's not the same thing ...

In the Gore debates, Bush made some stupid statements. Gore shot himself in the foot with all the sighing and aggressive movements.

Kerry is many times better at debating than was Gore. Bush has a number of HUGE problems he has to try to defend. His handlers will prepare him well (James Baker, et.al.); but, If Kerry can toss a few bombshells, Bush is gonna say things like "The O-B-G-Y-N's can't practice their love with all the women of the country"... and "All the terrorists are out to kill us at the whim of a hat"...

Bush isn't great at answering surprise questions. witness his "I can't think of anything off the top of my head", in answer to "What mistakes do you think you've made.... Those are things he can't deal with.

I'm an old debate coach and, sure, I'd advise not taking Bush lightly. He'll try to use his personality... he'll try using sarcasm... he'll probably try using some of Reagan's former techniques: "There you go again"...

Kerry needs to have it all sorted out. NEEDS to PLAN to RATIONALE to ADVANTAGES to STATUS QUO DISADVANTAGES... comparing those last two. I do hope he has good debate people giving him "heads-up" coaching.

[mistertrickster]

24. Right, I debated in college too. I think it's a huge mistake to misunder-

estimate Bush's debating skills just because he can't speak three words together.

He showed in the Gore debates that he is fully capable of rising to the minimal level of competence required to sort-of, kind-of tie his opponent.

He's not good by any stretch, but he's not nearly as bad as you would think he is given his stupid daily comments and absurd policies.

Kerry needs to work on breaking through Bush's "folksy-ness" to show Bush to be the phoney he is--but he has to do it in such a way that he doesn't come off a bullying or elitist.

A lot of Americans are very anti-intellectual at their core, and the brainy Kerry has to be able to reach these people where they live too.

[coalition_unwilling]

11. Depends on how you score them

Bush will win if viewers are won over by trite simplifications.

If Kerry can show nuanced judgment is necessary for complex world situations and do it in a non-condescending, non-patronizing way, Kerry will win.

Of course, roughly 40% of Americans continue to believe that Saddam Hussein had a direct role in 9/11, so it's the other 60% that are in play during the debates. Of that 60%, probably 45-46% are already voting for (or leaning to) JK. Which means debates will have influence on at most 15% of electorate.

[onehandle]

14. Bush is a God of speech.

Anything less than Kerry leaving the venues in tears will be a failure.

[cthrumatrix]

17. in fact ...isn't god going to be in awol's earpiece?

[Cartooner]

15. KERRY WON'T LOSE THE DEBATE...maybe the personality contest, though

Joe Public is won over by personality ... and CUTE phrases. Kerry is much better at "cute phrases" than was Gore.

Bush will try charm...will try sarcasm and cute phrases...

THAT'S WHAT WINS THESE so-called DEBATES (that aren't really debates at all, just attempts to WIN OVER with being likeable)

[pdx_prog]

20. They are too controlled...

can't say this, can't say that.....

What they need is a question and answer session just between the two of them...


http://www.zippyimages.com/files/111200.html

[Dr Fate]

19. Kerry is unable to match Bush's folksy mannerisms...

...which gives Bush a HUGE edge on TV.

Kerry should be declared winner by default for being brave enough to even show up.

[librechik]

21. Damn I wanted to be the first to say he is a master debater. n/t

[spanone]

22. This post is getting older and older. blocking.

[Tracer]

23. According to James Fallows ...

... in his Atlantic article of a couple of months ago, SmirkBoy USED TO BE a good debator. He mentions *'s debate with Ann Richards where SB scored quite a few points.

I've got to believe that now, after 4 years in office, and 4 years of increasing mental decrepitude and verbal idiocy, that SB couldn't win a debate with a fencepost.

[LittleClarkie]

25. I agree, do not misunderestimate him

But all Kerry has to do is remain his fired up self and appear passionate and sincere. I don't want a repeat of the scholarly theatrics of Gore, all that sighing and such.

[AWhitneyBrown]

27. I debated Bush once.

And I couldn't speak for a month afterwards. My ears bled copiously for weeks. He was that good. My tongue was literally paralyzed from the tip down. I found out later he had actually perforated my left ear drum with one of his patented 'zingers'.
What people have to realize is that Bush is probably the finest debater ever to hold the office of President. During one debate some of the spit flew out of his mouth, boiled through the ground, and emerged a week later in China as a volcano.
I mean he is a good debater.
During his lieutenant governor debates in Texas, animals and birds would come out of the woods in flocks to listen to him. It became a real problem for animal control officials. Once a plane flying overhead was knocked off course by one of his comebacks. These are all true instances of what a good debater he is.
He pounded Gore so badly that he actually began to melt and fire extinguishers had to be used. I saw that myself on C-SPAN.
Another thing people don't know is that Bush has the power to call upon the shade of Ronald Reagan to enter the body of his opponent when he so desires. No one knows how he does it.
His tongue is not even human. It is made of pure gold, with a titanium alloy chip that is capable of infusing his words with the scent of delicious Kansas City style barbecue in order to seduce his listeners. Fortunately it doesn't work over the tv wires, but he has other tricks that do.
His words are instantly translated into 4 major languages while he speaks, depending on the listener, and those who can't speak any of those languages hear it as celestial music.
With the power of his words, he can turn a river into a raging fire, make a ship sail on dry land, and he can speak forever, if he so desires, because he has the power to stop time with his words.

If Kerry is still in human form after the first debate, it will be a great victory, no doubt about it.

[crispini]

28. ROTFLMAO!

bwahahahahaha!

[Lefta Dissenter]

29. OK, that's not fair!

I was going to file a report on the number of boxes of Depends that the Kerry campaign is stocking up on... but you're way funnier than I am, so I'm not even going to bother! :(