NEW YORK, 15 October 2004 — In just 18 days, Americans will choose a new president. This fact electrified Wednesday’s final presidential debate.
President George W. Bush, who was widely perceived as inarticulate and at times surly in the first debate, recovered in his aggressive second debate and reinforced his conservative credentials on domestic issues on Wednesday night.
The president was often on the defensive, however, as John Kerry took every opportunity to hammer his administration’s policies.
The Democratic nominee charged that the president has compiled a record of failure on the economy and health care, while Bush accused Kerry of a Senate record that is both out of the mainstream and lacking in accomplishment. The president portrayed the Massachusetts lawmaker as a tax-and-spend liberal, saying Kerry voted numerous times during 20 years in the Senate for tax and budget increases. “You know, there’s a mainstream in American politics and you sit right on the far left bank,” Bush said.
But while Bush persisted with his attack, it felt too preplanned. Kerry gave succinct descriptions of his fiscal plan, his health-care proposal, and even his Senate record on budget issues. “Bob, anybody can play with these votes — everybody knows that,” Kerry told moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News during the 90-minute debate at Arizona State University, after Bush attacked him for voting to raise taxes. “I broke with my party in order to balance the budget and Ronald Reagan signed into law the tax cut that we voted for.”
Both men made factual flubs last night, but the biggest was when Bush insisted he could not recall having said he was not worried about Osama Bin Laden. It took CNN less than 15 minutes to cue up the 2002 tape of Bush saying: “I truly am not that concerned about him.”
The candidates also touched on a number of emotional social issues.
Kerry said Bush failed to show leadership because he did not pressure Congress to renew the ban on some semiautomatic weapons. Bush, who supported the ban in 2000, said congressional leaders advised him there were not enough votes to pass the measure. The National Rifle Association, which opposed renewal of the ban, endorsed Bush a few hours before the debate.
Bush succeeded in conveying himself as a good man trying to work through a tough job — which has long been a key to his bond with the American people.
Kerry has never had such a bond, but on Wednesday night he seized on opportunities to speak personally and directly about his values, and came close to achieving Bush’s level of openness. For a candidate perceived in polls as recent as two weeks ago as aloof and intellectual, Kerry’s ability to connect with people on a human level probably struck some viewers as a surprise.
Both candidates showed their human face at the end, when asked to discuss what it is like being surrounded by strong women. Bush, who often talks about the influence Laura has had on him, joked that for the debate she told him “to stand up straight and not scowl.” Referring to his wife and daughters, Kerry said, “I can sometimes take myself too seriously, and they don’t let me do that.”
With the debates behind them, the candidates will begin a three-week run that will take them through fewer than a dozen truly competitive battleground states as they attempt to appeal to the relatively small pool of undecided voters.
