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Oct. 6th, 2004 08:15 amYour Gut Only Gets You So Far
Oct. 11 issue - No wonder President Bush lost round one in Miami: he got rusty living in the bubble. The president looked peeved in the debate cutaway shots not just because he's a competitive guy, but because John Kerry was leveling harsh criticism to his face—a new experience for him. Bush claims not to want yes men and women around him but he's had little experience in the past four years with anyone else. Not since last winter—when he handled Tim Russert poorly and botched a press conference by refusing to admit any mistakes—has Bush taken tough questions in public. Instead of responding to those failed outings with more practice, the Bush team took the most inaccessible president in 75 years and cut him off even further from reality. Anyone attending his rallies must pledge to be a Bush supporter. And now the Bush camp has told undecided voters hoping to participate in this week's "town-meeting debate" that they are not welcome. Apparently the idea of the president's having to respond to someone who hasn't made up his mind is too intimidating for the leader of the free world.
I didn't know that bit that I bolded. And here I thought much of the point of debates was to help undecided voters decide. I'm so naive.
Oct. 11 issue - No wonder President Bush lost round one in Miami: he got rusty living in the bubble. The president looked peeved in the debate cutaway shots not just because he's a competitive guy, but because John Kerry was leveling harsh criticism to his face—a new experience for him. Bush claims not to want yes men and women around him but he's had little experience in the past four years with anyone else. Not since last winter—when he handled Tim Russert poorly and botched a press conference by refusing to admit any mistakes—has Bush taken tough questions in public. Instead of responding to those failed outings with more practice, the Bush team took the most inaccessible president in 75 years and cut him off even further from reality. Anyone attending his rallies must pledge to be a Bush supporter. And now the Bush camp has told undecided voters hoping to participate in this week's "town-meeting debate" that they are not welcome. Apparently the idea of the president's having to respond to someone who hasn't made up his mind is too intimidating for the leader of the free world.
I didn't know that bit that I bolded. And here I thought much of the point of debates was to help undecided voters decide. I'm so naive.