YES, HE slouched, he paused and every now and then looked less than enthused to be at last Thursday's first presidential debate. He looked tired at times, but who wouldn't look tired compared to a man with salon-coiffed hair and enough self-tanner to make Lindsay Lohan jealous? He mispronounced "mullahs" and stammered with a few other words. But in the end, Bush did what he's done countless times before; he spoke from the heart and kept his eye on the ball. And while John Kerry didn't offer the former Texas Rangers owner the big fat one to hit out of the park every Republican was hoping for, the debate can be boiled down into three words: It doesn't matter
The media and the liberal talking heads will tell you Kerry won, that he looked presidential and made succinct points on all the pertinent foreign policy issues. But think about the situation for a minute. Kerry languished in the pre-debate national polls and looked even worse in the all-important Electoral College count going into the first debate. The reality is that outside of a disastrous performance for Kerry, his campaign had to spin anything as an out-and-out win for the Massachusetts senator. Can you imagine if the media had actually anointed Bush the winner of the first debate? It would be synonymous with swearing Bush in for a second term right then and there Thursday night.
While the topic of the first debate was billed as foreign policy, the dominant focus was Iraq, and rightly so. Whether Bush likes it or not, the outcome of the war in Iraq will be an issue on which many voters will base their decision in November. Fortunately for Bush, John Kerry is still trying to establish a clear and coherent position on the issue. On Thursday, Bush hammered Kerry for voting to authorize military action in Iraq and subsequently voting against the funding for such action. Bush also made strides by reiterating no less than seven times Kerry's infamous "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time" remarks and their juxtaposition with support for the troops and future alliance building.
The beauty of the Bush debate is that the president spends more time trying to get his message across to the American people than he does actually trying to win the debate. Such a strategy is risky, and, undoubtedly, most collegiate debate judges probably scored it a win for Kerry on Thursday night. But since when have debating skills been a prerequisite for serving as president? Leadership and communication are both far more important, and Bush has exuded each throughout his administration.
There were no gaffes or dramatic moments; and all in all the first debate was hardly exciting. Perhaps the lack of attention is what allowed moderator Jim Lehrer's stunning lack of neutrality to fly under the radar. Kerry spent most of the evening answering "softballs" such as, "Give us some examples of what you consider to be his not telling the truth [on Iraq]." Bush meanwhile was forced to defend himself from what at times seemed like unanswerable questions such as, "Mr. President, has Iraq been worth the cost in American lives --10,052 -- I mean 1,052 up to today?" Granted, the Bush campaign did sign off on Lehrer as the moderator for the first debate; but Lehrer's clear bias Thursday night was disappointing to say the least.
Ultimately, any success John Kerry had in the first debate still appears to be too little too late. While the Kerry campaign will certainly mark last Thursday night as the beginning of the Kerry comeback, a single debate performance simply won't cut it. Bush's "steady leadership in times of change" resonates with voters much more than Kerry's "let's throw whatever we can on the wall and see what sticks." Kerry's vacillating attacks, from Iraq to the economy to homeland security, have left voters confused as to what the candidate truly stands for.
Kerry's problem isn't just that he switches his attacks on Bush on what seems like a weekly basis. Even when attacking the president, Kerry is timid and too concerned with his public perception. John Kerry needs to realize he's on a date with the American public and should just follow the golden rule: be yourself.Unfortunately in Kerry's case, that equates to an elite, Northeast senator who happened to catch a lucky break Thursday night.
Joe Schilling's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at jschilling@cavalierdaily.com.
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