| May 2012 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
Bush was decisive and Kerry was not. Kerry agreed as much in the following exchange:
MR. LEHRER: New—new question, President Bush. There are clearly, as we have heard, major policy differences between the two of you. Are there also underlying character issues that you believe—that you believe—are serious enough to deny Senator Kerry the job as commander in chief of the United States?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Hooh! That’s a loaded question.
...My concerns about the Senator is that, in the course of this campaign I’ve been listening very carefully to what he says, and he changes positions on the war on Iraq. It’s a—changes positions on something as fundamental as what you believe in your core, in your heart of hearts is right—in Iraq. I—you cannot lead if you send mexed miss—mixed messages. Mixed messages send the wrong signals to our troops. Mixed messages send the wrong signals to our allies. Mixed messages send the wrong signals to the Iraqi citizens. And that’s my biggest concern about my opponent. Admire his service, but I—I’m—I just know how this world works. And that in the councils of government there must be certainty from the U.S. president.
...MR. LEHRER: Ninety-second response, Senator.
SEN. KERRY: ...But this issue of certainty. It’s one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong. It’s another to be certain and be right, or to be certain and be moving in the right direction, or be certain about a principle and then learn new facts and take those new facts and put them to use in order to change and get your policy right. What I worry about with the president is that he’s not acknowledging what’s on the ground, that he’s not acknowledging the realities in North Korea, he’s not acknowledging the truth of the science of stem-cell research or of global warming and other issues. And certainty sometimes can get you in trouble.
Bush says Kerry’s indecisive, and Kerry responds that being decisive isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It seems like Kerry’s position on this is a tough sell, coming from someone who wants to be President.
If I had to take a wild guess as to what will ultimately be considered the key exchange of this debate, that would be it.
