I submitted this editorial to the Argus this morning:
When Bush raged in response to draft question it was an indication of just how temperamental he is as a leader. It is clear that he doesn't care for being questioned. It also illustrated how clearly Kerry had control over Bush's temper and the tone of the debate. Kerry let up after this because he had demonstrated that Bush couldn't handle criticism.
How each candidate answered the abortion question illustrated a fundamental difference between the two candidates. Kerry respected the questioner's beliefs, talked about his own, then talked about the proper role of a president. Bush simply took her side, showed no respect for the other point of view, then drilled hard to deepen the split on this divisive issue. It was clear from the exchange that whether you agreed with Kerry or not that he is clearly a uniter not a divider, and that Bush is simply partisan.
I watched this debate twice. The second time it was clear to me that it was a masterful performance by Kerry. He was in control of Bush, the audience and himself. What's more impressive is that he did it while presenting the illusion that it was a fair fight.
Enlighten me, please, what exactly did Kerry say on the issue of abortion. You allude to the fact that he respected the questioners beliefs (which were?) and then stated his own (which are?) and then talked about the role of the president (which is?), but as I didn't see the debate, I'm not clear on any of these positions.
And is Bush partisan or is he stating his opinion as well? And are Kerry's positions partisan with the Democratic party?
Frankly I would rather not answer that as there are two staunch anti-abortion advocates reading this site and I don't want to turn this discussion into a war over abortion. Someone else may answer but I would ask that you read the transcript:
http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2004c.html
It starts about 4/5ths of the way down the page.
Posted by: jherr at October 12, 2004 09:00 AMSorry, you brought it up on your blog, so I was interested and wanted to know. I don't get the same feeling from reading the transcript that you got from obviously watching the debate. Frankly, in reading the debate, I get more than a little tired of reading Kerry's kiss-ass "excellent question, very very.....". I get tired of both men not answering the question asked of them, but answering the question they think the people want to hear about.
I was interested in the stem-cell question, but neither said anything of interest. Neither one of them, as Charlie points out, will answer how they are going to "balance" the budget and reduce spending while embarking on their own programs. I am concerned about the costs of healthcare for myself, for my children, for my parents and for my sisters who are in the medical field--and pay up the ass for medical malpractice insurance.
John Kerry believes that life begins at conception. I heard him say that on television. It was when some Catholic bishops were saying Kerry should not participate in holy communion. Kerry supports Roe v. Wade as a constitutional protection and will vote absolutely no limits at all against abortion. Not partial birth abortion, not federally funding soldier's abortions - nothing - abortion is legal - no limits - ever.
I'm tired of both candidates dodging the real question, too. For example, the stem-cell question was very clear and I want the answer, too. Adult stem cells are being used. Umbilical cord blood has millions of stem cells that can develop into anything and no life is lost. Why isn't the focus there? What makes embyronic stem cell research so radically different? Niether candidate answered that.
However, President Bush did answer the abortion question, flat out. He said federal funds will not be used for abortion.
Posted by: Jacqueline at October 13, 2004 07:55 AMFor more information on stemcell research I suggest the following sites
www.camradvocacy.org - you can find candidate positions plus lots of other information on Stem cell research
also another site with tons of information is
http://stemcells.nih.gov
including the following definitions
Hematopoietic stem cell—A stem cell from which all red and white blood cells develop. This includes bone marrow stem cells- Cord blood also falls into this category but doesn't fall into :
Embryonic stem cells—Primitive (undifferentiated) cells from the embryo that have the potential to become a wide variety of specialized cell types.
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