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Kucinich only one against nafta wto { December 10 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/state2003/121003_debateanalysis_2003.shtmlhttp://www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/state2003/121003_debateanalysis_2003.shtml
Candidates struggle to voice ideas
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
By LISA WANGSNESS
Monitor staff
DURHAM - "Senator Kerry, why didn't you raise your hand?"
Ted Koppel wanted John Kerry to explain why he didn't think Howard Dean could beat President Bush in 2004.
It was the first question of the first debate broadcast live on New Hampshire television (and rebroadcast on network TV) in the primary season, so Kerry tried to make the best of it. He said he believed his vision was the best for the country. He ventured to give a few details about what that vision was: "We're at war," he said. "The world is looking to us for leadership. . . . I am going to return us to the United Nations.
"I'm going to restore our place in world leadership. And I am going to break the stranglehold in this country of special interests that have brought us an energy bill . . ."
"Senator Kerry, forgive me for interrupting," Koppel broke in. "You may have noticed that red light."
Koppel moved on to Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt: Why didn't he think Dean could beat Bush?
And so it went. Ninety minutes later, Dean's rivals left the WMUR debate at the University of New Hampshire deeply frustrated.
"I think it's fair to say these kinds of debates make it impossible for voters in America to have a chance to understand one of these individuals' issues and what they have to say," said Caroline McCarley, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards's New Hampshire campaign director, after the debate.
For months now, the challenge for Dean's rivals has been to break through the cacophony of nine Democratic voices and emerge as a viable alternative.
In the last couple of weeks, that task has grown more daunting as several polls have shown Dean's lead here steadily increasing, even as his rivals have stepped up their retail campaigning and television advertising here. To top it all off, Dean won the coveted endorsement of former vice president Al Gore yesterday, the very nod of approval from a high-profile member of the party establishment that had eluded the former Vermont governor for so long.
Last night offered Dean's rivals an important opportunity to make themselves heard in New Hampshire at a critical moment in the campaign. But this time, in addition to a restrictive format, the candidates faced question after question about Dean, polls, money, endorsements . . . and Dean.
Dean himself had a relatively uneventful night. He told his rivals to attack him if they must but to spare Gore their harsh words; he circuitously addressed a question about how he would handle the future of Iraq. And in what must have been the evening's strangest question, WMUR reporter Scott Spradling asked him when, if ever, it was appropriate for the president to lie to the American people. "I can't think of any circumstance. . . ." Dean said, before hazarding that perhaps when lives were in danger. He seemed to wait for a follow-up, but it didn't come.
In addition to being asked why he thought Dean couldn't win, Kerry was forced to say what he thought of a recent Dean comment about the role religion should play in politics. (Kerry said Dean was correct to support the separation of church and state.) A bit later, Koppel demanded that Kerry explain what Dean "has done right," given his success in fundraising and the polls.
"Is there anything to be learned from his campaign?" Koppel inquired.
"Well, Ted, I'll tell you, there's something to be learned from your question. And if I were an impolite person, I'd tell you where you could take your polls," Kerry snapped. "You know, this has got to stop." He set his jaw and lurched into a non-sequitur about MtBE, the gasoline additive that is poisoning New Hampshire's drinking water supply. "There's a couple in Salem called Lisa and Randy Denuccio. The live next to a lake. They can't drink the water. They can't - the kids can't make lemonade now. . . ."
Like Kerry, the others did the best they could to turn questions about why their campaigns were in trouble into opportunities to drill their messages home - but the moderators' questions clearly knocked them off their stride.
Koppel asked Edwards what had "gone wrong" with his campaign. "Nothing, nothing. What's about to happen is the real campaign is about to occur," Edwards stumbled before turning the question into a chance to talk about his determination to rid the White House of the influence of big money.
The second half of the debate, which focused more on national security and Iraq than polls and Dean, gave the candidates more opportunity to be heard.
Lieberman, who was perhaps the most hawkish on the Iraq war, seized the chance to elaborate on his reasons for doing so.
"I decided a long time ago - (Arizona Sen.) John McCain and I, (former Nebraska senator) Bob Kerrey and I - (Saddam Hussein) is a homicidal dictator, killed hundreds of thousands of his people, invaded two of his neighbors, used chemical weapons, supported terrorism and suppressed the rights of his people. He was a danger to us, a ticking time bomb. I'm glad that he is gone.
"But I didn't support this war for the occupation of Iraq, I supported it for the liberation of Iraq," he said.
Even the audience seemed piqued by the moderators. They cheered long and loud for Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich after Koppel asked him, given his poor fundraising and standing in the polls, "When do you pull out?"
"When I take the oath of office, when you're there to cover it," Kucinich retorted. "And I can tell you, Ted, you know, we started at the beginning of this evening, talking about an endorsement. Well, I want the American people to see where the media takes politics in this country."
The audience roared in agreement.
"We start talking about endorsements, now we're talking about polls, and then we're talking about money. Well, you know, when you do that, you don't have to talk about what's important to the American people. . . . I'm the only one up here on the stage that actually voted against the Patriot Act and voted against the war - the only one on this stage. I'm also . . . one of the few candidates up here who's talking about taking our health-care system from this for-profit system to a not-for-profit, single-payer universal health care for all. I'm also the only one who has talked about getting out of NAFTA and the WTO and going back to bilateral trade. . . ."
The Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the final scolding to Koppel. "Ted, we appreciate you," he said. "And even though you're lower in the polls, you don't have the ratings of Saturday Night Live, I showed up anyway."
The crowd laughed and clapped.
"You're right. I don't," Koppel said. "Good night."
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
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