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The Third and Final Debate
Rich Galen Thursday October 14, 2004
From Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona
The THIRD AND FINAL DEBATE of the 2004 Presidential election was held here last night. Arizona State University is on a roll. They had a professor win a Nobel Prize, their football team is 5-0 and they hosted this debate.
Throughout the day the press corps was asking anyone who could speak a known language the basic question: "What do you think?"
As a speaker of a known language - I was happy to answer:
In the course of the first two debates John Kerry succeeded in presenting himself as a potential alternative to George W. Bush. That's a big hurdle because prior to this debate sequence Kerry was not seen - by a large proportion of the adult population - as having the leadership skills, the personal convictions, nor the vision to be the President of the United States.
However. A challenger has a higher hill to climb than an incumbent. The challenger must not only show that he has the potential to replace the incumbent. He must make a compelling case that the incumbent should be replaced.
On the other hand, an incumbent President has only to get a positive answer to the question: Shall he be retained?
Kerry, in my mind, has not met that second test. Nor do I believe he will ever meet that second test.
This is not 1980 and Jimmy Carter - for whom the Presidency was such an overwhelmingly complicated endeavor. Nor is it 1992 Bush 41 - who's campaign was unable to deal with either a sagging economy or an politically brilliant opponent.
This is 2004 and Bush-43 is guiding the nation through a war with a shadowy enemy who attacked us without warning; but is also presiding over an economy which is growing; unemployment which is minor; taxes which are low; and an inflation rate which is so low even Lou Dobbs doesn't mention it.
"So," the question then followed, "what's going to happen during the THRID AND FINAL DEBATE?"
First, I reminded reporters, when this Administration began president Bush's strong suit was � domestic policy. According to our friends in the popular press, the President's view of foreign policy was suspiciously similar that famous Steinberg New Yorker cover which shows Manhattan as an enormous land mass in the foreground and the rest of the world disappearing into little more than a dot on the far landscape.
Second, because this is the THIRD AND FINAL DEBATE, Bob Schieffer, who was the host, had a difficult job in that most of the questions had already been asked and answered.
That being the case, the candidates and their coaching staffs had a pretty good idea where they needed to touch up the answers they had given in previous debates.
Third, Senator Kerry had to use this opportunity to meet the second test I mentioned above; that the President should be replaced. That meant a tie wouldn't do it for Senator Kerry, it meant he had to score a big win.
Senator Kerry didn't get a tie. He lost.
As I had suggested, the President - Governor of a pretty good sized-state for six years and President of the United States for four more - was very comfortable with the material, had a clear idea of what the programs did or did not do, and laid out a series of significant proposals for a second term.
If the results of this debate are as they appeared in the filing center at Arizona State University; the President will have a second term to put those proposals into practice.
On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: Three Mullfotos from the THIRD AND FINAL DEBATE.
--END --
Copyright © 2004 Richard A. Galen
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