Let's Discuss The Debates...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I think Gore cleaned the Simian In Chief's clock in all three debates ... Gore's tragic mistake was openly displaying his contempt for Chimpy...


I also think Lieberman sucked in his debate... He showed more enthusiasm going after his Democratic primary opponents in the Democratic debates than he showed in his debate with GFY Cheney.....

[mourningdove92]

1. On the whole, yes Gore cleaned up, except for all those

heavy sighs which made him look pretty bad. Like one poster here said, most Americans did not expect much from Smirk, so the fact that he didn't piss his pants during the debates, gave him points.

Lieberman? argh.

I have a lot of faith that Kerry will totally destroy the Smirk. This time he WILL piss his pants. As far as Edwards vs Cheney....this I cannot wait to see.

[gulliver]

2. Displaying contempt is OK. Gore just did it wrong.

Reagan's "There you go again" and Lloyd Bentsen's "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" both displayed contempt effectively. Displaying contempt is a fantastic thing to do in a debate, but it has to be done well. Gore blew it.

Gore sighed and shook his head. It was very, very stupid. He lost control of his demeanor. Then in the second debate, Gore compounded the error by going soft, essentially admitting that he had lost the first debate by changing strategy. He should have hung tough and raised the level of attack, not backed off. The second debate showed Gore was not his own man.

Gore also blew an attempt to physically intimidate and upstage Bush. It was awkwardly done. Bush's mother Barbara, who knows a good jugular when she sees one, later said something like "I thought he (Gore) was going to hit George."

Kerry and Edwards should not shy away from showing contempt for Bush and Cheney. They should be prepared not only to show contempt, but to sell it to the audience.

If memory serves, a general rule on using a direct assault in debate is that you have to wait until the audience wants you to do it. The audience must see something in your opponent that is potentially weak or deserves attack. At that moment, you must attack convincingly and at full force of personality, preferably with the most biting humor you can muster. That's deadly.

This is something I think Bush knows instinctively, by the way. I think he gets it from his mom.

Bush lost the debates badly, but Gore lost them worse. There was an arc of the three debates, and it didn't do anything for Gore.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. Kerry Won't Make The Mistake Of Letting The Audience Know He Thinks Bush

I A Chimp...


How will Edwards handle Potty Mouth?

[WI_DEM]

4. I'm sure Bush is going to have lots of conditions for him to debate

First, No town hall type debate where real people can ask questions.
Second, It must be a news conference not a debate--with set answers and no allowance for Kerry to ask the chimp questions.
Third, They must use lecterns--and the chimp must have a lectern which will make him appear taller than Kerry.
Fourth, If at all possible all questions must be submitted in advance.
Fifth, The debates should be sponsored by FOX News with Bill O'Reilly as moderator and the "journalists" asking questions should be: Robert Novak, Sean Hannity, and Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Herald.
Sixth, he will probably only agree to one debate a month before the election so he will have enough time to recover from any verbal misstep.

Finally as a "war president" he might try to get out of any debates by saying that no president has ever debated at a time of war.

[mourningdove92]

5. And of course, all questions should be preceded with a

statement regarding how Clinton's penis set up the world for disaster.

[chappaquadem]

6. Gore lost because of his make-up artist

Gore really lost the debates because his make-up artist had him look like a clown during the second debate...

[TexasSissy]

7. No, I think Gore lost at least one debate. Were there 3 debates total?

I remember seeing one (the last one?) where I thought they both did well, but I thought Bush had won.

It was the one where Gore, trying to be aggressive, walked into Bush's "space" to confront him on some topic. They were standing freestyle with no podiums, so Gore could do that. Gore was trying to be too animated, etc., to combat his stiff image. His makeup looked weird, too. Still, he did well. It's just that Bush came off better. Bush sat on his stool, one foot on the floor, one propped on a leg of the chair. He looked calm, comfortable, cool, collected.

As a Texan, I knew that an answer Bush gave (pertaining to when he was governor) was shocking. But the rest of the country wouldn't have known. His base wouldn't have cared, anyway, since it involved an African American.

(edited for typo)

[fujiyama]

9. There were three

and Gore never was consistent. The media ran away with this, repeating the RW lie that "he was never his own man".

The first debate (stand up lecturn type) he was "too agressive"
The second debate (sit down) he was "too timid"

By the time the third one (town hall style) came around, it really didn't matter any more. Gore had lost an opportunity to really connect with people. My dad, who absolutely despises Bush, simply asked what the hell was going on, because Gore was so awkward.

I myself thought Gore kicked Bush's ass every time, but I had to cringe at times. I remember these particular moments especially:

Gore sighing and shaking his head -- into the microphone. Also his make up was terrible in this one.

Gore trying to be nice in the second one, but it came off really weird (almost sarcastic).

Finally the stepping in front of Bush.

I'm sure Kerry will look at old debate performances and learn from Gore and Dukakis's mistakes, as well as Bush Sr.'s against Clinton. At the same time, I hope he learns what Clinton did right during them.

Kerry's one smart thing during the primary debates was he had some great one liners. I get the impression that he has a quite wit, though it doesn't show at times.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. The Person Who Is Ahead Has More Control Over The Format

I'd pay to see Kerry debate Chimpy the way Lincoln debated Douglas...


We'd show the freepers that their hero is a total dumb ass...