By: Mary Mostert,
For a candidate that the media has dismissed as a liability for the Republicans, Dick Cheney turned out to be a debater that could actually be the margin of victory for George W. Bush. In a nutshell, Cheney actually addressed the issue at hand, while Joseph Lieberman took the political hack approach of trying to manipulate the voter with the issue at hand. Perhaps the masses don't care about that, but those voters who are trying to decide who to vote for at this point may very well vote Republican because Dick Cheney answered questions they want to know about.
Under the Constitution the President of the United States' chief responsibility is our national security as commander-and-chief of the country. The difference between Cheney's and Lieberban's response to a question about the condition of our armed forces was stark:
MR. SHAW: Your question, Mr. Secretary. You and Governor Bush charge that the Clinton-Gore administration have presided over the deterioration and overextension of America's armed forces. Should U.S. military personnel be deployed as warriors or peacekeepers?MR. CHENEY: My preference is to deploy them as warriors. There may be occasion when it's appropriate to use them in a peacekeeping role, but I think that role ought to be limited. I think there ought to be a time limit on it.
The reason we have a military is to be able to fight and win wars, and to maintain it with sufficient strength so that would-be adversaries are deterred from ever launching a war in the first place.
I think that the administration has in fact in this area failed in a major responsibility. We've seen a reduction in our forces far beyond anything that was justified by the end of the Cold War. At the same time. we've seen a rapid expansion of our commitments around the world, as troops have been sent hither and yon. The testimony just last week by the Joint Chiefs of Staff before the House Armed Services Committee that pointed out a lot of these problems, that the -- for example, General Mike Ryan of the Air Force -- that with 40 percent fewer aircraft, he's now undertaking three times as many deployments on a regular basis as he had to previously. So we're -- we're overcommitted and we're underresourced.
This has had some -- some other unfortunate effects. I saw a letter, for example, the other day from a young captain stationed down in Fort Bragg, a graduate of West Point of '95, getting ready to get out of the service because he's only allowed to train with his troops when fuel's available for the vehicles and -- and only allowed to fire their weapons twice a year. He's concerned that if he ever had to send them into combat, it would mean lives lost. That is a legitimate concern, and this is a very important area.
And the fact the U.S. military is worse off today than it was eight years ago -- a major responsibility for us in the future and a high priority for myself and Governor Bush will be to rebuild the U.S. military, to give them the resources they need to do the job we ask them to do for us, and to give them good leadership.
Joseph Lieberman's response to this serious charge from the man who was Secretary of Defense in this nation's most successful military effort since World War II was to declare the charges he made essentially none of the voters' business:
MR. SHAW: Senator, you're shaking your head in disagreement.SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, I am, Bernie, and most important, I want to assure the American people that the American military is the best- trained, best-equipped, most powerful force in the world, and that Al Gore and I will do whatever it takes to keep them that way.
It's not right, and it's not good for our military to run them down, essentially, in the midst of a partisan political debate.
Cheney's response was:
It's irresponsible to suggest that we should not have this debate in a presidential campaign, that we should somehow ignore what is a major, major concern.And if you have friends or relatives serving in the U.S. military, you know there's a problem. If you look at the data that's available, 40 percent of our Army helicopters that are not combat ready. Combat readiness level in the Air Force that's dropped from 85 percent to 65 percent. Significant problems of retention.
The other issue in which a stark difference in attitude towards the people and their contributions surfaced over Bernie Shaw's question:
MR. SHAW: Mr. Secretary, this question is for you. Washington is a caldron of political bickering and partisanship. The American people, gentlemen, have had enough. How would you elevate political discourse and purpose?
MR. CHENEY: …"And you're absolutely right. People are fed up. They've had enough with the bickering and the partisanship that seems to characterize the debate that goes on in the nation's capital. I've seen it done differently though. I've seen it done differently in Texas. I've watched George Bush. And one of the reasons I was eager to sign on when he asked me to become his running mate is because I've been so tremendously impressed with what he's done as the governor of Texas. He came in when he had a legislature completely controlled by the other party. He managed to reach across partisan line and unite Republican and Democrats and independents, put them to work to achieve good things for the state of Texas, partly because he didn't point the finger of blame looking for scapegoats. He was quick to share the credit.
We ended up, as a result of that activity at the end of his first term, the top Democrat, Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock, endorsed the Republican governor, George Bush, for reelection.
It is possible to change the tone. It is possible to get people to work together and to begin to focus on achieving results. But I think it's going to take new leadership.
I don't think you can do it, with all due respect to Al Gore, with somebody who's spent all the last 24 years in that Washington environment, and who campaigns on the basis of castigating others, of pointing the finger of blame at others in terms of blaming business or various and sundry groups for our failings. v
I think you have to be able to reach out and work together and build coalitions. I think George W. Bush has done that in Texas and can do it at the national level.
The third area in which major differences showed up was who is responsible for the booming economy - Government or the People?
On this issue the exchange was both telling and funny:
SEN. LIEBERMAN: Bernie, Dick Cheney must be one of the few people in America who thinks that nothing has been accomplished in the last eight years. … Look at the -- look at the 22 million new jobs. Look at the 4 million new businesses. Look at the lower interest rates, low rate of inflation high rate of growth. I think if you asked most people in America today that famous question that Ronald Reagan asked, "Are you better off today than you were eight years ago?" most people would say yes.
And I'm pleased to say -- see Dick, from the newspapers, that you're better off than you were eight years ago, too. (Laughter.)
MR. CHENEY: And I can tell you, Joe, that the government had absolutely nothing to do with it.
SEN. LIEBERMAN: I can see my wife, and I think she's thinking, "Gee, I wish he would go out into the private sector." (Chuckles.)
MR. CHENEY: Well, I'm going to try to help you do that, Joe. (Laughter, applause.)
The format was perfect for the personalities of Dick Cheney, with his dry humor and total grasp of issues and Joe Lieberman's pro-federal government control paternalism. Both were show-cased by the format and Bernie Shaw's questions.
Those not interested in either issues or debates were probably not watching and if they were may not have been impressed. For those who really ARE interested in issues - and those people are in that 12-15% of the voters who haven't decided who to vote for yet - the Cheney-Lieberman debate quite possibly was a turning point. If only 2-3% of those actually voting decided who to vote for last night, it could very well be the winning margin.
To comment: mmostert@originalsources.com
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