| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Bush Defends Iraqi Policy Against Kerry Attack in First Debate |
| 2004-09-30 |
| President George W. Bush defended his policies in Iraq and in the war on terrorism against challenges by Democrat John Kerry early in the first presidential debate in Florida. ``This president has made, I regret to say, a colossal error of judgment'' in the war in Iraq, said Kerry, 60, a four-term Massachusetts senator. He said Bush, 58, focused too much on Iraq and diverted attention ``from the real war on terror.'' Bush countered that the world is safer now that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is in prison. ``We're pursuing a strategy of freedom around the world,'' Bush said. ``I'm going to win because the American people know I know how to lead.'' The debate at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, may give each candidate his best opportunity to sway voters 33 days before the Nov. 2 election. In 2000, 46.6 million people watched the first debate between Bush and Vice President Al Gore, about 10 million more than the second and third match ups. The 90-minute debate, the first of three scheduled over the next three weeks, began at 9 p.m. local time in Florida. Bush, in speeches leading up to the debate, said the war in Iraq is part of the fight against terrorism, which 51 percent of voters say he is better equipped to handle than Kerry, according to a Sept. 25-28 Los Angeles Times poll. Kerry is trying to split the two and focus on Iraq, a situation that 52 percent say Bush is mishandling. In the poll, 51 percent supported Bush for president; 46 percent backed Kerry. Undecided Voters ``A lot of people do perceive that foreign policy and Iraq and homeland security are the No. 1 deciding factors for a good number of undecided voters,'' said David Steinberg, director of debate at the University of Miami. There have been 1,052 American deaths in Iraq since the start of the war March 19, 2003, including 911 who died since Bush declared major combat over on May 1, 2003, according to the Pentagon. Another 7,532 troops have been wounded as of today, the Pentagon said. At least 46 people were killed, including 35 children, by three explosions in Baghdad today, ABC News reported. Kerry trails Bush by 8 percentage points in national polls conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and by the Gallup Organization. Kerry is in a statistical tie with Bush according to surveys by Harris Interactive and Investor's Business Daily. First Impression ``The first debate is by far and away the most important,'' said Chris Lehane, who advised Democrat Al Gore in his 2000 presidential race. ``It is the first impression that will last five or six weeks of the campaign.'' About 28 million watched Bush's nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention Sept. 2 and 24 million tuned in to see Kerry's in July, Nielsen Media Research said. About twice as many watched the first presidential debate in 2000. In the last two weeks, Kerry ramped up his rhetoric on Iraq, accusing Bush of living in a ``fantasy world of spin.'' ``We started to reframe the issue of Iraq and America's role in the world last week,'' Kerry adviser Mike McCurry said on a conference call with reporters yesterday. ``It's fair for us to point out that President Bush has been consistently wrong.'' Bush adviser Karen Hughes said the president would compare his record with what Bush advisers call Kerry's ``flip flops'' on issues including Iraq. Kerry voted to authorize Bush to use force in Iraq and against an $87 billion funding bill for the war because he wanted to roll back tax cuts to pay for it. ``We've spent the weekend trying to keep up with Senator Kerry's rapidly shifting positions,'' Hughes told reporters yesterday. At the end of the debate, Americans ``will know where George Bush stands and that may not be the case with Senator Kerry,'' she said. Bush won Florida's 25 electoral votes after the U.S. Supreme Court halted a recount 36 days after the 2000 election, giving Bush a 537-vote victory and the electoral votes he needed to win the presidency. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #2 Sorry link did work but you know where to go. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2004-09-30 10:43:25 PM |
| #1 Everyone should truck on over to DU and go to each of the polls they are advising. They are freeping three polls at this time and I advise us all to participate. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2004-09-30 10:42:50 PM |