Bush's prep for the second debate. Ideas?

[ProfessorPlum]

Ok, the GOP has been bloodied by Smirk's horrible performance in the first debate. They have learned they can't rely on JK to provide sighs or eyerolls or intemperate responses that the whore media can latch onto and use to declare Chimpy the "winner".

So, now it all comes down to Bush. They've got to somehow train him, in just over a week, to cool it with his bad onscreen self. Somehow, they've got to fill him with more talking points (repeating 20 seconds of slogans doesn't fill 2 minutes very well, they've learned), they've got to get him to stop grimmacing, rolling his eyes as Kerry speaks, they've got to stop him from getting angry as someone challenges him for the first time in his presidency (apart from that Irish journalist!).

Impossible? Maybe.

What would you advise him to do, if you were his advisors? They certainly have their work cut out for them.

At this point, clearly he can't display any anger in his next debates. That doesn't work well. But what emotion can he display? If he just tones everything down, he'll appear really subdued - medicated or worse. If he tries to be smily-happy Bush, it probably won't play well with people watching as JK tells them just what a horrible mess the economy is in - there will be smily, good-ole-boy Smirk telling people things are just fine. That's not going to do it.

What about seriousness? Can the Chimp be trained to project seriousness without anger? Maybe a world-weary kind of stance?

It's amusing to me that the GOP, having picked this incredibly weak vessel as their front for their thieving activities, are now going to be hoist on their own petard. They have a great puppet, but trying to fill him full of a good debate performance has to be a near-impossible task for the puppet and them both.

Nice to see GOP flop sweat for a change.

What do you think? How would you possibly put lipstick on this pig if you were in charge of prepping him? Has Bush had any campaign appearances this week, or are they sequesting him for a 24/7 training regimen?

[bif]

1. Maybe he should be sober for the second debate.

[skylarmae]

2. DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS - WHY GIVE GOP ANY POINTERS?

who is professor plum? Don't you think, professor, that the GOP
has moles on the DU. Explanations are due here, asap!

[Goldmund]

3. What would we do without you,

oh great defender of the Democratic fortress?

It's an absolutely legitimate question, and a good one.

[skylarmae]

7. BULL !!! SOME BELIEVE IN THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE.

LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS. What, if you see your enemy walking away from
the troops to fall off a cliff, what are you going to call to him and say "Oh, wait, not that way, I'm over here!"

[ProfessorPlum]

9. I don't really think that out of the 100 million or so

Republicans in the country, the people on this board are really going to come up with anything they haven't thought of. Somehow, the Bushies seem a little too arrogant to worry too much about a DU message board!

but thanks for having your heart in the right place. We certainly do want to see three more debate wins, and the Bushies in tatters.

[ProfessorPlum]

6. Uh, I only ask for my own amusement

Somehow, I think the GOP already has its own ideas about this.

But think how panicked they must be! Trying to train the Shrub to do anything has got to be like trying to herd cats!

[Goldmund]

4. Their one and only possible tactic...

...is to make Kerry look bad. If I were Rove, I'd tell Bush to try to get under Kerry's skin (and then I'd have to explain that I don't mean it literally). Attack, attack, attack -- no matter how unfounded, untrue or unfair; at least that will fire up his fundy base.

I think it's near impossible for Bush to charm any swing voters in the debates.

[ProfessorPlum]

8. That would be awesome! And a sure win on our part

as Kerry deftly handled the accusations (or deftly diverted them, as he did last week), making Bush appear not only a bully, but an ineffective one at that!

Oh, how I hope that is their strategy. That would make my week.

[Goldmund]

22. You and I both...

...hope that's their strategy.

Honestly, I don't see another way. Any other strategy will not only fail to win new voters, but discourage his base as well.

[r_u_stuck2]

5. He should just say

PASS, to every question. Because if he answers he will look even worse.

[CarolynEC]

27. LOL!!!

:D

[MsTryska]

10. I think he should just be himself.

the common man just eats up his sincerity, funny faces, and inability to speak english.

we think it's cute.

[ProfessorPlum]

15. Heh

.

[klook]

26. Simpletons for Bush! (n/t)

[cheezus]

11. he's just going to talk about god

in relation to EVERYTHING.

[NightOwwl]

12. I think the only chance they have

is to pump him full of drugs. But that will be tricky. It has to be enough to take the edge off, but not so many that he'll be slurring his words and tripping over his own feet. Oh wait! He does that already. Hmm, guess they will have to think of something else.

[barb162]

13. have ol'Bar pat sonny boy on the head before he goes out to get

nailed again by Kerry

[klook]

14. Stack the hall

Since the second "debate" is supposed to take the form of an "open" town hall-style Q&A meeting, the best Republican strategy would be to make sure they have as many Bush supporters as possible in attendance. They should also give these people canned questions, such as "Mr. Kerry, my name is Norman Kryczewski, and I'm concerned that you forgot about Poland." If possible, have Missy Johnson there in person. Doesn't she have relatives in St. Louis she could be visiting?

As far as tips for Bush go, the best would be "stop being such a petulant dumbass." But of course, it's much too late for that. Bush will undoubtedly follow his usual tactics of repeating canned talking points, using anecdotes and pseudo-warm personal references. I actually expect Bush to do quite well in this setting, because he does better working a crowd than responding to a lone questioner with a silent audience observing.

By the way, how do you like this distorted perspective to make Bush look taller than Kerry? (From the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates web site, no less):

[ProfessorPlum]

16. Nice

It's like watching that scene from Willy Wonka where Gene Wilder gets bigger and bigger. Way to go, whore press!


Will the audience have to remain silent for this second debate as well? That seemed to bug Chimp, as he didn't have sycophantic applause to cover up his trying to find his next thought. Hopefully silence will be enforced except for the questions.

Excellent response, by the way. You had me LOL.

[klook]

20. Unfortunately, the distorted pic is not from the press

It's from the nonpartisan group that plans and schedules the debates.

Unfortunately, I missed the Bill Moyers "Now" show that discussed the debates, but here's some info about it:
http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/debates.html

Sounds interesting.

[Philostopher]

17. They may very well simply threaten to pull out

if all their demands aren't met, this time. Remember, they didn't want anybody to show Shrub when he wasn't responding to a direct question, last Thursday. I think they knew they couldn't control the smirks and the shows of thin temper; they knew he was going to behave that way. The networks just jumped ship on that and showed him anyway. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to kick and scream about that one, this time -- it's the single thing that hurt them more than anything else, since they could have spun it differently if 60+ million people hadn't seen their boy looking like a teenager sitting across the desk from the principal.

They're hoping to suppress interest, I'm sure; hoping there's not the audience, or that they can somehow prevail on the networks that are covering the debate to get in line and follow their coverage demands; hoping that they can seed the town hall audience with people who will deliver questions like the softball shit the Naked Emperor gets at Republican rallies -- "Oh, Mr. Bush*, how did you become so wonderful? Do you feel more that your religious faith spurs you on, or supports you in your decisions?" Instead of "Mr. Bush*, my job went to India -- what are you going to do about all the jobs that are being outsourced?"

In other words, they'll try to defray the damage by affecting the environment, since they really can't do much with the man. He's clearly a bum steer when it comes to dealing with people who aren't fawning flunkies, carefully hand-picked from an already supportive cast of characters. There's not squat they can do with the guy -- he's short attention span theater. The best they can hope is to keep the cameras off him when he's grimacing and twitching, and get a few softball questions out of the crowd so they can get some sound bites for B*/C04 TV ads.

[ProfessorPlum]

24. Clearly, many of the networks were off the reservation

last time. But now with Smirk in a weakened position, do you think they'll be more inclined or less to follow their orders from their corporate masters? It will be interesting to see.

[Philostopher]

28. That's why I think they may pull an eleventh hour threat

to back out of the debate. They could, legitimately, claim that their demands weren't met -- and Republicans would give them a 'bye' on that. The networks, too, would have to cop to the truth -- that they didn't meet up to the Naked Emperor's demands -- and probably wouldn't do the same thing the second time, or else they'd have no debate. The ratings on the first one were so high, as far as these things go, they don't want to risk losing the second one -- I think they'd probably bow to the demands of the Bush* campaign.

Just my two cents -- maybe I'm wrong, maybe the whole press pool isn't full of spineless jellyfish who'd back down as soon as they were threatened.

[ProfessorPlum]

30. If that is what we have to rely on

(the press having a spine - or even a trace of it) then I think your analysis is unfortunately right on the money.

[NewJeffCT]

18. Kerry is in trouble the second debate

Georgie won't be tired from having visited the hurricane victims. I mean, this is a guy that has spent 1/3 of his presidency on vacation and another significant part at fundraisers. Asking him to work hard twice in 1 day - one time for a full 90 minutes - is just too much for him.

[central scrutinizer]

19. Spend more time

reading his pre-debate notes than he spent reading the August 6, 2001 PDB

[liberal N proud]

21. It's Hard work being the shrub n/t

[yellowcanine]

23. Wear a Halloween mask of Ronald Reagan - it's a twofer. People will think

he is the Gipper and they won't see his facial expressions either. We will still see his eyes blinking, however. Maybe some dark glasses also?

[ProfessorPlum]

25. LMAO. Nice one.

.

[bigfishsmallpond]

29. take a crash course - English as a Second Language

[Democrat 4 Ever]

31. They will find an occasion for him to cry

The man can turn on the waterworks with the best of them. He'll find a reason to work in a chin-quivering, tear streaming moment while trying to remain stoic and "manly." They don't see the inconsistency of remaining strong and resolute with a weeping, snot-nosed frat boy with "feelings." To them this isn't girly boy - it is their version of a man. Besides, it would be a good time burner. You can't screw up if you can't talk.

[mondo joe]

32. Get the ARK OF THE COVANENT out of gov't storage

It's time to dust off the Ark of the Covanent, in storage since Indiana Jones located it, and use its divine power.