SwiftVets.com

[joeshero]

Agree, and at the time Kerry spoke about it, I was screaming. "Kerry is a traitor!!!"

And I was thinking that Bush would remind American voters that even after more than 40 years of WW II, the US still has military bases in Japan and Germany.

Kerry, in my opinion, is really a traitor.

[Wynne]

[MTS17446]

Kerry (talking about Iran) Said:

[fortdixlover]

[JK]

Media outlets are reporting that Kerry scored a victory and is back into the race. Although a strong supporter and continued supporter of President Bush he had problems in the debate, he did look tired and agitate. He did not articulate in detail what is his Iraq plan, remember Kerry quoted his 4 point plan and mentioned his website address too...

Kerry showed that he was well prepared and a formidable debater....

President Bush has his work cut out in the future and his advisors need to do better...

Not sure whether Kerry's tarnished military record will have any further major effect on the election, Kerry was able to use his military background effectively tonight...

Strategies and action plans are needed to ensure Bush wins reelection. DNC 527's have the voter registration drive in their favor too.... seems RNC may need an awakening...

JK

[Steve Z]

Now THAT should be something to E-mail Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh and lots of other conservative commentators. Is Kerry CRAZY--to give Iran nuclear fuel to make bombs with?

Maybe the Bush campaign could make an ad about THAT one--it's got nothing to do with Vietnam or Swift Boats!!!
_________________
The traitor will crater!

[joeshero]

I do believe that Bush's camp was overconfident. They were still pushing the President to campaign this morning, and worse of all, they missed the great article published in the Wall Street Journal this morning:

How comes the Bush's camp didn't even pick one of the suggested rebuttals presented in the article?

Kerry "the liar" kept talking about 90% of the casualties and $200 billions of Iraq war costs. Goodness, if only they paid a little bit attention to the following article.



Our Kerry Iraq Guide
Debate tips for the Democratic nominee.

Thursday, September 30, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

Tonight's first Presidential debate will cover foreign policy, and you can be sure John Kerry will be on the attack over Iraq. Fair enough, we're all for making this election a war referendum. But as a helping hand to the Senator, we'd like to warn him to stay away from some of the lines he's been using on the stump. They could get him into trouble.

For example, we hope Mr. Kerry steers clear of his vow that, unlike President Bush, he will get the French and Germans to send forces to Iraq. This would give Mr. Bush the opening to quote Peter Struck, the German Defense Minister, who recently told Der Spiegel that "No German soldier shall enter Iraq."

Or Mr. Bush could cite Monday's article in the Financial Times: "French and German government officials say they will not significantly increase military assistance in Iraq even if John Kerry, the Democratic presidential challenger, is elected." Foreign Minister Michel Barnier added last week that France had no plans to send troops "either now or later." No debater wants to get caught contradicting his own political allies. And if he wants to appear gracious, Mr. Kerry might even congratulate Mr. Bush on last week's NATO agreement to help train Iraqi military officers.

Mr. Kerry will also want to avoid his frequent claim that the U.S. has "borne nearly 90% of the casualties" and is providing 90% of the troops. On the first point, the U.S. has suffered 800 killed in action since the Iraq war began, 1,053 including non-combat deaths. Our uniformed Iraqi allies, however, have already suffered at least 750 combat deaths. And that doesn't include the recruits who've been killed by car bombs as they've waited to enlist in the police or new Iraq army. Even using, er, liberal math, this would put U.S. killed-in-action at about 50% of the total.




As for the total number of troops, Lieutenant General David Petraeus recently wrote in the Washington Post that some 100,000 Iraqi police and soldiers have been trained and equipped, in addition to the 74,000 Iraqis who are guarding oil pipelines and the like as part of the country's new facilities protection service. With some 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, and another 25,000 foreign coalition troops, that puts the U.S. share at closer to 50%, and falling fast as General Petraeus trains ever more Iraqis, who continue to volunteer by the thousands for duty.
Dick Holbrooke, or someone, might want to tell Mr. Kerry that this point is less about math than strategy. If Mr. Kerry ignores the contribution from Iraqi troops, he will be showing that he doesn't understand that training an effective Iraqi force is the only way American troops can depart and credibly claim victory. Yes, we know, Iraqis are fighting for their own country on their own soil. But does anyone imagine that in calculating troop levels in World War I, say, that we would have excluded the French because they were fighting on their soil? We doubt Mr. Kerry wants to give President Bush that huge opening.

By the way, the Senator would also be wise to break his habit of comparing the first Gulf War favorably to the current one--and not merely because he voted against the first but for the second. In the first Gulf War he now says he likes, the alliance totaled 34 countries. In the current Iraq conflict, the alliance includes . . . 30 countries.

It's true the French flew some Mirage jet missions in the earlier war, and the Syrians showed up for the cameras, but the U.S. still deployed the bulk of that Desert Storm force (500,000 troops) and took about 80% of the overall casualties. In the present world, there simply aren't many nations other than the U.S. and Britain that can field large overseas military deployments. Voters will want to know that a candidate for President understands this.




Finally, Mr. Kerry will want to be careful in asserting that the war has cost us "$200 billion," which is "nearly 90% of the bill in Iraq." It's true that $200 billion is the amount Congress has approved in supplemental war spending bills, but only $120 billion is for war-fighting in Iraq. The rest is for Afghanistan--a war Mr. Kerry claims to like and wants to spend more on--and economic or reconstruction aid.
Other nations in the Iraq coalition have pledged something like $13 billion. And that doesn't count the contribution that the world has made in promising to forgive upward of $80 billion in Iraqi debt. Even before the Kerry victory it covets, France has said it will write off some 50% of its Iraq debt. Add up all of those numbers (the U.S. has minimal Iraqi debt) and the U.S. share of overall Iraqi costs also looks a lot less "unilateral."

We could go on, but it's only a 90-minute debate. We want it to be a fair fight, not to mention an honest one, so we thought Mr. Kerry might appreciate our little crib sheet.
_________________
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

[azpatriot]

Ok debate #1 is over and I’m left with just one question. What debate?
Hello!! Can we put a picture of a big question mark on a milk carton? Maybe someone will report it somewhere? Maybe we should setup a debate hotline.

Follow me on this one for just a second. The way I see it is we had…

a.) One man that showed up for a debate (after a really hard days work mind you doing disaster relief) (Bush)
b.) Your typical lip flapper doing an infomercial trying to sell you something you don’t want, like a string on a stick (Kerry)

One man showed up to ANSWER questions and the other one just left us with more questions. Now I have a headache AND my fingers are sore!
As far as I saw Bush walked away a clear victor! Not to shabby for someone that had to debate a schizophrenic used car salesman!

My personal poll

Bush nuked Kerry by just showing up
_________________
Proud to be an American! and member of the PAJAMAHADEEN
FedEx Kinko's: When it absolutely, positively has to be forged overnight

[Wynne]

[Paul R.]

[kmmpatriot]

Sorry if this is already posted...but despite the spin, this is good news.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/polls/2004-09-30-debate-poll.htm
_________________
The Wise man draws more Advantage from his Enemies, than the Fool from his Friends. - from Poor Richard's Almanac...and a perfect commentary on the current state of this campaign!

[Kimmymac]

Man, I agree azpatriot, it was like a JFnK infomercial. Kerry never answered anything, he just kept talking about himself. And talking, and talking. It seemed like he knew in advance what the questions were gonna be. He started answering BEFORE Lehrer stopped asking.

Sayyyy....WOW! What a scandal that would be!

Hey fortdixlover: I am actually kind of tired of saying stuff on the net and then hearing it repeated on Rush the next day, so if you send that to him, do me a favor and ask him if he will at least hire me to write for him so I can make some money. I mean, it isn't just themes or ideas, sometimes it is exact words.

I really don't mind providing material, but I wouldn't mind making a few $$$.

[zinfella]

[crazyndn]

In a way I'm happy this came out as a draw or a slight win for Kerry. I have been very worried about the Bush camp and the Bush base getting to complacent as of late.

NO race is ever over until the last vote is cast on Super Tuesday.

I'm glad Bush didn't put Kerry away, there is no such thing as putting someone away in the first debate anyway, and it’s silly to think that.

NOW Bush supporters know what many of us political junkies new all along, Kerry would not go down without a fight. He will lie, twist words, and use any tactic to make himself look good.

This is a slug fest folks, remember this and heed it well, a cornered dog is a dangerous animal, and it's high time we started treating this race as if Bush is behind 15 points in every poll and his victory will not count until the last polling district closes.

[MTS17446]

Was more believable

Bush 50, Kerry 44

Game, Set, Match if you ask me.