Kerry Should Start By Saying Bush Will Attack Me, Not Defend His Record

[DrFunkenstein]

Everybody knows that this will happen, and Kerry will gain the upperhand by pre-empting the attacks. Kerry should lay out all the tired attacks, all the shifting of the blame (oh yes, there'll be plenty of that), all the sloganeering and talking points.

That way, when the Knucklehead-in-Chief lays out his barrage of evasion, the audience can say, "There he goes again!"

[fugop]

1. YES!

I've wanted Kerry to hammer away at how Bush has no new ideas and no record to run on, so instead he just runs on the "John Kerry Sucks" platform. He should ask people to write down every time Bush answers a question with a plan or a citation of his record, vs. how many times he just responds with a slur on Kerry. I'm guessing it would be a very unbalanced tabulation.

[ima_sinnic]

2. I agree: put * on the defensive

... what's * Bush going to say? "no, I'm not going to attack you"? :D

[kentuck]

3. There is some wisdom in what you say....

He could put Bush on the defensive with his negative attacks if he did it correctly.

[BMJ]

4. He really does

[JerseygirlCT]

5. Absolutely agree! -m

It's ridiculous that we're not talking about the incumbent's record, but rather debating the challenger's history re Vietnam.

The first question is should the guy in office STAY in office? What has he done/not done to prove worthy of another term.

On that count, he has failed miserably. So, he goes.

THEN you look at the available candidates for a replacement. IMO Kerry is a far superior candidate in every way.

But the real issue is Bush and his record in office. And his attacks on Kerry only seek to deflect attention from his own abject failures.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

6. I just posted this thread re: Bush's intent to hijack the debate:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1049360

...so Junior's attention to ignore the agreed-upon "domestic issues" focus of the debate and "hijack" the forum to thump his chest and declare himself the leader of the never-ending "war on terra" is well-documented. Bush is going to attempt 90 minutes on Iraq. Kerry cannot stand still for that crap.

Kerry KNOWS he plans to hijack the debate, because he can READ, just like WE can. He needs to slap this little son of a bitch down HARD in the opening moments. Bush is not the moderator of this debate, he is a PARTICIPANT.

The Boy King in action:

[Radio-Active]

8. will they consider national security

a "domestic issue" in this debate?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

10. If it allows him to avoid a discussion of the economy, yes...

That's the objective. Look at where Bush is strong in the polls, discuss those issues, and NOTHING else.

[Tigerlily]

7. Great idea. I agree completely.

[Catfight]

9. If Bush would point that anger in the right direction, at the terrorist we

have a very different country! All bark no bite!

[SeanQ]

11. If B* brings up # new homes

Should Kerry come back with something on the lines of "And your proud that the only measure of economic growth you haven't done historically badly at is new home construction?"

Is minority home ownership up or down?
Is home ownership at lower income levels up or down?
Is the # of new homes mostly just a factor of population growth + low interests rates?