Bush and Kerry Focus on Debate; Running Mates Sharpen Rhetoric [NYT]

[truthisfreedom]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/13/politics/campaign/13CND-DEBATE.html

Bush and Kerry Focus on Debate; Running Mates Sharpen Rhetoric
By DAVID STOUT

Published: October 13, 2004


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Vice resident Dick Cheney, campaigning in northwestern Pennsylvania, accused Mr. Kerry of not being serious enough to shoulder the burdens of the Oval Office. And Senator John Edwards said the American people could help the economy by firing George W. Bush.

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The Kerry campaign quickly retorted that one of President Bush's advisers, retired Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, had used the word "nuisance" in the same context just two years ago, asserting that the United States could reduce the threat of terrorism "so that it is a horrible nuisance, and not a paralyzing influence."
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This evening, the candidates were not just up against a sense of familiarity. They were competing against two baseball playoff games, which were likely to siphon away millions of potential viewers. The games between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in New York and the Cardinals and the Houston Astros in St. Louis were both scheduled to begin at 8:19 p.m.
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Randal C. Archibold contributed reporting from Oregon for this article.