Can Kerry pull an Eminem 8-mile on the shrub?

[Lakerstan]

(Spoiler Alert) At the end of the Eminem movie, "8-Mile", B-Rabbit battles Papa-doc. A "battle" consists of two rappers trying to lyrically insult each other, with the audience voting on who did the best job.

In this battle, B-Rabbit (Eminem) goes first and self-deprecates himself, so Papa-doc has nothing left to insult B-Rabbit on, thus causing Papa-doc to be speechless and lose the battle.

Can Kerry use a similar strategy at the beginning of the debates (perhaps not as self-deprecating) - things like, "Tonight you will hear President Bush talk about how much better Iraq is. He'll use phrases like, "The world is safer without Saddam Hussein" and that the "Terrorists hate us for our freedom", etc. But I'm here tonight to tell you that the world is not safer..."

In other words, use Bush's words against him BEFORE Bush gets to use them - leaving Bush without original lines.

What other things can you think of?

[IronLionZion]

1. That's so lawyerly

That sounds like the opening statements of a jury trial.

But it may work.

[Julien Sorel]

2. Bush uses a variation of this himself.

I've read over all his debate transcripts I can find, and he always compliments his opponents in the beginning. During the Gore-Bush debates over foreign policy, just about the only disagreements he had was with the idea of "nation building." Of course, that's a fucking laugh now from the "spreading democracy at the barrel of a gun" White House. Anyway, the rest of the time he says things like, "I think that's one of the things Clinton deserves a compliment on," or something like that. It's part of his "I'm a nice guy, not a divider" act. At the end though, he always manages to stick in a nasty little cutting remark, kind of like Ali with his rope-a-dope.

The boxing analogy is actually quite apt. Like lots of untalented fighters, he clinches a lot, making it difficult for his opponents to score points, then he gets a sucker punch in when the referee steps in to break up the clinch. Of course, he'd get booed and penalized for that sort of thing in a boxing match, but the public are too ignorant to realize what's going on, and the media -- the "judges," as it were --spend more time trying to figure out how this or that cheap shot will play with the public than they do figuring out how to educate the public on what a cheap shot is.

[JPJones]

6. Bush/Cheney '04 - Spreading democracy at the barrel of a gun n/t

[Guaranteed]

3. Sounds like a great way to go. nt

[sonicx]

4. "tonite the president will try and say that i changed positions on Iraq"

"Don't buy it. My position has been clear from the start. I gave him the authority to use force against saddam if he was found to have illegal weapons. This force would only be used as a last resort, after using any and all diplomacy roads, including weapons inspections, and only with a broad international coalition. While I'm happy that saddam's gone, i'm not happy about the mess for our soldiers that he caused because of his broken promises. I thought i could trust a president to mean what he says. ;)

[FlavaKreemSnak]

5. Or he could just list all the times Bush has changed positions on Iraq

First, it was because there were weapons of mass destruction that Saddam was going to use in 45 minutes.

Then, it was because Saddam was building a nuclear bomb.

Then, it was because Saddam wished he had some weapons of mass destruction.

Then, it was because Saddam defied the UN.

Then, it was because Saddam was a brutal dictator.

I probably left some out, but when Kerry gets through them all, he can invite Bush to tell everybody what his position on Iraq is today.

[VOX]

7. Good. Crisp and to the point.

:thumbsup: