Will there even BE a presidential Debate????

[Rosco T.]

(trying to move back to other things)

Given the way Shrubya can't think on his feet (see the Brokaw interview this w/e), will there even BE a Presidental Debate? Kerry will make mincemeat out of him (must make sure people are in the audience with scanners to see what freq Shrub's earpiece is on so they can jam it.. or even better feed him some funny lines..)

How will Shrubya weasle his way out of it? A 'crisis' that takes his attention and makes it 'unwise' for him to attend? And will that put Kerry on the defensive is it's a 'national crisis' that put them off? Or will Shrubya just wait till the American Idol finals so people won't watch????

[Servo300]

1. I'm sure there will be.

He did OK in the debates against Gore.

[Rosco T.]

3. But he didn't have anything to defend against there and...

.. I'm sorry to say, Gore'00 is not Gore'04, Al would wipe the floor with him today..

[Canuckistanian]

5. Not until you analyzed what he said

Shrub got his facts and figures wrong several times. Gore was right on.
But of course, the SCLM said that Gore was a "smartypants" for defeating Bunnyboy using facts.

[trogdor]

16. Only with the help of the media.

I was often wondering if they were watching the same debate I was watching - not only the reporters, but the shills in the audience who were telling Diane Sawyer how articulate and clear his responses were.

[spanone]

25. I thought he did a terrible job against Gore.

He weasled his way through answers and evaded and dodged. When Gore totally outscored bush* they accused him of having too much knowledge of his subject. I watched every debate and w* did not do O.K.

[physioex]

2. Probably will be...

They maybe getting desperate over there, wonder what strategy they will come up with? It's really funny to watch Bunnypants totally despised by people in Europe...

[daa]

4. Definitely only One

if any at all. Chimpy is out of control and after seeing the stature gap with Reagan he just will not debate.

[WI_DEM]

6. Bush will try to limit the number

probably agree to only one several weeks prior to the election so he can recover from any gaffe.

[Walt Starr]

7. I seriously doubt

Dumbass* is too busy running the war, after all.

And he'll say so just before he flies off to another campaign stop, too!

[Catfight]

9. But never to busy to vacation! Too busy for EVERYTHING else

that has to do with governing, but just never to busy to play.

[Vickers]

8. There will be an "incident" that requires the President*'s attention

Watch.

It won't be of WTC proportions, but it'll be scary.

[wug37]

10. There are a minimum of 3

I have heard from reputable sources (teachers) that there is a required minimum of 3 debates for presidential elections. If that is the case, then that's 3 times right there that Kerry can put Bunnypants in his place.

[Bake]

15. Required by law? I don't think so, but I could be wrong.

If there is such a statute, I'd love to see it.

Bake

[OpSomBlood]

11. I'm afraid he may well pull a Schwarzenegger.

And refuse to debate unless the questions are scripted.

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. Just like Gore made mincemeat of him in the debates?

How soon people forget. People have been underestimating Bush for years. When will they learn? Ann Richards did it. So did Al Gore.

[stopthegop]

14. I often wonder..

how someone who is frequently viewed as stupid keeps ending up on top...and the 'he's a puppet' theory doesn't hold water (IMO)

[NewJeffCT]

24. He truly is "misunderestimated"

But, part of that is the media prior to the debates with Gore made it out to be that Gore had a huge debating edge, having destroyed Kemp & Perot in years gone by, and Bush not being a good speaker and all... then, when Bush doesn't come across as a crazier version of Charles Manson in the debate, it looks like he 'won'.

[rniel]

13. NO.. well maybe

Karl rove is going to lock the insane monster bush in the white house attic. Everytime he opens his mouth it's shaving a point off his poll numbers. A debate would be a disaster.

Then again they are way down in the polls already so what's to lose by trying. Besides they can always rig the questions very carefully to try to make bush look better.

[newyawker99]

23. Hi rniel!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[indigobusiness]

17. Bush is ready this time...

* prepared for debates




http://sludgereport.blogspot.com/

[greekspeak]

18. I can only imagine at this point what a debate would look like

Kerry would be at the podium, and Shrub would swagger up to his podium 10 minutes late, dressed like a cowpoke. He would turn, piss on Kerry, then swagger off. The media whores who were "moderating" would fawn at what a pretty yellow color the p(R)esident's urine was, and tell America that Shrub clearly won.

[Hammie]

19. Of course

Presidential debates are a tradition. Any candidate that tried to weasel out of them would be toast.

That being said, I think the lesson of '00 is that the winner of the debate, strangely, isn't always the guy that sounds the smartest. Presidential debates aren't graduate school colloquia. You don't win by scoring logic points. They are more like a panel job interview. You win by appearing to be believable in the roll of President. Clinton had tons of Presidentialness. Gore didn't. Bush didn't have much but he had more than Gore. IMO the quality that Gore most sorely lacked was a sense of humor. Ironically, since the end of the contest he exhibited many more of the qualities that would have won him the debates and the election.

Going into the debates, Bush is going to have the upper hand on Presidentialness since he is actually the President. Kerry is going to have to really shine in the debates to overcome Bush's home-field advantage.

[IA_Young_Dem]

20. I think Reagan and Carter only debated once,

and we'll probably only have one debate between Kerry and Bush. Unfortunately, the media will be totally complacent and will praise Bush's terrible performance against Kerry. The pundits will say Kerry is wooden and aloof (not true) and the perceived winner will be the one who tells the most jokes (very sad indeed). Bush and Rove will find any way to manipulate the debate to their advantage.
And I bet the questions will be too easy for Bush.

[Yupster]

27. There were supposed to have been two debates in 1980

The first one Carter didn't accept so Reagan debated Anderson.

Then Carter debated Reagan.

[Bombtrack]

21. They already have 3 debate site's that have been confirmed

University of Miami, Arizona State University, and Washington University in St. Louis.

[AmericanErrorist]

22. The Debates have been scheduled:

First presidential debate:
Thursday, September 30
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL

Vice presidential debate:
Tuesday, October 5
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH


Second presidential debate:
Friday, October 8
Washington University
St. Louis, MO

Third presidential debate:
Wednesday, October 13
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ

http://wwww.debates.org

[Eric J in MN]

26. Most people have made up their minds by September 30.

Most people have made up their minds by September 30.

Scheduling the first one so late undermines the point.

[Yupster]

28. Why would you think Bush would avoid debates?

He's debated in every campaign he's ever run. He debated when it was in his interest and he debated when there was absolutely no reason to.

You think he's going to be afraid of Kerry?

Al Gore was supposed to be an Uber-debator, who destroyed Ross Perot, yet Bush debated him three times.

You think he'll be afraid of Kerry when he wasn't afraid of Anne Richards?

Bush thought Gary Mauro was running against him for Governor just so he could dirty him up before the presidential race. Even up 30 + points in the polls, Bush still debated Mauro.

What in Bush's history would let anyone conclude that Bush wouldn't debate?

[maggrwaggr]

29. Shrubya will make an ass out of himself, media will declare him winner

Isn't that how it always works?

Worked that way with Reagan, too. Reagan couldn't debate any more than he could sing opera, but he'd throw out a few one-liners, even if they were totally out of context, and the media went nuts and declared him the "winner".