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Kerry beats Bush in first debate

CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
[ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 01, 2004 01:49:31 PM ]

WASHINGTON: Almost written off after trailing in several opinion polls, Democratic challenger John Kerry showed great élan in outmaneuvering President Bush in the first of three presidential debates on Thursday, throwing the November 2 election wide open.

In a composed performance watched by a prime time television audience of some 30 million viewers, Kerry attacked Bush over a range of foreign policy choices, including the "colossal error" of judgment in Iraq. He also defended himself skillfully against Bush's charge that he was an indecisive flip-flopper.

Most political pundits and media mavens called the debate in favor of Kerry. Several instant polls also showed Kerry to be the winner by comfortable margins. A CNN-Gallup poll gave Kerry a 46-37 win (rest said they were tied or were undecided), an ABC poll called it 45-36, and a CBS poll put it at 43-29.

The two men exchanged policy sallies, differing significantly on their approach to the war on terrorism, the exit strategy in Iraq, and on how to deal with North Korea.

Kerry attacked Bush for shifting the focus from Afghanistan, where the real perpetrators of 9/11 hid, and diverting it to Saddam Hussain and Iraq, who had nothing to do with the attack. When US troops had cornered bin Laden in Tora Bora, the job of finishing him was "outsourced" to Afghan warlords, Kerry charged, leaving no doubt as to what the President can expect in the next debate on the economy.

Bush did not care to differentiate between bin Laden and Saddam, and suggested he had done right to act preemptively to neutralise a potential threat to America.

"We can change tactics when we need to, but we never change our beliefs," Bush said at one point. Underlining their fundamental difference, Kerry told the President "It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and you can be wrong. Certainty sometimes gets you into trouble."

Kerry however offered a better-defined exit strategy for Iraq, saying he would call a summit of US allies (and implying that a discredited Bush would not be able to do that), expand the alliance, and start recalling US troops as early as six months from now.

Bush repeatedly attacked Kerry for sending out the wrong message to American troops and enemies with his criticism of the war and his talk of pulling out. He would bring back the troops only when the job was done.

Bush was on the defensive most of the time and he was often repetitive. The arguments on the war took up more than hour of the 90-minute debate held in an auditorium at the University of Miami, where a packed house was forbidden from participating actively.

It didn't seem like either candidate managed to vastly sway voters of the opposite persuasion, although it will require further post-debate polls to confirm that. Democrats thought Kerry did a good job, Republicans thought Bush held his own, and the undecided voters were either split or still undecided.

Some 20 per cent of voters have said the debate could change their voting preference, while 80 per cent have said it will not. Among the 20 per cent, more Bush followers (63 per cent) say they are open to change.

The first debate, centering on foreign policy was thought to be Kerry's weak spot - because of his initial support for the Iraq war. But he now goes into the next two debates on turf that should favor him more - the economy and health care.

In terms of atmospherics, Kerry seemed more calm and benign - he looked more presidential than Bush, some pundits said. Bush often looked annoyed and agitated when Kerry was speaking.

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