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Last night's debate did not produce many memorable moments. I don't remember anything that could remotely resemble one of the famous gaffes or one-liners of the debates of yesteryear (such as Ford's claim that Eastern Europe was not under Soviet domination or Dukakis' weak answer to a question about the death penalty). Both men stayed on message. Gore kept saying over and over that Bush's tax plan would only benefit the wealthiest 1% of the country. Bush kept accusing Gore of being in favor of expanding the federal government at the expense of the people. I personally agree with Bush, however I couldn't help but think that Gore looked more presidential. Bush kept mis-speaking and hesitating slightly. Hopefully, voters can look beyond the fact that one candidate is much more comfortable in a debate forum that the other. Gore appeared more decisive, confident and polished. I haven't read any of the press coverage yet, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that they portray it as a standoff. Hopefully most people are already aware that Bush is not the greatest public speaker in the world and not hold it against him. I certainly sympathize. If I were up there, with millions of people watching on TV, I would have been a disaster, no matter how brilliant my ideas. Bush was right to focus on tax cuts and to argue that his across-the-board cuts were preferable to Gore's targeted cuts. However, he could offered a stronger riposte to Gore's charge about the top 1%. After all, Reagan's critics said the same thing. I wished he would have pointed to the Reagan cuts and argued that they basically produced 20 years of prosperity that has lasted through both Democratic and Republican administrations, with only a brief recession in 1991. Gore even said at one point that the Clinton administration followed 12 years of recession. I don't think that's what Gore meant but Bush could have followed up with the point that Reagan revived the economy and won the cold war. As Jonah Goldberg has argued, how serious could those deficits have been when they have disappeared so suddenly? It was Reagan who ended the 70% top marginal bracket and who at least attempted to simplify the tax code in 1986. Fortunately, Clinton has not completely undone Reagan's many achievements but Gore threatens to do so. |