An Australian Perspective: Gush and Bore stay true to form
Washington Observed,
By Joanne Gray
2000-10-17 22:36:14
George W. Bush and Al Gore lived up to their nicknames - Gush and Bore - during their first debate in Boston. Both men emerged from the clash with little headway and with persistent problems that could undo their campaigns.
The Texas Governor, although affable and plain-spoken, was shaky on the details of some of his own proposals, relying often on generalities and platitudes when specifics were called for.
When it came to foreign policy, he looked and sounded uncertain, as though while cramming for the presidency he'd forgotten to revise the chapter headed "international".
The vice-president was almost the opposite. No matter how much expensive advice he gets, and despite his years of training at the right hand of the master politician, Bill Clinton, Gore just cannot seem to tone down his overbearing and condescending style.
When in doubt, swamp the audience with policy detail, he seems to think. And then there is his terrible habit of exaggeration.
According to a number of snap polls taken soon after the debate, Bush was clearly outclassed by Gore. A CBS poll had Gore ahead at 56 per cent to Bush's 42 per cent; USA Today/CNN said Gore won by 48 per cent to Bush's 41 per cent, and ABC's poll gave Gore a narrower margin of victory, 42 per cent compared to his rival's 39 per cent.
That should be good news for Gore, who was already ahead in the State race for electoral college votes. But his national poll lead and electoral college advantage are slim and vulnerable, and a win in the debate doesn't mean that undecided voters warmed to him or will automatically support him.
Even if voters scored Gore as the winner, they viewed both candidates more favourably, the polls showed. It's not clear if undecided voters were even watching.
An estimated 46.5 million people viewed the first presidential debate, about half of the number who are expected to vote in November. That was slightly above the 46.1 million who tuned in when President Bill Clinton and Bob Dole debated in 1996, but well below the 80 million people who watched President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan slug it out in 1980.
The Boston debate might still help Gore, because Bush clearly did not put a persuasive enough case to the American public that they should vote for change. He failed to shift the dynamic of the campaign in his favour. Republican advisers acknowledge that they were disappointed that Gore dominated, but they were relieved that Bush, who hates debating and is prone to verbal gaffes, did not make a major stumble.
Whether all of this will give Gore the fillip he needs to establish a clear and insurmountable lead in the polls is unclear. His vulnerable lead is illustrated in his own State of Tennessee, where Bush is now running about two points ahead. Likewise, West Virginia, which was supposed to be Gore's, is also falling for Bush.
As the campaign rolled on, Bush headed to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, three swing States where he has been running just behind Gore. He kept his message focused, attacking Gore's character and talking up his own tax cut promises and Gore's spending plans.
During the debate, Bush seemed unable to refute Gore's claims that a big proportion of Bush's tax cuts will go to the top 1 per cent of income earners. He simply accused the vice-president of "fuzzy math" and "phony numbers". At a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the crowd took up the chant: "No fuzzy math, no fuzzy math."
But when asked about the veracity of Gore's figures on the television show Good Morning America, Bush almost conceded they were accurate. "I think what people have got to understand is wealthy people pay a lot of taxes today and if everybody gets tax relief, wealthy people are going to get tax relief."
On the trail the next day, Bush continued to raise the campaign fundraising scandals in the 1996 election, repeating his line that "there needed to be a better sense of responsibility of what was going on in the White House".
For his part Gore is sticking to the issues of health care, social security and maintaining prosperity, hoping that Bush will face a backlash if his character attacks become too strident.
"You may want to focus on scandal," the vice-president told Bush during the debate, "I want to focus on results."
At a campaign stop on Wednesday, Gore was once again playing Mr Nice Guy. "I think it's time to make our country an even better country instead of trying to make another candidate out to be a bad person," he said.
But he is also stained now with a reputation for gross exaggerations. There were no gaffes of the significance of his "I took the initiative in inventing the internet", but Gore did make a fool of himself on Tuesday night with another embellishment that joins the Gore pantheon of virtual fibs, by insisting that he had visited the site of the Texas fires with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's chief, James Witt.
Gore admitted on Wednesday that he might not have been at the site at the same time as Witt.
It's a small issue, but it looks bad. Voters must be beginning to wonder why a man of such obvious accomplishment still feels it necessary to exaggerate his record further.
This story was found at: afr.com.au |
