President to hone skills for debating (Moonie Times)

[kskiska]

President Bush's advisers yesterday acknowledged that Mr. Bush is seeking ways to improve his debate performance after Thursday's face-off against a better-than-expected Sen. John Kerry.

"President Bush is someone who's always looking for ways he can more effectively communicate," Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman said in an interview.

(snip)

After discussing the debate with the president on Air Force One, Mr. McCain said Mr. Bush was conscious of Mr. Kerry's strong showing and his own inability to conceal his impatience with the Massachusetts Democrat.

"The impression I get from the president is he knew he was in a good debate," the senator reported. "I think he realizes that perhaps there was an irritability factor displayed there."

Kerry spokesman Phil Singer doubted the president's ability to adapt before the next debate.
"This president has enough trouble admitting mistakes about his policies," he said. "So it's doubtful that he's going to admit mistakes about his performance in the debate."

more…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20041002-122238-1707r.htm

[Rose Siding]

1. ruh roh, Phil. Don't take that bait

I really hope they don't give Bush that "lowered expectation" advantage again- where all he needs to do is show up and not wet himself in order to impress.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

27. FratBoy can't get expectations any lower than ground zero can he?...

It doesn't matter what the Democrats say about FratBoy's performance because the only direction he can go now is up.

Besides, I think the NeoCons are going to be fed a steady diet of comments designed to be so irritating that FratBoy will continue to look bad.

[MallRat]

30. I agree. Keep the bar high for *!!!

Talking points:

Bush just had an off night.
Bush resonates with the American people. He will be brilliant in the town hall format.

[Eurobabe]

2. maybe he'll come up to speed for 2024

[chicagojoe]

3. Bush knew he was in too deep. I think he will be a coward ...

...and back out after the next one.
Bush is goin' down !!!

[SquireJons]

20. He can't now,

The time to pull that stunt has past. If he backs out now, for any reason short of an all out attack against the US, then he will be seen as a loser by default. He stands a better chance actually going through the debates and then count on their control of the media to put the 'right' spin on the debates. It seems to work with the conventions.

[kskiska]

4. If he still can't speak a coherent sentence after 4 years

I'm not holding out for any improvement in debating skills in the next week.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

68. How do you hone a turd?

[annxburns]

5. Phil, phil .... please stick to what you guys did so brilliantly ...

in the first debate. Lower, lower, lower expectations.

Pretty please?

[Emillereid]

6. I think Kerry should do everything he can the irritate the hell

out of Bushit. Personally I think he's teetering on the edge anyway. He thinks he's a little emperor and shouldn't have to answer to anyone. What I wouldn't give for a complete Bush meltdown, temper tantrum, in front of the whole world. Work him up real good Kerry and then just tip him over!

[PsN2Wind]

10. Maybe if Kerry added to his stump speech

"The presidents handlers aware of his limitations will be attempting to lower the standard for him for the other debates. There not being enough time to increase his abilities so they'll make ever effort to lower expectations". The soft bigotry of.......maybe leave that out.

[Carla in Ca]

18. Domestic policy gives Kerry twice the ammo!

[jimshoes]

43. Pummel him ceaselessly

but tactfully. * does not like it when Kerry tells the truth about his administration. Give him both barrels and then fire the 16 inch guns just for good measure.

[neomonkey]

7. First, let's fix that blinking problem

Anyone ever see "A Clockwork Orange" ?

Remember the scene where Alex is forced to watch those films with his eyelids pinned open by that strange equipment...? Food for thought.

[Sugarbleus]

11. Rofl!!! very good!!

As I said in another thread: At the mention of his dad, his eyes got to fluttering so fast, I thought his head was going to take flight.lol

I remember "A Clockwork Orange". An 80's rockabilly song comes to mind: 'Ohhhh, he used to use cocaine, now he loves Jesus...but he still has that look in his eye.....' :evilgrin:

[Dr Fate]

8. He has never lost a debate, & has 4 years of Prez. experience...

...so why does he need even more "on the job training" in this 11th hour?

[saracat]

15. Interesting1 If Kerry won, as the experts agree,

doesn't that mean Bush has lost his first debate? They seem to be spinning this as a "draw" most of the time, but if Kerry won, it is not a draw!

[Dr Fate]

17. The media says there were no "home-runs" by Kerry....

That means that Kerry still has the soft biggotry of low expectations against him...

[truthisfreedom]

44. he's certainly on base.

[Cha]

73. Kerry didn't need any "homeruns"...

he won by a 1000 paper cuts!

[madaboutharry]

9. This Mehlman guy is a

complete twit. Where the hell do people like this come from? "The president is someone who is always looking for ways to more effectively communicate." What a crock. The man is 58 years old. Lets face it, he doesn't give enough of a shit about anyone to even think about how he communicates. This entire crowd makes me sick. This Mehlman guy ought to go find a job selling aluminum siding come Nov. 3rd.

[MADem]

26. He's one of the self-loathers in the GOP

Supposedly the gay activists have him on the "shove him out of the closet" list. It'll happen eventually, but one can only hope it will happen before the election. That way, all the questions to him can be prefaced "As a gay man who supports the anti-gay policies of the administration...."

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. If he wants to do better,

he should have a couple of drinks before the debate. Then he won't be so wooden.

[coreystone]

24. Although I don't know......

Bush "SEEMED" to be medicated. I can't put my finger on it, but, he just didn't appear to be even on "HIS" game.! ???

:think:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

33. I agree...

That's why I think Kerry needs to watch it in the next debate. I can't help but wonder if this was all a ploy designed to throw Kerry off guard in the second round.

Or maybe, as someone suggested, Dumbyass has been hitting the bottle again. If so, I hope he continues his debates along the same line as the first. It could make Kerry a shoo-in.

[saskatoon]

45. medicated?

I don't know, tho' I don't think so and I'll tell you why. Didn't you notice how his face seemed to swell like he was going to Blowup and his handlers said you gotta warch against that---fraNKLY i THOUGHT HE MITE HAVE A STROKE

[LibDemAlways]

13. If the chimp shows up at the town hall debate

Kerry ought to use part of his first answer to thank the "uncommitted" voters for attending, and then slip this in: "Under normal circumstances, of course, you wouldn't be permitted to see this President at a campaign rally. His audience is carefully screened and includes only voters willing to sign a loyalty oath. But you are always welcome at my campaign events. In a Democracy the political process must be free and open, and I encourage all citizens to participate."

Chimp would shit his pants.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Then rules forbid personal attacks that are that

obvious, even if true....

I am sure Kerry will find ways to annoy, pester and discombulate Bush any day of the week and twice on Sunday without breaking them rules the RADICALS insisted on

;-)

[LibDemAlways]

19. OK. Maybe Kerry could phrase it

something like, "I hope that in the next month many voters will attend Kerry/Edwards campaign rallies around the country. We Democrats believe in a free and open exchange of ideas, and all citizens are welcome -- including those who may disagree with us. No one is asked to sign a loyalty oath at our rallies."

[RobertDevereaux]

23. Second that!

Kerry campaign, take note!

[leftchick]

25. You Know JK mentioned it at a campaign stop in my city!

At the very start of his town hall like speech he said it was great to be here and unlike some places you were not required to take a loyalty pledge! Then when he was about to take questions from the audience he said... " i will take any questions and they will not be pre-screened"!

God he was great! :)

[Demoiselle]

49. That's it! Perfectly put.

eom

[gavodotcom]

16. That's awesome!

And if Bush was smart, he'd ask the undecided voters where they're going after the debate or what their favorite color is.

He could just sit back and watch the confusion for 90 minutes and give his ass more time to heal from Thurs. night.

[union_maid]

21. It's bad enough when you're naturally incoherent

But when you conduct your campaign with loyalty oaths, even a little foray out of the bubble is going to put you out of your depth.

[tanyev]

22. I don't know...

The town hall format is GW's strong suit. It's going to be really, really tough.

;-)

[July]

29. Yes, it sure is his strong suit (wink back).

He won't feel any pressure to redeem his sorry-ass performance in the first debate.

He'll be very comfortable outside of the bubble because he's such a regular Joe.

Now that he's past the debate on his "strength" (foreign policy), he will be so relaxed to discuss his not-so-strong areas of responsibility.

Seriously, though, I think he WILL do his utmost to deliver "applause lines," which is the only help he can really give himself.

[readmylips]

28. Tee-ball kid forcing himself to play Major League...

the guy is a dry drunk loser. He's a born again kkkristian through Billy Graham placing hands on him. To get to the major leagues, little georgie needs to again enter his mama's uterus. Born again works if you're a tele-evangelist and want to become super rich, but not to be the leader of the free world.

[progressivebydesign]

31. Why that is bullshit... If Bush couldn't get it together for that debate..

..the very FIRST debate, the most important, really.. then why are we to believe he can study and prepare even more to improve. You cannot change a person's personality like that... Bush wears his anger, competitive nature, and ignorance on his sleeve. He was already doped up for that debate (note the cotton mouth), how much Indural can they pump in him before he just collapses?

[VegasWolf]

32. I do think the medication is getting to him -- his arrogant manner

clearly showed that he thought having to be at the debate
was beneath him, the room was 68 degrees and he was drinking
water like a horse, his eyes and facial ticks certainly
reveal a troubled mind, when he would answer Kerry's assertions
it seemed as if Bush was on autopilot and his head would fall
to his right side and his body was slumped. I think the pressure
of the campaign is getting to him. Normally, I would hate to see
anyone have a complete mental breakdown, but in this case the
safety of the world is more important.

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional

[drscm]

34. Irritability factor?

Call it what it was.

A spoiled brat and bully who reacted when he was finally confronted with the harm he has caused.

[SilverSurfer]

35. Practiced all night long

it seems that both candidates procrastinated by waiting until the last weekend to practice their debate speeches.

[Fovea]

36. Debate is Hard!

Let's go shopping!

Really, I think that we just need to keep the pressure on. Cheney/Edwards is going to be brutal. And I don't think
Bush will go into the town hall unarmed.

Kerry made Bush reframe the whole FP debate and made him just stutter out over and over... President'in is hard work!

And he will continue to say creepy things to his fundy base, while looking more and more depraved. Kerry will probably be able to hit him with the left hook again, because he is, after all, incurious George.

If we are careful, the debates will put Bush so far behind, that cheating will be entirely transparent.

But we are all going to have to wait for the last of the October Surprizes to flop, stagger, and explode onto the scene.
Karl Rove's is not the one I am most concerned about. And the more I think about that, the more I think that Rove/Cheney/Rummy put us there. Condi Rice put us there. Traitors like the Plame leakers, and the stand down on counter terror PNAC kids put us there. And we need to win and then smack them in a hard and lasting way.

Let's roll the RICO all over the NeoCon money machine. Oh yeah, all we need to do is to win-- big. If Edwards can resist getting angry at Cheney and Kerry can hammer it home on Debate 2, his coattails will be as wings of steel.

This will be the most exciting October of my life. This will not be a traditional Halloween. It will be Old Samhain, and the gates will be wide open.
Some things will leave, and I suspect some will arrive, blinking confusedly in the unexpected light. Some will be good things, some bad, look closely and see clearly. We need to be wide awake boys and girls for the next few weeks. Good hunting, in the start of this new age!

[CarolynEC]

37. And when Bush bombs again: "Bush can't learn from mistakes" n/t

[wildflower]

38. It may be tough to come back from this...remember Gore

trying to tone things down for the second debate, and then changing again in the third. Pointed out to us with the media's help, of course.

If * tries to change, he might look like he's trying too hard. I don't know.

But as I mentioned in another thread, one thing he might do in the town hall debates is continually invoke religion for everyone's viewing (and voting) pleasure. It's one of his supposed strong bonds with the "folks."

-wildflower

[SammyWinstonJack]

39. If he invokes the religion thing, how many people will he offend?

Me for one, although, I don't think he can possibly offend me more than he already has. Not everyone in this Country hold religious beliefs and some who do, prefer to keep their beliefs to themselves and appreciate others doing the same. bush* pushing his born again crap off on millions of viewers like those I mentioned, isn't going to win him points. Besides I think all but his loyal religious bushbot would only see his born again status for what it really is, phony pandering for votes. That's how I see it.

[bagnana]

40. He (Bush) will do fine in the town hall debate.

He will portray himself as a simple talkin down home guy who believes in a few simple truths:

God, family, and country. His presidency is built on that and that is how he governs. Some people may not like that but in the end it is he who has to answer to a higher power as to whether he has done right by the American people, and he knows that he has.

I expect continuous pap like that.

[wildflower]

48. I don't know what the statistics are on this, but isn't the religion part

of his appeal to a sizable percentage? Or maybe his base, anyway--at the very least, it helps to energize them.

I'm also not sure of the statistics on what percentage of the country is religious, but it's pretty high. That doesn't mean they appreciate religion being trotted out gratuitously or want it to be mixed with politics.

The separation of church and state was one of the founding principles of this country, for good reason, I believe. It scares me to see us going further and further in the opposite direction.

Anyway, I strayed off-topic. I do think some (many?) people appreciate his statements like "my prayers are with you."

I know for myself, even though I'm not Christian, or particularly religious in the traditional sense, when someone has offered me good wishes based on their religious beliefs, I've taken them in the spirit in which they're intended. (Prosyletizing, however, is another matter.) And I'm interested in meditation and in studies on prayer, so I keep an open mind.

I think how we react also depends a lot on the lens through which we see the candidate, and what we know about how that candidate views religion. I can't help feeling suspicious rather than appreciative when * invokes religion.

-wildflower

[calimary]

53. If indeed he does change techniques, doesn't that make him a flip-flopper?

And shouldn't we say so?

Again and AGAIN AND AGAIN!!!!!!!!!???!?!?

[Skittles]

41. it won't work

that moronic bastard cannot help himself. HE HAS TO DEFEND HIS RECORD. That would make anyone make a face like they just found a pubic hair in their soup.

[0007]

42. OMG!! that's like trying to potty train a six month old baby! Good Luck

This ought will be a classic worthy of any comic show.

[Tight_rope]

64. LMBAO...I totally agree with you....Bush* is to stupid to change!

[snippy]

46. Bush is going to remake his personality for the second debate.

Bush will attempt to redefine who he is by changing his behavior.

Bush is seeking advice and coaching on how he can change himself so that he will appear to be more presidential to the American people.

A well coached Bush will attempt to be more appealing to the voters by acting more responsible and mature.

Bush has decided that he must alter the perception voters have of him.

[jimshoes]

52. Responsible and mature

Both traits are foreign to him. Too late in life to learn them now. It would cause a meltdown. Very hard to fake if you don't even have the basic fundamentals. You don't get mature and responsible in a week's time for Pete's sake. Besides he'd be concentrating so much on the resposible and mature thing he'd totally mangle his prepared lines and sound like the phony he really is.

[snippy]

61. Exactly. He needs to be mocked for trying. n/t

[Tight_rope]

65. It won't work...The arrogance and ignorance is embedded in him!

[6th Borough]

47. The only chance he has is to pull a Billy Madison ;) /NT

[The_Casual_Observer]

50. Good luck! chimp looks to be headed for a nervous breakdown on National

TV. At one time you would think something like this to be impossible, but these days anything is possible.

He is out on the road every fucking day, everything is going badly, and the polls will probably get worse as gas prices continue to rise, the stock market continues in the doldrums, and Iraq goes further in the shitter. Lookout below, bush.

[VegasWolf]

54. Imagine how bad it would be if he didn't have God on his side!

[Tight_rope]

66. LMBAO....tell me about it!

[jmowreader]

51. His debating skills don't need to be "honed"

They need to be thrown on a three-axis CNC grinder and shaped afresh.

Message to Bush: You guys are up against a prosecutor who throws mafiosa in jail and a plaintiff's lawyer who eats CEOs for breakfast. Their C game will bury your A game.

[Pump Man]

55. Bush showed up for a knife fight without knife

 Bush got sliced and diced Thursday nite by future President
Kerry. What does he do next debate on economy. We can not see
what gone on overseas but we can see what gone on at home.
Things are getting worse

[stevedeshazer]

63. Welcome, aaawaterpumprepair

I agree with you. :)

[jackieforthedems]

56. Can't Wait 'Til Debate #2!!!

Bush is really going to look stupid - even more so than last Thursday night - lol!!!:7

[UCLA Dem]

57. Just sent an email to the Kerry camp about this.

I really think they need to keep downplaying expectations like the did so brilliantly before the first debate.

I think everyone should email them about this.

We can't let Shrub play the whole "I'm so dumb and standing up and talking at the same time equates a victory for me!"

[VegasWolf]

58. "hone skills" = increase medication n/t

[Barkley]

59. Bush Will Use the Gay Marriage Issue in the 2nd Debate

I'm not sure how much traction this issue will give him but I'm willing to bet he's going to try to portray himself as the defender of marriage between a man and a woman.

Although I think most voters are against gay marriage, I think the idea of a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman is over the top for many people.

[AKing]

60. What skills?

The use of that word in describing Bunnypants is criminal!

[are_we_united_yet]

62. How about

Honing your skills in making good policies instead?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

67. Bush hoping for another national disaster to get emotionally stressed

and blame his coming debate collapse on that. How is Mount St. Helens shaping up for the Chimp?

[Lisa]

69. isn't this like trying to "hone" a mound of Jello?

Given that the man consistently ignores the whole concept of communicating, he might as well have no skills at all.

[lexicon089]

70. well...

if he wants to have any affect bush needs to do something about his studdering.

[Deja Q]

71. * ha had 4 years. He sounds as hackneyed today as he did back then.

He's not good speaking on his feet.

[Cha]

72. That's what they get for "misunderestimating"

..our guy!

Never expected bush to blow it, eh?..I guess they've been believing their own press.