What would Kerry's best debate approach be?

[NRaleighLiberal]

Gore, who could think circles around the mentally challenged *, lost the election(or at least put himself in a position to have it taken from him by the Supremes) in the first debate with his moaning, sighing, and other giveaways....

My view is that Kerry should use the opportunity, if they arise in the questions, to really push * hard on the following topics:

Continued claiming of ties between Al Queda and Saddam, despite the whole wide world claiming that they have never been proven.

Creation of a polarized country - hence a divider, not uniter

Loss of jobs...in general, all of the horrendous economic numbers that have emerged in the last 4 years - including specifics from the report showing the explosion in poverty, and growing gap between haves and have nots

The military service gaps - the audacity of * and his campaign to compare cowardess with Kerry's heroism

What else? Where will the big scores come from???

Obviously, I can't wait for the debates - my feeling is that they will finally push Kerry into a sizeable lead and deliver the election for us.

[xray s]

1. list all the scandals

Outing Palme. Chalabi giving info to Iran. Israeli spies in DoD. Enron screwing grandmothers in California. Halliburton screwing the US taxpayer in Iraq. The list goes on.

[El Supremo]

2. Anything to throw * for a loop.

* will look like the idiot he really is.

But I'd actually refuse to debate the puppet and insist upon debating Cheney or Rove.

[henslee]

3. Do not wear a beret.

[MAlibdem]

4. I disagree

I don't think the debates will be a turning point and I don't think we should get our hopes up about them.

It will be simple attrition of independents/undecideds into the Kerry camp that will yield the win eventually.

[Gloria]

5. Main thing is to NOT orate...but speak conversationally to the

audience.

If Kerry launches into that oration style of his....

[jab105]

6. Kerry needs to remember that its not about Kerry...

Bush is the incumbent...this entire election should be about BUsh...holding him ACCOUNTABLE for what has happened in the last 4 years!!

[WI_DEM]

7. look Bush in the eye, tell the truth, and don't bump into the furniture

:)

[Massacure]

8. STEM CELLS / STEM CELLS / STEM CELLS/ AND FINALLY MORE STEMS CELLS!!!

This will really put Bush for a loop and pick up a lot of voters if he drives this home.

[ncteechur]

9. Why should we think the media will spin Kerry's debate ..

performance any differently than they spin everything else he says.
If he does great they will say he did poorly. If he does poorly, they wll say that Bush won.

[Gregorian]

10. Punch him in the nuts right in the starting gate

George, why did you invade Iraq, when the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia?
George, why did it take three years to catch Bin Laden, and two wars? That's not good enough.
George, why didn't you pass your physical, and why were you suspended from flying?
Why did you sit in that classroom and do nothing, when America needed you the most?
George, your first four years were an absolute failure.


Get the punches in, even if it violates the rules of the debate.

[rocktivity]

11. Breathing.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Placebo]

12. TAKE NO PRISONERS.

Chew bush up and spit him out. Prove that you're a man.

[DeepModem Mom]

13. kick

[tedoll78]

14. Good suggestions in this thread..

I love the "don't orate" advice. Amen!

I also like the "be a man" advice. I think Kerry needs to nail Bush where he's percieved to be strong - his leadership on 9/11. Kerry needs to nail Bush on The Seven Minutes, and the photo-op that took at least 20 minutes afterward. Kerry needs to have his sources for this line of attack all lined-up, linked on his website, and readied for immediate press release before the end of the debate.

After this line of attack, Kerry needs to also attack the myth that Bush is actually protecting us here at home. Our ports, our power plants, our chemical facilities, our public arenas, bridges, water treatment facilities.. these are areas where we're all still incredibly unprotected. And Bush has pretty much ignored them. Kerry needs to connect this to the everyday voters' lives, so that they can imagine this affecting their lives directly.

I'd also seek to stop the flip-flop charge.. or at least neutralize it. I hate to say this, but it seems to have stuck to Kerry somewhat. But if Kerry can bring Bush's negatives on this issue up a bit, that'll help tremendously. There's a huge laundry list of issues where Bush has changed his positions. Take Governor Bush versus President Bush from the Daily Show as a starting point, and go on from there. Opposition to the Dept of Homeland Security, opposition to the existence of the 9/11 Commission.. this is a ripe area. And while Kerry's barking up this topic, he needs to call the media on their bullshit: if Kerry does something, it's a "flip-flop," but if Bush does it, it's a "position shift." BULL.

Finally, I think Kerry needs to address the personality issue. Bush may be spun as more likeable, but Kerry can neutralize this by reminding voters that this is NOT a high school election. This is the big time now, and we need to judge people not by American Idol standards, but by life-or-death/intelligence standards.

Those are the points that I think Kerry needs to hammer hard during the debates. And if he can, I think he should also get in a cheap shot about letting Bin Laden get away with murder.

[progdonkey]

15. BCCI

Whenever Bush brings up the "soft on terrorism" and "didn't do anything in the Senate" BS, Kerry should come back with the whole BCCI scandal, which is an excellent "two birds with one stone" issue: Kerry used his power as a Senator to bring down a major terrorist funding center.

[indyjones1938]

16. debates

It doesn't matter what Kerry's debate strategy is, because no matter how good he does, the media will spin it as a huge Bush victory.

If Kerry is very deferential, cool and polite, they'll spin it as him being "soft" and unable to focus on differences between himself and Bush.

If Kerry is very aggressive and in attack dog mode, they'll say he's "cracking" and "losing his cool."

If Kerry gives his usual extensive, detailed and well thought-out answers, they'll spin him as being too "patrician" and "elitist."

If Kerry opts instead for simpler answers, catchy one-liners and an occasional joke, they'll spin it as Kerry trying to "imitate Bush."

All the while, Wolf Blitzer, Bill O'Reilly, Tom Brokaw and Chris Matthews will herald Bush's "regular old guy" image, trumpeting his ability to "connect with the common man" when he mispronounces words, gives 1-word answers, slumps over the podium and puts on his best "I ain't no college purfessur!" image. They will say that Bush's catchy little one-liners are a "work of genius" - the best rhetoric since Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.

They'll criticize Kerry when he gives anything more than a 5-word answer, denouncing him as too "aloof" and "stiff," and unable to connect with Joe and Jane Sixpack down in the trailer park. Then they'll show old file images of Kerry playing "preppy" sports instead of All-American games like football, and say that the debates cemented Bush's image as a blue-collar, common man, regular old guy who drinks Coors and watches the Steelers every weekend.

Then, of course, they'll declare Bush the indisputable winner and say that the election is in the bag for him.

It's disgusting that our media has turned politics into a game of style over substance, but that's what we have to deal with.