Al Gore on Debating Bush

Here is an excerpt from an Op-Ed by Al Gore in today's NY Times:

"If Mr. Bush is not willing to concede that things are going from bad to worse in Iraq, can he be trusted to make the decisions necessary to change the situation? If he insists on continuing to pretend it is 'mission accomplished,' can he accomplish the mission? And if the Bush administration has been so thoroughly wrong on absolutely everything it predicted about Iraq, with the horrible consequences that have followed, should it be trusted with another four years?

"The biggest single difference between the debates this year and four years ago is that President Bush cannot simply make promises. He has a record. And I hope that voters will recall the last time Mr. Bush stood on stage for a presidential debate. If elected, he said, he would support allowing Americans to buy prescription drugs from Canada. He promised that his tax cuts would create millions of new jobs. He vowed to end partisan bickering in Washington. Above all, he pledged that if he put American troops into combat: 'The force must be strong enough so that the mission can be accomplished. And the exit strategy needs to be well defined.'

"Comparing these grandiose promises to his failed record, it's enough to make anyone want to, well, sigh."

If John Kerry should listen to anyone's advice on debating Bush it is Al Gore's.
But as Gore points out, there are many failures in Bush's previous term to use in the debate, but do not take him lightly:

"My advice to John Kerry is simple: be prepared for the toughest debates of your career. While George Bush's campaign has made 'lowering expectations' into a high art form, the record is clear - he's a skilled debater who uses the format to his advantage. There is no reason to expect any less this time around. And if anyone truly has 'low expectations' for an incumbent president, that in itself is an issue."

Posted by Paul Hina at September 29, 2004 12:53 AM