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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: puborectalis who wrote (42313)	10/4/2000 7:25:23 AM
From: Tom Clarke	Respond to of 769667

Winner of debate is American public October 4, 2000 Anyone expecting the first presidential debate to settle the presidential election was probably disappointed with Tuesday night's confrontation between Al Gore and George W. Bush. No candidate scored a knockout, and neither committed a candidacy-killing mistake. Still, the voters got a clear picture of the issues separating the Democrat and Republican. Much attention will be paid in the days ahead to differences in style. Gore, with the reputation of being the more accomplished debater, couldn't seem to stop talking. He continually went over his time limit, a number of times he interrupted Bush's answers or sighed and made faces while Bush talked, and he even violated the debate rules of not asking a question of his opponent. Bush's relative inexperience as a debater showed in that his delivery was occasionally uneven, he was slow in answers on foreign affairs, military issues and how to cope with crises, and some of his answers sounded scripted. Gore's debate and White House experience showed in the overall performance, but Bush succeeded in appearing to be a genial man fit to be president. Gore scored points in hammering home his theme of Bush's tax cuts going mostly to the wealthy, in claiming the record prosperity for the Clinton-Gore administration and in citing his experience in foreign affairs. But Gore came near to losing his cool when the questioning turned to character and Bush brought up the Buddhist temple fund-raiser and Gore's famous "no controlling legal authority" statement on fund-raising. Gore tried to change the subject and then asserted his commitment to campaign finance reform, which Bush said lacked credibility given the history of the last eight years. Bush did well in explaining his tax and prescription drug proposals, in saying that for eight years the Democrats have failed to address these issues, and in portraying his political agenda as empowering people to make choices in their own lives on taxes, retirement investments and education. He alluded to Gore's tendency for exaggeration by saying Gore must think he invented the calculator because of the "fuzzy math" Gore put on Bush's program. Bush made distinctions between the two candidates in ways that were attractive by emphasizing the choices he wanted to return to Americans in running their lives. The spin doctors went immediately to work, and the debate will be played and replayed in the days ahead while the campaigns wait the results of the tracking polls. It's clear that Gore and Bush each scored a few points and each took a few hits, but both survived to fight another day. We can only hope the next two debates are as productive as the first. suntimes.com