The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Kerry wins by not losing: Debate Commentary

President Bush and Sen. John Kerry's respective approaches to the final debate gave undecided voters a simple choice: Support Bush because you're happy with his record, or go for the alternative because you're not.

Kerry's strategy through all three debates seems to have been to keep the focus on Bush, and he continued to do so last night. Bush's only real defense was to ask undecided voters to have faith that his policies are working, and he was often unable to cite specific evidence to rebuke Kerry's attacks.

When Bush said his administration had increased Pell Grants, Kerry effectively countered that more Pell Grants means more people are having trouble paying for college. When Bush said there are more border patrol agents on the Mexican border, Kerry simply said more people are crossing the border today than before Sept. 11. When Bush said he had increased funding for education, Kerry only had to say that funding hadn't been increased enough.

Kerry's goal was to plant doubt in the minds of undecided voters. And when undecided voters think about this debate, their doubts will surround Bush, not Kerry.

Some of this comes from Bush's own words. While Kerry is often said to be the candidate of "nuance," it was Bush who had trouble articulating clear and definite positions on domestic issues.

Asked whether homosexuality is a choice, Bush said, "I don't know." Kerry said definitively that it is not.

Asked about his position on abortion and whether he would appoint anti-abortion judges to the Supreme Court, Bush skirted around the question. Kerry said simply that he would not appoint judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

On the question of affirmative action, Bush answered with pledges to improve education for everyone while avoiding the question directly. Kerry said in simple terms that he supported it.

Which candidate won is hard to determine on the merits of the debate itself. But the momentum in this race belongs to Kerry, and Bush did nothing to slow that momentum down. On those grounds, Kerry won.

Whether he will win the ultimate contest is still up for grabs, but should Kerry defeat Bush at the polls, his performance in these debates should be considered a deciding factor.

 

 

[Macro error: Can't include because the file is larger than 32767 characters.]

Today's News | Sports | Voices - Editorial | Letters
Newsbriefs | pulse - Arts & Entertainment | Calendar | Photo Staff
Apts & Rentals | Photo Personals | Live DE NewsCam | Classified Ads