Will Kerry debate Dean head-to-head like he promised?

[mikehiggins]

Dean really set Kerry up in the MTP encounter today.

Weeks ago Kerry called on Dean to debate him head-to-head and Dean ignored him. Now Dean has agreed to do it. Will Kerry do it? What do you think?

This isn't a poll. It's just recognition of a smare political ploy.

C'mon Mr. Kerry. What are you afraid of?

[cthrumatrix]

1. that's a great question.... if he wants to be our leader ...he should.

[creativelcro]

2. perhaps Kerry is not as courageous as he wants to look on paper.

[Clark Can WIN]

45. He probably can't match Dean's ski moves

that's for sure.

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. If you think Kerry is scared of Dean

You've never seen Kerry in a debate before.

[creativelcro]

5. Tried to... But fell asleep after 5 minutes...

[Carolina]

31. yeah, he is a real

snooooozer. And in November, I fear a loser, too.

[Hawkeye-X]

20. Oh try Dean. Kerry loses 95% of the votes

While Dean pummels Kerry and tosses him away with records after records of what he has done. Kerry is no leader, no matter how much he pretends to be.

One condition: this is aired on all 4 national networks as an apology to Dean for the mea culpa on the Dean scream. Impact is more than enough voters to decide on Kerry or Dean.

Lets just wait until the other candidates drop out first, such as Edwards and Clark. Sharpton, Lieberman and Kucinich and stick around for laughs.

Hawkeye-X

[Tweed]

33. Dean's records?

Right, I'll accept attacks from Dean on Kerry's record as soon as Dean opens up his own records. Let me remind you that the Dean scream finished a distant third place finish? His campaign was over because of that. I would say the scream helped in more in the end just because of ALL the media attention on the scream and not on the other candidates. Dean will drop out before Edwards or Clark. Edwards and Clark will actually win a state. Dean won't even place in second in any of them states. If Dean sticks around, THAT will be just for laughs.

[cheezus]

4. How about round-robin debates

I think Kerry v Dean would marginalize the other canidates

[MaineDem]

6. Excellent idea

I wish they had started this a month ago, though.

[mb7588a]

12. Agreed.

I liked the Hardball appearances by each candidate, that was where I really started to like John Kerry. He was light-hearted and patient with Matthews, and Mathews actually treated him with respect.

A debate between John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich would be amazing. Some of the other matchups would be great too.

[DrFunkenstein]

7. Dean Is No William Weld

This is from Joe Klein's New Yorker profile on Kerry. Joe Klein did a similar piece for Clinton in '92 that made him a legitimate contender. He is also the anonymous author of Primary Colors.

http://www.johnkerry.com/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6197&JServSess...

The 1996 Senate campaign between John Kerry and William Weld was the rarest of events in latter-day American politics: a civil, closely contested, intelligent, and wildly entertaining brawl. "Both candidates were incredibly popular," the Kerry consultant John Marttila said. "Both had sixty-per-cent favorable ratings, and negatives in the twenties. And they maintained their popularity throughout the race."

Both were Brahmins, but Weld, with a shock of strawberry hair and irony to burn, seemed an honorary Hibernian-once again, Kerry was faced with an opponent bound to be favored by the reportorial romantics at the Boston Globe. "We were both comers," recalls Weld, who had just been reelected governor, with seventy-one per cent of the vote. "We were both at the height of our powers. If I'd won that race, I was going to turn straight around and run for President in 2000. I think he was, too-although I guess he eventually decided that Gore had too big a head start."

The campaign began with a remarkable agreement to limit campaign spending, negotiated face to face by the two candidates in Kerry's Beacon Hill mansion. They also agreed to a series of eight debates, some of which would be Lincoln-Douglas style, with the two candidates questioning each other directly, without a mediator. Weld figured that his issues-crime, welfare reform, and tax cutting-and his charm would see him through, but mostly his charm. "John isn't really a cold person, but he does seem aloof," Weld said recently. "The truth is that he's courtly to the point of gentility. We were pummelling him through August, but his campaign turned on a dime when Bob Shrum was hired as his consultant. It went from flaccid to sharp in a week."

Kerry's aides insist that it was more than Shrum. They say that Kerry was distracted in Washington, that he didn't really focus on the campaign until the Senate recessed. "It wasn't a lack of focus," Kerry says. "It was a strategy. I figured people wouldn't really be paying attention until the fall debates."

The last four debates were fabulous political theatre-two very smart men having at each other. "John's at his best under pressure, when he's being seriously challenged," Paul Nace, an old Navy friend, says. "He gets really cool, very calm. He really is a warrior-he just loves it. I took one look at him as he was walking into Faneuil Hall for one of the last debates and I thought, Bill Weld has no idea what's about to hit him."

Weld-who calls the debates a "bloody draw"-says that Kerry successfully attached him to the national Republican Party. (Weld had said some embarrassingly positive things about Newt Gingrich two years earlier.) "The turning point came when he asked me if I'd vote to keep Jesse Helms as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That was a killer."

I asked Weld how he responded. "I ducked it, of course," he said, with a smile. "I mean, I hated Jesse Helms. But what could I do?"

Kerry won the election by eight percentage points. "John has always been underestimated politically," Marttila says. "But that race had the quality and intensity of a Presidential campaign, and he won. I don't see how they can underestimate him anymore, but they probably will."

[nancyharris]

19. The irony is

That if Senator Kerry wins the presidency he may well be replaced in the US Senate by Bill Weld.

[nathan_avery1985]

8. Oh gosh I hope so....

Kerry would beat the daylig---..... never mind, I won't finish that.

But he won't do it. It does marginalize the other candidates, who at this point are equally as competitive as Dean. I actually think that Clark and Edwards have become more likely contenders than Dean, and to leave them out would be a little cheap. More importantly, as the "front runner," Kerry only has something to lose and nothing to gain.

But still, it would be an interesting spectacle....

[mopinko]

9. this was my favorite part of mtp

the smile on howard's face when russert asked him this. i thought he was gonna drool.

[DrFunkenstein]

14. I Thought He Was Going To Drool, Too

But I usually do, anyway...;-)



Honestly, what are the chances of him finding that beat?

[chimpymustgo]

28. Chances of him finding the beat...LOL!

Thanks, I needed that!

[BruinAlum]

10. Dean declined when Kerry made that offer

There's no longer an offer on the table.

Dean turned the offer down when it was assumed he was the anointed front runner. Now that he's shot his wad in two states, fallen flat on his face, and isn't going to compete in the 7 states this Tuesday, why should he now get "do-overs" on the debate offer? LOL!

Kerry should ignore him. Dean is the one doing a flip flop on this, Kerry is the obvious front runner, and still gaining in the polls, and has no reason to take on Dean head to head in a debate. Dean had his chance and turned it down.

[creativelcro]

11. This directly from Kerry headquarters. WOW...

>
There's no longer an offer on the table.

Dean turned the offer down when it was assumed he was the anointed front runner. Now that he's shot his wad in two states, fallen flat on his face, and isn't going to compete in the 7 states this Tuesday, why should he now get "do-overs" on the debate offer? LOL!

Kerry should ignore him. Dean is the one doing a flip flop on this, Kerry is the obvious front runner, and still gaining in the polls, and has no reason to take on Dean head to head in a debate. Dean had his chance and turned it down.

[BruinAlum]

17. Dean can't have it both ways. That's life. He turned it down already.

To suggest he can now change the terms of an offer because he's losing is laughable. And desperate.

[MercutioATC]

34. Ah, but why wouldn't Kerry debate him regardless?

I mean, if he's so much more competent and has such a better grasp on the issues...?

Seems a great way to knock Dean down once and for all.

[zulchzulu]

37. Kerry could debate top tier candidates. Dean is second tier now

If Clark or Edwards wanted to debate, then it would be fair.

If Dean thinks he can leapfrog past the top tier candidates in the race to debate the frontrunner without them there, it can only be seen as a desperate media move.

Dean turned down Kerry's offer to debate. You snooze, you lose.

[MercutioATC]

38. :) I love the trite excuses. Admit it, it would be an unnecessary risk

for Kerry. He does have every right to refuse the debate but, since HE'S the one who iniated the dialogue, we have every right to ask why he's changed his mind. I don't have a problem with Kerry refusing as a campaign strategy, but don't even try to make it any more than that.

[YouMustBeKiddingMe]

39. Kerry didn't change his mind. Dean did.

[MercutioATC]

40. Actually, they both did. The fact is, Kerry initiated it when HE was

behind in the polls. It's fine to cite strategic reasons, but anything else is pure tripe.

[YouMustBeKiddingMe]

42. Not so. Dean declined the offer. Now he changed his mind and

wants the debate. Kerry never changed his mind, Dean did, but now there's no longer an offer on the table. There's no such thing as "do-overs" in politics.

Let's face it - it's all just rhetoric anyway. No front-runner is going to take an offer like that from a sinking ship, and the person making the offer knows it when he makes the offer. It's all for show.

[MercutioATC]

43. THAT'S what I wanted to hear...""It's all for show".

It's strategy (on both sides).

[YouMustBeKiddingMe]

41. Dean is doing a perfectly good job of knocking himself out without

Kerry's help. There is no benefit to Kerry wasting any time on Dean. Kerry's time and efforts are better spent elsewhere.

That's politics.

[blm]

13. I hope so. But where were you all when Kerry wanted a debate earlier?

I believe most here mocked him as a loser and desperate.

I also think it's funny that some of those same folks will call Kerry too scared to debate now.

[DrFunkenstein]

15. Pictures Of Kerry As A Callow Youth In Debate Clubs

He also - absolutely true - started up a Dead Poet's Society (only with a different name).



And here is the John Winant Society he helped start up (debate club).



Kerry was Rushmore before it was cool to be Rushmore. You can tell by the way he's dressed that he is clearly pre-cool.

[THUNDER HANDS]

16. might be just me

I think he's gotten better looking with age. :)

[DrFunkenstein]

23. Not Just You

Skinny kid:



Presidential:

[JI7]

25. he was geeky

but around the time of vietnam he showed off his good hair more and got rid of the nerdy clothes. i don't know what that pressed down hair thing was all about. but i like his hair when he was in vietnam and after better. his current look is especially nice for a presidential run.not too big, but enough to show he has nice hair. i like that top pic of him as a young man, i had never seen that one before.

[Carolina]

32. better looking than what

:shrug:

[CabalBuster]

18. Looking better with age?????

Let's face it the man is scary looking, anyway how long does Botox last?

I've said before, Kerry is not a good speaker/debater, he takes way too long to make a discernible point. His answers are mostly convoluted and unnecessary wordy. He CANNOT deliver a good punch like Howard Dean. Howard will eat him alive just like he ate Tim Russet this morning; and on top Kerry is a very boring and monotonous speaker, but that reason he cannot connect with the masses. His Washigtonian style is just a big turnoff for me.

[Old and In the Way]

22. You might have said it before.

In which case you are still wrong.

:-)

[DancingBear]

21. Re: Kerry/Weld Debates

I was living in NH at the time, and I saw those debates.

I am a Clark man through and through, but I tell you this. Do not underestimate John Kerry in a debate.

You are a fool if you do.

[janx]

24. !

:scared:

[KaraokeKarlton]

29. I was a competitive debater throughout highschool

I was even in the who's who of American students for public speaking and debate. I won many competitions. The only way Kerry would have an advantage over Dean in a debate is if there was a strict pre-set topic and position he knew he'd be debating. That's not how political debates work. Dean actually is much better than Kerry about speaking about topics without prior knowledge of what the topics are going to be. Also, Kerry is just painfully boring everytime he opens his mouth. He talks in circles while throwing in as many "intellectual" sounding words as he can and essentially says nothing of substance and usually doesn't even answer the question. The only thing I ever see Kerry do is talk a lot but say nothing.

Don't underestimate Dean in a one on one debate. I've seen him go at it before and he's fast, smart and can formulate great responses on the fly. He also knows how to hit hard.

[zulchzulu]

26. Kerry doesn't need to debate second-tier has-been candidates

It's not fair to Clark or Edwards to have to debate a has-been second-tier candidate like Dean.

Dean should maybe debate LaRouche. They have about the same poll numbers in a lot of states.

[MercutioATC]

35. Show me ONE state where they have "about the same poll numbers"

...just ONE.

[zulchzulu]

46. Check out Dean's great LaRouche-like numbers

Primary Tracking02-01-04
	                AZ	MO	OK	SC

Kerry         	36	43	25	23

Dean	                14	8	6	9

Edwards            4	14	16	24

Clark	                24	  3	23	8

Lieberman	         6	3	6	4

Kucinich	         3	0.1	1	1

Sharpton	          0.1	3	1	7

Undecided       	13	22	22	23

Zogby poll

Check out Missouri.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

27. I PRAY he does

I would love to see Dean defend his statements that Kerry is a Republican in a debate.

[creativelcro]

30. .

[maxr4clark]

36. When Kerry challenged Dean, Dean was the front-runner.

Why should Kerry debate Dean, now that he's well back in the pack of Democratic candidates, and sinking farther every day?

[Clark Can WIN]

44. Dean didn't ignore him

He candied out, said it wouldn't be fair to the other candidates. Of course he was in the lead when he had this touching and sincere concern for the other candidates. Now he's not. So I guess now it's fuck the other candidates or something like that.