The reviews of last night’s televised presidential debates are in, and the German online media is unanimous in its assessesment: John Kerry scored points and had President Bush on the defensive. The Netzeitung sees Kerry even winning with his body language:
Kerry hat einen überzeugenden Auftritt gehabt. Er wirkte nach der ersten Anspannung konzentriert und gelassen, er hatte eine lebhafte Körpersprache, ohne zu zappeln, und er vermied es meist, das Publikum mit statistischen Zahlen und abstrakten Argumenten zu überfordern
Der Tagesspiegel , like many others, said Kerry was quite effective in attacking the President for the “colossal miscalculations” in the war in Iraq:
Kerry warf in der mit Spannung erwarteten Fernsehdebatte Bush «riesige Fehleinschätzungen» im Irakkrieg vor. Anstatt den wirklichen Angreifer der USA, den Terroristenführer Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan zur Strecke zu bringen, habe Bush das Land mit falschen Angaben in den Irakkrieg geführt. Zudem habe es keinen realistischen Plan für die Nachkriegszeit gegeben, sagte Kerry in der Fernsehdebatte, die nach ersten Angaben von über 50 Millionen Amerikanern verfolgt wurde.
Georg Mascalo, who watched the debate in Washington for Spiegel-Online declares that “Kerry is Back in the Race”. The fighter who performs best when his back is against the wall is once again true to form:
Seit gestern Nacht hat die Theorie, dass Kerry erst zu Hochform aufläuft, wenn die Niederlage droht, viele neue Anhänger. In der ersten Debatte, in der es um Außenpolitik, Irak und Terrorismus ging, gelang es dem Senator sich als Mann klarer Botschaften zu präsentieren, als einer, dem man in schwierigen Zeiten das Land anvertrauen kann. Anders ist der amerikanische Angstwahlkampf 2004 auch nicht zu gewinnen.
Writing from New Mexico for Die Zeit, Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff was appalled by the President’s demeanor during the debate. Bush appeared wooden, unfocused, even unpresidential:
Bush wirkte hölzern, unkonzentriert, manchmal geradezu hilflos. Ein amtierender Präsident, der seinem Herausforderer nicht gewachsen schien. Üblicherweise muss ein Präsident, der wiedergewählt werden will, eine gloriose Bilanz präsentieren. Stattdessen fand sich Bush beständig in der Defensive wieder
But Kleine-Brockhoff also asks the question that many of us have been thinking: Why has Kerry waited so long to show his teeth? Why has he not been on the attack from the beginning?
Am Ende dieses Argumentationsfeuerwerk bleibt nur noch die Frage: warum erst jetzt? Warum muss Kerry mit dem Rücken zur Wand stehen, bevor er zeigt, was er kann? Warum hat er den Präsidenten bisher so geschont?
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Just wonder why you call your stale blog “Dialog International”?
“Pro Kerry” comes to mind.
Gee, I seem to have produced the first comment ever in this blog!!
I might be the first visitor, too…
“But Kleine-Brockhoff also asks the question that many of us have been thinking: Why has Kerry waited so long to show his teeth? Why has he not been on the attack from the beginning?”
I don’t think Kerry’s success in the debate had much to do with his criticisms. Had he been entirely on the offensive he would have looked too bombastic. Bush would have played the part of the victim, and that is obviously something the Kerry camp didn’t want. Instead he allowed Bush to self-destruct, which he did; he ran out of catchphrases quickly and his body language was just awful.
Of course that is the Bush we’re used to seeing (see every single press conference he’s held since becoming president), it’s just very rare that the press picks up on his obvious failings. In 2000 even though Bush looked and sounded like an idiot I had no idea who was going to be proclaimed winner of the debates until the pundits had their say. Thursday night’s debate I had that same impression, but now it’s easy to see that Kerry performed better than Gore did. Gore was on the defensive in his first debate and had to change his approach in the two subsequent ones; this time Bush was on the defensive (something that hasn’t happened before) and, because he looked like a petulant asshole, his supporters don’t have the “at least he was likeable” angle. And this is someone who’s running as a “war president,” whose only advantages in the polls are likeability and The War on Terror. Kerry’s in a position to hand his ass to him on the domestic issues.
He may at times appear weak, but Kerry is the ideal candidate for the Dems. Unlike Dean he isn’t awkward with the media. His major weakness according to pundits is that he’s never projected a strong stance on Iraq, but I think he’s done well in deflecting this perception. It’s his race to lose, barring another October suprise/rigged election.
-Clifford
And a word to that helpful contributor “Kerry”… in a few months this will be widely regarded as the best blog on the internet! At least, among bilingual English/German speakers 😉
-Clifford
And a word to that helpful contributor “Kerry”… in a few months this will be widely regarded as the best blog on the internet! At least, among bilingual English/German speakers 😉
-Clifford