Please help me with my naivete' by

[Stew225]

explaining to me how Shrub, the quintessential illiterate who can't put a coherent sentence together has ANY CHANCE of not making a fool of himself in the upcoming debates.

I've read where the First Chimp has been practicing but, is it just me or, how can he possibly do anything like this live?

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Stew

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I'm not sure

but if the candidates are given the questions beforehand, Bush can memorize his answers. I read some post here earlier that it would be a scream if the moderator mixed up the order of the questions and Bush answered a question on Iraq with information on his plan for Medicare.

[unblock]

2. he can only make a fool of himself is everyone laughs at him

whenever he says something stupid and/or stumbles over words and/or babbles incoherently, all the talking heads and pundits gloss over the sorts of things they would rake any democrat over the coals for, and instead talk about whatever the main emotional thrust of the topic was.

this is what they did in the bush-gore debates, why wouldn't they do it now?

remember the quaint old days, in 1976, when gerald ford made a laughingstock of himself by claiming poland wasn't under soviet influence? the media actually pointed this out and made him pay for it, and carter's victory owes much to ford's slip-up and the media calling him on it.

these days, bush can make up whatever facts or accusation he wants, including the exact opposite of fact or of his own position, and the media completely follows up with whatever he "meant" to say, instead.

in other words, it's not a debate between kerry and bush. it's a debate between kerry and the gop campaign team, and it's judged by the gop's propaganda wing.

good luck, senator. you're going to need it!

[liberal N proud]

3. The already have the questions and are going over answers

shrub is in his village this week rehearsing the answers. And as a back up Carl Rove will have a his ear during the debates through an ear piece.

[knowbody0]

4. his electrodes

will keep him focused but his eyes they will be blinking rapidly

[Vincardog]

5. Don't forget he will be medicated to keep from going off in public.

Wouldn't it be great if we could jam his ear mike? Or override it. Want to here the chimp say
"I am sorry it was all a lie.
Forgive me for misleading you?"
How far would he get before he realized the voice in his ear had changed?

[baldguy]

6. All he has to do is stand up straight and not drool on himself.

If he can show he's got a higher IQ than a tomato plant, the "liberal media" will say he won big.

[Fuzzy LaRue]

8. Bush is more in his element when...

being off the cuff and not in front of a teleprompter. As infuriating as his mangling of the English language is, it makes him seem more like an everyday type, regular guy and a lot of people identify with that.

It would be a mistake for Kerry to take Bush light. Kerry needs short precise answers to any questions. The slightest nuance will be pointed to not only by Bush but the media as well.

[baldguy]

9. You're kidding, right?

Bush can't speak complete sentences. When he speaks off-the-cuff he sounds like the idiot that he is and he just says things that are not true. His puppeteers invariably come out the next day with "Well, what he meant to say was..."

Bush sound most human when he is rehersed, coached, scripted and tele-prompted. He also is rumored to use an ear-bud type radio reciever to take direction from off-stage.

Kerry needs to be Kerry - if he was matched up with Bush is a real debate Bush would be crushed.

[Fuzzy LaRue]

10. I am not kidding.

Gore looked terrible against Bush in 2000. Bush was nothing other than himself. Don't view Bush through the haze of intent dislike. That leads to too narrow a focus. At this time (if you believe the polls) most people are not seeing what we see in Bush. What we see infuriating and stupid, some people see as down to earth and homey.

Believe me, I don't get it either. But it is there.

[rasputin1952]

11. You make an excellent point about bush being in his element...

when he speaks "off the cuff"; he is a blathering, blubbering fool when speaks "off the cuff". He has NEVER made a remark that makes sense when he speaks impromptu. He shows the nation that he has a incapable of rational thought on his own. Why do you think they have tleprompters?

bush is not as bright as people give him credit for, he may be a "nice guy" when he talks to people individually, but he is a cretin when it comes to policy matters, nad he has no concept of the Office of the Presidency, and the power it holds. His handlers make the decisions for major speeches, and he can seem intelligable for those occasions. Otherwise, as you say, he is in his "element", when impromptu speaking, he is a fool, and the world sees it...:)

edited: spelling and clarity

[I_like_chicken]

7. Actually I was watching a debate btw him and Al Gore

and he did a pretty good job. He sticks to his message, and somehow always makes the other canidate come out looking stupid. If the debate was judge solely on well the canidates put together a coherent argument, and on the factual information that is the basis of the debate, then Kerry would win. Unfortunetly, debates are judged on perceptions, and whoever comes up with the best one liners. With this as the base of judgement, Bush has an advantage.

[George W. Dunce]

12. He doesn't have to

The media will say how great he was no matter what he does.

[HFishbine]

13. Rote memorization

With no give and take between the candidates, it's possible to predict the topics of the questions. Watch. Bush will determine which prepared answer comes closest to answering the topic of the question, and then he'll repeat what he's practiced.