By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Original Source (www.originalsources.com)
October 12, 2000
The format last night for the second Bush-Gore was what George W. Bush had wanted - less formal, more time to actually respond to the questions - 2 minutes each. Bush's press secretary, Karen Hughes told CNN: "The Bush campaign fought for the format that is being used tonight, and I think was used successfully last week in the vice presidential debate. People seem to like it. It allows for a very thoughtful exchange of ideas and substance, and that's exactly what Governor Bush intends to engage in tonight."
To the obvious dismay of Al Gore's friends in the media, the polls taken immediately following the debate ALL indicate that most people found George W. Bush, not Al Gore, to be more of a leader, and winner of the poll. About half of the time was taken up in a debate on foreign policy, the area that the Texas governor was, in the pre-debate commentary, sure to lose in. Only, he showed a relaxed grasp of the issues and articulated them well.
Jim Lehrer asked:
If you're just going to - you know, the use of the military, there's - some people are now suggesting that if you don't want to use the military to maintain the peace, to do the civil thing, is it time to consider a civil force of some kind that comes in after the military that builds nations or all of that? Is that on your radar screen?
Governor Bush's response probably had military families standing up and cheering:
I don't think so. I think - I think what we need to do is convince people who live in the lands they live in to build the nations. Maybe I'm missing something here. I mean, we're going to have kind of a nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not.Our military's meant to fight and win war. That's what it's meant to do. And when it gets over extended, morale drops.
A subdued Gore, obviously trying to make sure he didn't repeat the behavior that irritated a lot of Americans and caused him to drop in the polls responded with a meek, "Well, I don't disagree with that."
It was on foreign affairs that the pundits all seemed to agree that Al Gore would demolish George Bush. The opposite seemed to happen. In the CNN in depth poll, with more than 20,000 votes cast, the public was giving Bush the edge in issue after issue, especially on foreign policy issues.
Another sensitive issue that appears to have gotten the attention of the American people after last week's debate was the issue of trust, which, I have thought all along, would be a key issue in the election. Jim Lehrer asked George W. Bush:
You, your running mate, your campaign officials have charged that Vice President Gore exaggerates, embellishes and stretches the facts, et cetera. Are you - do you believe these are serious issues - this is a serious issue that the voters should use in deciding which one of you two men to vote for on November 7?
I think credibility's important. It's going to important to be - for the president to be credible with Congress, important for the president to be credible with foreign nations. And, yes, I think it's something that people need to consider.
This isn't something new. I read a report or a memo from somebody in his 1988 campaign, I forgot the fellow's name, warning then-Senator Gore to be careful about exaggerating claims. And I thought during his debate with Senator Bradley, saying he authored the EITC when it didn't happened, he mentioned in the last...
LEHRER: EITC?
BUSH: Earned income tax credit. Sorry.
LEHRER: That's all right.
BUSH: A lot of initials for a guy who's not from Washington, isn't it?
Anyway, I - he cosponsored McCain-Feingold, and yet he didn't.
And so I think this is an issue. I think - I found it to be an issue in trying to defend my tax relief package, I thought there were some exaggerations about the numbers.
But the people are going to have to make up their mind on this issue.
And I - I'm going to continue to defend my record and defend my propositions against what I think are exaggerations. Exaggerations like, for example, only 5 percent of seniors receive benefits under my Medicare reform package, that's what he said the other day and that's simply not the case. I have every right in the world to defend my record and my positions. That's what debates are about, and that's what campaigns are about.
When Lehrer turned to Al Gore for a response, it did little to convince those who were still trying to decide who to vote for that his word could be trusted:
LEHRER: Vice President Gore?
GORE: I got some of the details wrong last week in some of the examples that I used, Jim. And I'm sorry about that. And I'm going to try to do better. One of the reasons I regret is that it - getting a detail wrong interfered several times with a point that I was trying to make.
However many days that young girl in Florida stood in her classroom however long, even if it was only one day, doesn't change the fact that there are a lot of overcrowded classrooms in America, and we need to do something about that.
The problem with his answer is that the example he used simply was not a case of there not being enough equipment in the School. The equipment was there. It was in crates and not yet unpacked. Al Gore made his case for over-crowded and poorly equipped schools based on a school that didn't fit his point.
The real issue is a tactic he shares with Clinton - the use of fear to manipulate the thinking, and the votes, of the public.
In their closing statements, the difference in the two style became very obvious. It seems apparent that someone has convinced Al Gore that the defining issue of this election IS going to be values - so, he uses the word at every opportunity:
GORE:This race is about values, it's about change, it's about giving choices to the American people. And education is my number one priority because I think that it's the most important big, major change that we can bring in our country.
Only, of course, it's hard to convince the thinking voter that your are going to bring change when you've been part of the "old administration." Bush didn't just use the words, but defined the change he would bring:
I'm running to get some things done for America. There's too many issues left unresolved. There's been too much finger-pointing and too much name-calling in Washington, D.C. I'd like to unite this country to get an agenda done that will speak to the hopes and aspirations of the future.
And then Bush gave a sentence or two on specific issues - education, military, Medicare, Social Security, prescription drugs for seniors, allowing younger workers to put some of their Social Security money into private investment for retirement, and tax relief:
And finally, I do believe in tax relief. I believe we can set our priorities. I don't believe like the vice president does in huge government. I believe in limited government. And by having a limited government and a focused government, we can send some of the money back to the people who pay the bills. I want to have a tax relief for all people who pay the bills in America because I think you can spend your money more wisely than the federal government can.
The move to Bush was truly amazing. The liberal CNN showed that on every question of their in depth poll, George W. was receiving 72-80% of the votes:
Perhaps the most surprising development is Bush moving so far ahead on the Environment, which Al Gore and Jim Lehrer clearly thought was his turf:
Vice President Gore, on the environment, in your 1992 book you said, quote, "We must make the rescue of our environment the central organizing principle for civilization and there must be a wrenching transformation to save the planet." Do you still feel that way?GORE: I do. I think that in this 21st century, we will soon see the consequences of what's called global warming. There was a study just a few weeks ago suggesting that in summertime the north polar ice cap will be completely gone in 50 years. Already many people see the strange weather conditions that the old-timers say they've never seen before in their lifetimes. And what's happening is the level of pollution is increasing, significantly.
Gore then tried to convince the viewers that George Bush was responsible for industrial pollution in Texas. Bush retorted:
The book you mentioned that Vice President Gore wrote, he also called for taxing - big energy taxes in order to clean up the environment. And now that the energy prices are high, I guess he's not advocating those big energy taxes right now.
Bush pointed out that he had done more to clean up pollution, especially abandoned industrial sites, than any state in the Union and that:.
By the way, I just found out the other day, an interesting fact, that there's a national petroleum reserve right next to Prudhoe - in Prudhoe Bay that your administration opened up for exploration in that pristine area, and it was a smart move because there's gas reserves up there.We need gas pipelines to bring the gas down. Gas is a clean fuel that we can burn...
The stock market is dropping in response to the high energy costs, people are angry and are beginning to connect the high cost of gasoline and heating their homes this winter to Al Gore and his book in which he calls for high taxes on gas and heating fuel in order to force the American public to use less. That, really, is what he meant by the "wrenching transformation to save the planet."
The defining issues of this election will probably be the price of oil, and who can best address the problem and "values" or the culture war which is beginning to swirl around issues such as the attack on the Boy Scouts of America by homosexuals and the strong support given by Al Gore to the homosexual agenda. Both of these issues could cause a stampede to George W. by disgruntled moderate Democrats.
To comment: mmostert@originalsources.com
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