Who's Underestimating Whom in First Presidential Debate?
by Chad Groening
September 30, 2004
(AgapePress) - A Bush campaign official is warning that Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry should not be underestimated as the two candidates meet for a nationally televised debate tonight. At the same time, a conservative author believes the president himself will be underestimated by the Democrats.The first of three presidential debates airs Thursday night on national television. The two major candidates -- President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry -- will square off on the campus of the University of Miami in Florida and will be carried on most major TV networks. Ralph Reed, who serves as director of the Bush campaign for the southeastern United States, says this year's presidential debates will be just as important as they were four years ago.
Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition, expects Kerry to be a formidable adversary for the president. He notes that when the Massachusetts senator ran for re-election in 1996, Kerry debated his opponent, Bill Weld, on several occasions. "Bill Weld is an articulate guy," Reed observes, "and I think by all accounts, in eight debates, Kerry won probably all eight of them."
But Reed says the president has a distinct advantage: the majority of Americans support his policies. "The good news is that this president shares the values of the American people," the campaign official says. "They support his policy in the war on terror, they support his policy of strengthening our economy, and they support his positions on strengthening the family."
Reed describes the president as a person who has an "infectious regard for other people" and who "naturally likes people."
"And they naturally like him," he says. "So anytime he gets a chance to be on a stage and look into a camera and talk to tens of millions of Americans, I think that's a good day for our campaign."
But Reed acknowledges that the Democratic candidate is a tough debater. "He's a skilled adversary," he admits. "You underestimate him to your detriment -- but I think the president will do an outstanding job."
Bush 'Likeable'
Like Reed, conservative author and public speaker Dan Flynn believes President Bush's likeability will benefit the Republican incumbent in tonight's debate. "One of the reasons why George W. Bush is doing as well as he is vis-à-vis Kerry is that he is a much more likable guy," Flynn says, adding Bush had that same strength going into the Election 2000 debates with Al Gore and that, because of that, he came across as a "more genial character."
"And I think that is going to work in his favor this time around," Flynn says, "just as the fact that people continually underestimate George W. Bush will help him in the debate."
The conservative pundit contends the Kerry campaign will once again underestimate George W. Bush. "They're not expecting much from him, and oftentimes he out-does his expectation level and he finds success in that," he explains.
As for Kerry, Flynn has words of caution. "I think John Kerry has the danger that he's going to come across as rather arrogant and aloof from the common people," he says.
"It's funny -- you have two candidates, [both of whom] are children of great wealth and privilege. One of them comes across as guy you'd like to have in your living room, the other one comes across as sort of a lecturing school teacher."
Meanwhile, terrorism will likely be a hot topic in tonight's debate. Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas tells Associated Press that much of the world's terrorism can be linked to Muslims' lack of personal assurance that they will go to heaven when they die.
Thomas says Muslims are taught that Allah will weigh their good and evil deeds, with death in a holy war their only guaranteed "ticket to heaven." For that reason, he believes Muslims and Arabs should receive stricter surveillance when entering the United States. Thomas says the current policy against racial profiling is making America less secure.
