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PLAIN TALK |
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Leonard Horwin October 13, 2004 (310) 785-6600 tel.
(310) 785-6644 fax plaintalk@linkline.com http://www.leonardhorwinplaintalk.com |
Where
Does the Presidential Debate of October 8, 2004 Take Us?
Questions and Answers are cited below as
“Q” and “A”
1.
Q: Is there a clear winner here?
A: No. It is a mixed “bag.”
2.
Q: Is there a clear better voice?
A: Yes. Probably because of careful coaching by Karl
Rove since the essentially first
presidential debate, –this time Bush comes out with his chest thrust forward, almost like an aggressive
rooster and therefore enhancing the plausibility of his points.
3.
Q: And as to Kerry?
A: He remains a
somewhat uninspiring, but highly plausible reactor to the nation’s problems.
4.
Q: Did anything come out clearly from the
debate?
A: Yes.
5.
Q: What?
A: That the
nation is in very deep trouble, and despite Mr. Bush’s renewed confidence, he
leaves unanswered the question: “Aren’t you simply asking our highly troubled nation to accept ‘more of the
same’ instead of a basic change?”
In substance, that is Bush’s wish.
6.
Q: What does this really mean?
A: It means
that the choice between the presidential candidates is so troubled that any signal event between now and November
could throw the election one way or the other.
7.
Q: What do you mean by that?
A: Suppose for
example, that bin Laden or one of his fellow chieftains were to be captured by
the allied forces between now and the election.
8.
Q: What influence would that have?
A: Probably it
would throw the election in Mr. Bush’s direction, with the nation now thinking
that “more of the same,” may be
equivalent to capture or killing of the
principal terrorists.
9.
Q: What other events between now and the
election could throw the election one way or the other?
A: If the
national economy, –despite the President’s unwise moves and mistakes, were
nevertheless to show a big move upwards.
10. Q: What would
that do?
A: It would
give a valuable psychological lift to the economy which would translate into a
victory for the incumbents
11. Q: So, your
overall conclusion?
A: Wait and
see!
* * *
cc: George W.
Bush, President
Richard Cheney, Vice President
John Kerry, Senator & Presidential Candidate
John Edwards, Senator and VP Candidate
Colin Powell, Secretary of State
Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
Condoleezza Rice, National Security
Advisor
Colonel Oliver North
Tom Ridge, Secretary of Homeland
Security
John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General
Tony Blair, Prime Minister of Great Britain
Jack Straw, British Foreign Secretary
Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the
U.S. House of Representatives
Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu, Economy Minister
for the Israeli Government
Israel’s “Women In Green”
National Unity Coalition for Israel
Arianna Huffington, Syndicated
Columnist
Oriana Fallaci, International Journalist,
Interviewer and Author
Yohanan Ramati, Chairman, Jerusalem
Institute for Western Defense
Gerardo Joffe, FLAME (Facts & Logic
About the Middle East)
Mortimer Zuckerman, Editor in Chief -
US News and World Report
Time Magazine
Washington Post - Attn: Bob
Woodward
International Jerusalem Post
The Weekly Standard – Bill
Kristol, Editor
The Wall Street Journal -
Editorial and
p-Ed Department
Los Angeles Times, Op-Ed
Department
Dr. and Mrs. Jordan Phillips,
Medical Books for China International