• Presidential debate: Clear differences Presidential debate: Clear differences By the St. Louis Post-Dispatch – October 14, 2004 The last of the three presidential debates gave Americans a clear idea of the choice they have on election day. Sen. John
• Presidential debate: Clear differences
Presidential debate: Clear differences
By the St. Louis Post-Dispatch – October 14, 2004
The last of the three presidential debates gave Americans a clear idea of the choice they have on election day. Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., articulated more clearly than before the full Democratic agenda, a combination of the New Deal and the Great Society with a dash of Clintonian fiscal restraint.
For his part, President George W. Bush said he had much he still wants to accomplish, stressing private solutions to everything from the health care crisis to Social Security to the economy.
As he has throughout the debates, Mr. Kerry appeared statesmanlike, almost as if he were the incumbent. At times, he may have looked a little tired, but at other times merely composed. Mr. Bush came across as pugnacious. For some, his forced, sometimes crooked smile, may seem irritating; for others it may be endearing. Appearances aside, there was a large gulf between them.
Mr. Kerry wants to raise the minimum wage, repeal tax cuts for the rich and end tax breaks for companies sending jobs abroad. Mr. Bush has not supported the minimum wage increase and stands by his tax cuts. The president’s strongest moments were when he looked into the camera and emphasized how middle class people benefited from his tax policy.
Mr. Kerry laid out a detailed health care plan for cutting in half the number of uninsured Americans and bringing down the cost of prescription drugs by importing drugs from Canada and allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. Mr. Bush thinks health savings accounts are the answer. Mr. Kerry didn’t explain well how he would pay for his health plan, but Mr. Bush didn’t explain how his private accounts would save Social Security or improve health care. Mr. Kerry spoke of the need for affirmative action, the unfinished business of fighting discrimination, the need for equal pay for women and his determination to uphold Roe v. Wade – all issues that have barely been touched on during previous debates. Mr. Bush said reading was a civil right, stressing his No Child Left Behind Law; he said he was “for life” and declined to say he would protect Roe. As the debate ended, both men spoke movingly of their faith in God and amusingly about the strong women they married. Suddenly, they seemed more human and likable. But that does not obscure the big difference between the two men’s visions of how government can help ordinary people.
