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Isle viewers react
along party lines
About 200 John Kerry supporters gathered at Murphy's Bar & Grill in downtown Honolulu yesterday afternoon to watch a taped broadcast of the presidential candidate debate.
Debate schedule
More presidential debates are on tap:
Second debate» Friday, Oct. 8» Washington University, St. Louis
Third debate» Wednesday, Oct. 13» Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz. Also, a vice presidential debate will take place between Dick Cheney and John Edwards:
» Tuesday, Oct. 5
TRANSCRIPT
(Commission on Presidential Debates) www.debates.org /pages/debtrans.html VIDEO (C-SPAN) RealMedia format FREE REALMEDIA PLAYER |
Kailua chiropractor Alex Concepcion, 31, said: "He (Kerry) really came out much stronger. And he came out more likable, which is one of the things really he had to come out and do, be that likable person, so people can say, 'Hey we can trust this person.'"
There was no official Republican Party get-together to watch the debate, but Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, co-chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Hawaii, said Kerry presented himself well but that Bush's performance was solid.
Aiona said he would have preferred Bush to have been more specific about Afghanistan and his initial decision to go to war in Iraq.
"I thought the president was the president. He didn't pull any punches, and that's why I support him."
Top Democrats liked Kerry's performance.
"I think John Kerry did a marvelous job," said U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. "He was poised, prepared. He responded to all the questions. He didn't slough any one. And it was a good evening for us."
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano agreed Kerry did well.
"I was pleasantly surprised that he's a very, very good debater. I thought that he established his points. I found him quite convincing," Cayetano said.
At Sears Roebuck & Co. at Ala Moana Center, stock trader Ben McMakin, 26, said he still has not made up his mind about whom he will vote for or even if he will vote at all.
He watched yesterday's debate off and on while shopping for a stereo.
"I just thought there is too much mudslinging. I'm tired of listening to it all. I'm tired of Iraq. I'm tired of Saddam. Enough is enough."
Genevieve Hentzen, 75, watched yesterday's debate at Sears and was attentive to what the two candidates had to say.
She said she already has a strong anti-war opinion. She admitted to wanting to argue with Bush whenever he spoke.
When Bush was asked whether the war in Iraq has been worth the cost in American lives, Hentzen added her own question: "Yeah, and what do the parents think, a thousand sons killed."
When Kerry used an analogy to make a point that the war on Iraq has nothing to do with 9/11, Hentzen suggested we should have attacked Saudi Arabia instead. "That's where all the terrorists came from," she said.
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Shinseki’s advice went
unheeded, Kerry says
Instead of listening to former U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki's advice that invading Iraq would require hundreds of thousands of troops, the Bush White House "retired him," Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry charged in yesterday's debate.
Shinseki, a Kauai native and 38-year career Army officer, retired as chief of staff in June 2003 after four years in the position.
In February 2003 he told a congressional committee that the United States would need up to 200,000 troops as a peacekeeping force in Iraq. Right now there are just more than 135,000 soldiers in Iraq.
Shinseki could not be reached for comment last night. Since retiring, he has been tight-lipped about any disagreements with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over the Iraq war. He has not said whether the tensions pushed him to retire.
In yesterday's debate, Kerry said Bush "avoided even the advice of their own general. Gen. Shinseki, the Army chief of staff, said, 'You're going to need several hundred thousand troops (in Iraq).' Instead of listening to him, they retired him."
Bush's response did not mention Shinseki. Instead, the president focused on America's allies in the Iraq war. "My opponent says we don't have any allies in this war," he said. "What's he say to (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair? What's he say to Alexander Kwasniewski of Poland?"
Bush, Kerry clash on
Iraq in opening debate
CORAL GABLES, Fla. » Arguing over who can best lead the nation in war, Sen. John Kerry charges that Americans have been left with "this incredible mess in Iraq" while President Bush says U.S. troops look at the Democratic challenger and wonder, "How can I follow this guy?"
Both candidates were rushing back to the campaign trail Friday trying to convince voters they each won their opening debate.
From the first question Thursday night, Kerry went on the offensive, accusing Bush of leaving U.S. alliances around the world "in shatters" and ordering a war in Iraq that was a "colossal error in judgment."
Bush noted that Kerry voted to authorize the same war he now criticizes. "That's not how a commander in chief acts," Bush charged.
Three post-debate polls suggested voters were impressed by Kerry, with most of those surveyed saying he did better than Bush. Such instant polls reflect the views of debate watchers and not the public at large. Initial reactions to a debate can change after a few days have passed.
Less than five weeks before the election, Iraq dominated the debate on a day when a string of bombs killed 35 children and wounded scores of others in western Baghdad. Overall, more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq.
Kerry summed up Bush's strategy for Iraq as "more of the same." Bush acknowledged that not every American agrees with the decisions he's made. "But people know where I stand," Bush said, suggesting they don't know where Kerry stands. "People out there listening know what I believe."
From Florida, Bush was heading out Friday to rallies in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, two key battleground states. Kerry was spending the day campaigning in Florida, where the presidential race was decided four years ago.
In Thursday night's encounter at the University of Miami, Bush and Kerry drew heavily on oft-repeated lines from their campaign speeches but they faced each other directly across the same stage for the first time.
Bush appeared irritated when Kerry leveled some of his charges, scowling at times and looking away in apparent disgust at others. Kerry often took notes when the president spoke. The television networks offered a split screen to viewers so they could see both men at the same time and watch their reactions.
On Iraq, Bush criticized Kerry for saying it was the wrong war at the wrong time in the wrong place. "What message does that send to our troops?" the president said. "Not a message a commander in chief gives."
Repeating a line he has used countless times to show his opponent is inconsistent, Bush tweaked Kerry for saying he voted for an $87 billion spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan before he voted against it.
Kerry shot back, "Well, you know, when I talked bout the $87 billion, I made a mistake in how I talk about the war. But the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?"
Trying to persuade voters that he is tough enough to be commander in chief, Kerry said, "I believe in being strong and resolute and determined. And I will hunt down and kill the terrorists, wherever they are." He said that Bush, in invading Iraq, lost sight of the goal of capturing terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
But Bush insisted that "the world is safer without Saddam Hussein." He called Iraq "a central part in the war on terror" and said 75 percent of bin Laden's leadership had been brought to justice.
Trying to turn Kerry's criticism against him, Bush said, "I understand what it means to be the commander in chief. And if I were to ever say, 'This is the wrong war at the wrong time at the wrong place,' the troops would wonder, `How can I follow this guy?'"
Kerry said Bush failed to exhaust diplomatic solutions before ordering the invasion of Iraq and that the United States was left with 90 percent of the cost and 90 percent of the casualties. "Now we have this incredible mess in Iraq _ $200 billion," Kerry charged. "It's not what the American people thought they were getting when they voted."
Bush ridiculed his opponent, saying he denigrated U.S. allies in the war, voted against the $87 billion measure to aid Afghanistan and Iraq and sent mixed signals.
"What's his message going to be? Please join us in Iraq for a grand diversion?" Bush said to Kerry's contention that he could summon broader international support for the war. "They're not going to follow someone whose core convictions keep changing because of politics."
While Iraq was the dominant issue in the debate, which was moderated by PBS' Jim Lehrer, there were notable differences on North Korea and Iran, two nations suspected of pursuing nuclear weapons programs. Kerry urged that the United States hold direct bilateral talks with North Korea rather than the six-nation talks that Bush initiated to defuse the crisis.
Bush called Kerry's proposal "a big mistake" that would crush the multinational talks and remove pressure from China on North Korea to change course. Kerry said North Korea has amassed more nuclear weapons during Bush's administration. On Iran, he said the United States should have worked with allies like France, Germany and Britain to impose sanctions if Tehran refused to give up its nuclear program.
Kerry voiced concerns about conditions in Russia, saying that crackdowns initiated by President Vladimir Putin go beyond what's necessary to combat terror.
Bush said he had a good personal relationship with Putin that "enables me to better comment to him and the better to discuss with him some of the decisions he makes." Bush said Russia was a country in transition and that he would remind Putin "of the great benefits of democracy."
