does anyone remember Bush in the town hall style debate ?

[JI7]

i'm trying to see what we can expect on friday. does anyone who watched think bush was better in the town hall style format than podium or sit down ? is he more comfortable ?

from what i remember i didn't think he did all that well. he also doesn't have the Clinton charm to work up the room. the only reason he might have been said to have done well in that debate with gore was because gore went up to him during one moment and many people didn't like that.

also charlie gibson is hosting this one and i remember him going after kerry on the medals story and after the interview was over, but kerry's mic was still on, kerry was overheard saying something about how gibson or abc was on the rnc payroll. so i expect him to be biased in favor of bush.

[LunaSea]

1. remember it? hell, saw it on cspan just the other night..

it should be rerun several times. The 2000 smirk made todays smirk look well, medicated...and not in a good way. He seemed only slightly more competent then, until he was asked specific questions. He then flashed the now famous "small animal in headlights" expression we've since come to know and loath.

The content of what he said then contrasted with what he did, was astonishing.
forget buying new ads, just replay that debate.

[BurtWorm]

2. He stank up the joint.

He was so tired I have a memory of him not even bothering to get off his stool when he was "on." I could be wrong about that, but his body language--and speech, of course--projected fatigue.

If I were Rove I'd be mixing up some Black Beauties in the boy's mashed potatoes Friday night.

[ProfessorPlum]

3. Gibson's a typical presstitute

Lazy and shallow. Why can't we get smoeone like Bill Moyers to moderate a debate?

Scheiffer (sp?), who is moderating the last debate, has a brother who is a business partner of the Bush family. The financial ties between this administration/crime family and the media/military industrial complex/corporate leaders are many and varied.

[montana500]

4. damnit!

Gibson is a patsy of the right. He and Kerry got into it earlier in the campaign over the emdals issue.


We need more Lehers, guys who do the job then get out of the way, with little of their unwanted "personality" spiced in with the questions.


Anyway, this time there won't be stools from what I understand. It will still be a lecturn setup, and the candidates have to stay behind them. It will come off more like a dual press conference than a roaming town hall style.

Anyone know why the debate is earlier? Is this to accomodate nappy Bush?

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Welcome to DU, montana500! Thanks for the info --

and if the debate is earlier, it's likely it is to accommodate Baby Bush.

[mumon]

6. I saw it last week- Bush broke MANY promises:

He promised but failed:

1. To increase funding for Head Start

2. To allow re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada

3. To ONLY go into war if there was a clear exist strategy.

I'm not making that up.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. That's where Bush used the "fuzzy math" line...right?

It would seem to me Kerry can easily take him and Gibson in a headlock with one hand.

[Politicub]

8. Is that the one where he wouldn't shut up about fuzzy math?

Oy vey. Or was it the one where bush talked about Affirmative Access?

Thinking about the veep debates from '00, I think Edwards did a much better job than Lieberman against Cheney. What I remember from the '00 debates was that Liberman wouldn't stop agreeing with what Cheney was saying. It was sick.

[On the Road]

9. The Thing I Remember Most Vividly

is Bush cowering and meekly going "Hi!" when Gore stalked up and confronted him. The most surreal thing I've ever seen in a political debate.

[michigandem2]

13. "what about the dinglenorwood bill" ugghhh

I voted for gore...I love gore..but i was mad at that...ugghhh...

but Bush didn't impress me..I didn't get what they saw in this guy...and I still don't get what some people see in the guy

someone actually said "I like that he sounds like a regular joe" hello??? the regular joe that sounds like an uneducated hillbilly???? excuse me..I like my president to...umm...I don't know COMMUNICATE with the country AND the world---

[JI7]

14. that's why i think it was more about being against Gore than for Bush

people didn't like how gore performed. there was nothing impressive about bush. but they didn't like gore's sighing in the first debate. and in the second debate he was overly making up for criticism of first debate by agreeing on just about everything. and in the third debate people didn't like it when he walked over to bush.

[sandnsea]

10. Gore talked like a kindergarten teacher

That's the one thing that always drove me nuts about Gore. Bush did his folksy schtick and he'll try it again Friday. It won't hold up against the honest heart and intelligent mind of John Kerry, not in a million years. I've been watching his town halls for over a year now and that's where he wins the voters.

[JI7]

12. i agree

i watched on cspan from the early days when he had small groups of people who he would allow to ask him anything. and i noticed as we got closer to the iowa caucuses around winter that the crowds were getting bigger. and he was so amazing in those town halls. it's no surprise one of the ways they are campaigning is the "front porch" events which are pretty much like town halls with people asking questions the only differences being they go to the people's homes.

the only thing i don't like about this is that gibson had to approve the questions before and that if a person starts asking a question different from the one they were approved for gibson would cut them off. interesting that bush who is supposed to be "folksy" and the one "everyone" wants to have a beer with is afraid of the people.

[sandnsea]

15. Oh but that could be beautiful

Because, most likely, JK would say "Oh Charlie, I know it's not the rules, but let's let him/her speak freely". Then what's Bush going to do?

I'm really looking forward to Friday night!

[LibDemAlways]

11. Saw portions of the rerun on c-span

the other day. Chimp mugged and smirked for the camera throughout. Looked like an ass. This Friday he has the impossible job of trying to look "Presidential" and somehow make up for last week's pummeling while fending off more blows from Kerry. Unless he's gained 30 or more IQ points in the last week and the ability to speak coherently, he's finished.

[KansDem]

16. I remember someone asked him about his views on Education...

...and he rambled on about Defense, claiming that to have a good Education plan, we needed to have good Defense, or some such nonsense. The woman who asked the question looked genuinely puzzled. I believe the Whore Media played up the debate as a win for Bush. If I recall correctly, Bob Schieffer claimed that Bush won the debate, and I thought "You sure, Bob? Did we see the same debate?" But that was BEFORE I realized the media were corporate whores...