Last night's presidential debate
We want to hear your reactions to last night's presidential debate. Who won? Who lost? Was the format successful? Was the subject matter relevant? Share your thoughts.
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Once again, President Bush failed to address the real concerns of the American people regarding jobs, health care, energy costs, real income, day to day safety, etc. This administration is more concerned with the wealthiest individuals, the largest corporations, the religious far right and the NRA than with the real people struggling every day to live good lives, care for their families and, yes, Mr. President, love their neighbors. That, sir, is more than a phrase or an emotion. Good thoughts must be backed up with acts...not rhetoric.
Pam, Peabody, MA
This is a story about our president that we will call GWB This president has caused great harm to our country in four short years With his lies, deception, crookedness, kickbacks and glee GWB has a dark and sinister past that he has hidden from his peers His cocaine, arrest record and military record he will not show To his public supporters about his dark and sinister years The terrorist attacked us at our WTC and Washington DC Our president was warned and could have prevented this attack they say If he had paid attention to his own people this attack wouldn’t be He has started a serious and deadly war by telling his citizens a great big lie About the reasons that we should fight the country of Iraq and their false WMD Because of this great burden on our country, thousands of people die This man has turned our allies against us that has helped us through the years And cause more people to hate us through this neglect That has shocked and dismayed most of his peers Now our country is trillions of dollars in unpaid debt He even used the Social Security surplus for his crazy schemes And left our countries elderly citizens in tearful regret Our countries unemployment record is getting worse every day While he helps companies outsource our deeply needed jobs And help other companies reduce their employee’s payday Now GWB has plans for his four years for re-elect He is trying to scare our citizens with his lies and deceit And he thinks the country will forgive him for his past neglect Our president is hated more than any other in the world they say To the extent people call him everything from Hitler to an Anti-Christ And every bad thing that this man could portray To all the GWB supporters there is one thing about this crazy man’s resort If you re-elect this incompetent president that you do not really know Any bad happens to our citizens, their blood will be on your hands for your support There is Iran and North Korea that has WMD that GWB has neglected That can cause us more death and destruction than ever in our history With nuclear bombs if this damn president is re-elected
Moore, Hattiesburg
As a first generation American of Indian descent, I have to say that I was very encouraged by the views of Senator Kerry. I initially entered the voting fray as an "Anyone But Bush" person, but I now truly believe that Senator Kerry is a true intellectual who understands that the world is not simply black and white. So many problems have surfaced on the domestic front that are detrimental to the American way of life, with job losses, rising poverty, record bankruptcy filings, increasing number of people lacking health insurance, and the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Our country is as strong as our people, not the select few, but rather all of us. I proudly will cast my vote for Senator Kerry, because I feel we need a change, and the first step to fix these problems is to recognize that there is a problem, and I don't believe President Bush is capable of doing that.
Vishwajit
Sen. Kerry as usual was substantive, whereas as usual Pres. Bush repeated. Bush continues to lie about his tax cut: it's been universally commented on by finance experts that the claim most of the cuts went to middle and low income is not so. Token amounts went to those groups, while the top 10% got tax cuts totaling $2 hundred billion dollars. Kerry talked clearly about his health plan that will cover all Americans in one way or another by offerng affordable plans, something depending on their choice people can pay for. Children not covered by these plans will be covered through arrangements with the states and Medicaid that is win-win. Senior will be eligible for Medicare at age 55. Bush refuses to pool seniors to reduce drug prices to please the drug companies, but Kerry will pool the number of seniors and negotiate much lower drug prices. Kerry will roll back that $2 hundred billion in tax cuts to pay for education plans above what little Bush spoons out. Kerry has tax cuts planned for corporations to expand business and therefore jobs, which when taxes on proftis made overseas come in each year once Kerry is in office and put this in place will pay for those corporate tax cuts. Another win-win. Kerry will improve homeland security which is seriously wanting under Bush, he will work with foreign governments more strategically on espionage efforts which is what will break Al Qaeda, and Kerry makes sense when he says we can look forward to feeling safe. Bush fights any concept of safety plain from his attitude tonight regarding Kerry's statement that terrorism will become an annoyance, like prostitution. It never quite goes away, but it's kept under control. The American people will be free from fear under Kerry, but they will not be under Bush because fear is his method of control in order to justify what he wants.i.e. the unwanted, unnecessary war with Iraq with so many dead in vain. Except the U.S. gets the oil. Is this a better handling of terrorism ? I don't think so.
Lucretia, Oakland, CA
Dear Letter to the Editor: Kerry definitely won this last debate--3 in a row now. I especially liked the joke he made at his expense at the end where he said they had all "married up" and then caught himself and said, "some of us more then others!" Clearly, Kerry is more able to run this country then President Bush and it's nice to see that he also has a sense of humor.
Gail , Westborough, MA
Mass. should be proud that it produced John Kerry. He will be a leader I can respect, admire and learn from.
R. David , Vancouver WA
The question that was asked over the last several elections isn't being asked this time around - Do I feel I am better off now than I was 4 years ago? I am much more insecure about the future of my job; I have seen friends downgrade their resumes in order to secure a job; I am worried about my nieces that are serving in the military. Less personally, I feel that this country is the most divisible it has been in my lifetime. I have seen what Bush and his administration has done - or in many cases, hasn't done. The assault weapons ban expired. Anti-American sentiment appears to be world-wide. We did not have a plan to secure Iraq - not only was the intelligence incorrect and incomplete, the forces used and the equipment offered our military is inadequate. Will Kerry be able to turn everything around? I doubt it, but I believe he will be the better leader to bring resolutions to many of these issues and will be able to do so across political parties and across nations. Lastly, my response to the question Dennis Hastert and other Republicans have asked - Who would Osama want elected? Had Gore been appointed president by the Supreme Court, I believe we could ask Osama that question in person - in the cell we would have placed him after capturing him in Afghanistan.
Bill, Chicago
I'd like to touch briefly on President Bush's proposal to encourage those whose jobs were lost to offshoring to enroll in their community college. Doesn't this appear to be yet another example of the President turning his back on the middle class in favor of corporate interests? His proposal seems to focus solely on solutions for the loss of blue collar jobs as opposed to the loss of white collar jobs. If you've called a customer service hotline for several major corporations, called for technical support, or had any data processed on an online account, chances are those jobs are being performed in places like Bangalore, India. It is jobs like these that America is losing. This is a trend that we need to stem. Make America work for American workers. It is these jobs that the president should concern himself with protecting. I've recently graduated and started at an entry-level position at a major corporation only to have my job relocated overseas. How are we younger workers supposed to enter into the workplace without a place to start? And is President Bush's solution to enroll in community colleges going to help after we've graduated from 4 year colleges, saddled with debt?
Tim, Boston
President Bush's supporters will probably think he won - or at least put on a better performance - simply because he stood fully upright and kept a respectful look on his face for the first time in three debates. But that doesn't hide the fact that, for the third straight time, Senator Kerry proved more composed, presidential, aware and informed on the issues, and that he has actual plans for making things better in America. George Bush's domestic policies are like the Summer Olympics - they come around every four years, and you don't hear anything about them in the in-between years.
Bryan
Sen. Kerry spoke clearly about his religion and commitment to pro-choice, without fear of what the bishops of his church are saying. As a former prosecutor, John Kerry knows better than to take pro-life issues into criminal court, which has neither the resources nor the mission to promote the bishops' agenda. Way to go, John!
George, South Bend, Indiana
