(no subject)
Bush, Kerry face off on Iraq
CORAL GABLES, Florida (CNN) -- After attacking each other for months on the stump and over the airwaves about the U.S.-led war in Iraq, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry met face-to-face Thursday for their first and only debate on foreign policy issues and homeland security.
Both candidates took the stage smiling and shook hands -- the only opportunity they are allowed to approach each other, according to the rules of the debate.
Iraq took much of the allotted time during the debate, with Bush defending his decision to order U.S. troops into Iraq, and Kerry accusing Bush of acting rashly without doing enough to gain support from the international community.
"This president has made, I regret to say, a colossal error of judgment," Kerry said.
Bush said he meets often with world leaders. "They're not going to follow somebody who says 'this is the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.' "
At the start of the debate, moderator Jim Lehrer of the Public Broadcasting System's "NewsHour" asked Kerry why he would do a better job of preventing a 9/11 type of attack.
"I believe I can make America safer than President Bush has made us," Kerry said. "I believe America is safest and strongest when we are leading the world and when we are leading strong alliances."
Bush said that since 9/11 "our nation has been on a multi-pronged strategy to keep our country safer."
Citing the fugitive terrorist leader behind the September 11 attacks, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Kerry said, "Unfortunately he escaped in the mountains of Tora Bora. We had him surrounded. But we didn't use American forces -- the best trained in the world -- to go kill him. The president relied on Afghan warlords -- and he out-sourced that job too. That's wrong."
Bush countered, "We pursue al Qaeda wherever al Qaeda tries to hide. Seventy-five percent of known al Qaeda leaders have been brought to justice. The rest of them know we're after them."
The questioning turned to homeland security. Bush said his administration has overseen significant changes within the FBI.
"We've ... changed the culture of the FBI to have counterterrorism as its number one priority," Bush said. "We're communicating better. We're going to reform our intelligence services to make sure that we get the best intelligence possible."
Kerry seized on recent news to answer that claim. "We just read on the front pages of America's papers that there are over 100,000 hours of tapes, unlistened to. On one of those tapes may be [the terrorists]."
Many American voters told pollsters that what they hear during the presidential debates will affect their presidential choice.
In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday, 18 percent of registered voters said the debates would make a difference. (How to read poll results)
And an Annenberg Election Survey released Tuesday found that only about half of those asked could correctly match the candidate with his position on several policy issues. (Special Report: America Votes 2004, the debates)
A 32-page agreement reached last week between the two campaigns set out the rules for the debates with great specificity, down to details such as the temperature of the hall, what kind of paper can be used to take notes and who can be backstage. (Networks balk at debate agreement)
A second debate is set for October 8 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and a third is scheduled for October 13 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.
A vice-presidential debate is set for October 5 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Earlier Thursday, Bush toured Stuart, Florida, one of the cities hardest-hit by Hurricane Jeanne last week -- the fourth hurricane to hit the state in six weeks.
He and his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, visited a relief center where hurricane victims filled out forms to get federal aid.
The president has made Florida a priority in this campaign season, after the vote-counting debacle there in the 2000 election that eventually handed him the White House.
Kerry arrived in Florida Wednesday night and proclaimed himself ready for the face-off.
The Democratic candidate told ABC's "Good Morning America" that he's psyched himself up for the debate by thinking "about America and what [Bush] has done to it and what he's doing to it today."
"It's not very hard. Boy, if that doesn't make you angry and psych you up, I don't know what will," he said in an interview taped Tuesday.
In a conference call ahead of the debate, Bush campaign officials again highlighted what they said was Kerry's flip-flopping on several issues, most notably the war in Iraq.
"Vacillation is who he is, it's his strength, it's his defining characteristic," said Nicolle Devenish, director of communications for the Bush campaign.
She said Kerry has stated 11 different positions on Iraq and the war on terror. However, the independent campaign Web site FactCheck.org Monday disputed such claims, saying its analysis shows Kerry's position has been consistent.
I watched this its decently lamn. Im sad usually i am not. Im grounded i ussualy am not. I enjoy being nice to people, sorry if you feel like i havent. I heart people. Today was cool i hope im not grounded tommorow.
CORAL GABLES, Florida (CNN) -- After attacking each other for months on the stump and over the airwaves about the U.S.-led war in Iraq, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry met face-to-face Thursday for their first and only debate on foreign policy issues and homeland security.
Both candidates took the stage smiling and shook hands -- the only opportunity they are allowed to approach each other, according to the rules of the debate.
Iraq took much of the allotted time during the debate, with Bush defending his decision to order U.S. troops into Iraq, and Kerry accusing Bush of acting rashly without doing enough to gain support from the international community.
"This president has made, I regret to say, a colossal error of judgment," Kerry said.
Bush said he meets often with world leaders. "They're not going to follow somebody who says 'this is the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.' "
At the start of the debate, moderator Jim Lehrer of the Public Broadcasting System's "NewsHour" asked Kerry why he would do a better job of preventing a 9/11 type of attack.
"I believe I can make America safer than President Bush has made us," Kerry said. "I believe America is safest and strongest when we are leading the world and when we are leading strong alliances."
Bush said that since 9/11 "our nation has been on a multi-pronged strategy to keep our country safer."
Citing the fugitive terrorist leader behind the September 11 attacks, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Kerry said, "Unfortunately he escaped in the mountains of Tora Bora. We had him surrounded. But we didn't use American forces -- the best trained in the world -- to go kill him. The president relied on Afghan warlords -- and he out-sourced that job too. That's wrong."
Bush countered, "We pursue al Qaeda wherever al Qaeda tries to hide. Seventy-five percent of known al Qaeda leaders have been brought to justice. The rest of them know we're after them."
The questioning turned to homeland security. Bush said his administration has overseen significant changes within the FBI.
"We've ... changed the culture of the FBI to have counterterrorism as its number one priority," Bush said. "We're communicating better. We're going to reform our intelligence services to make sure that we get the best intelligence possible."
Kerry seized on recent news to answer that claim. "We just read on the front pages of America's papers that there are over 100,000 hours of tapes, unlistened to. On one of those tapes may be [the terrorists]."
Many American voters told pollsters that what they hear during the presidential debates will affect their presidential choice.
In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday, 18 percent of registered voters said the debates would make a difference. (How to read poll results)
And an Annenberg Election Survey released Tuesday found that only about half of those asked could correctly match the candidate with his position on several policy issues. (Special Report: America Votes 2004, the debates)
A 32-page agreement reached last week between the two campaigns set out the rules for the debates with great specificity, down to details such as the temperature of the hall, what kind of paper can be used to take notes and who can be backstage. (Networks balk at debate agreement)
A second debate is set for October 8 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and a third is scheduled for October 13 at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.
A vice-presidential debate is set for October 5 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Earlier Thursday, Bush toured Stuart, Florida, one of the cities hardest-hit by Hurricane Jeanne last week -- the fourth hurricane to hit the state in six weeks.
He and his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, visited a relief center where hurricane victims filled out forms to get federal aid.
The president has made Florida a priority in this campaign season, after the vote-counting debacle there in the 2000 election that eventually handed him the White House.
Kerry arrived in Florida Wednesday night and proclaimed himself ready for the face-off.
The Democratic candidate told ABC's "Good Morning America" that he's psyched himself up for the debate by thinking "about America and what [Bush] has done to it and what he's doing to it today."
"It's not very hard. Boy, if that doesn't make you angry and psych you up, I don't know what will," he said in an interview taped Tuesday.
In a conference call ahead of the debate, Bush campaign officials again highlighted what they said was Kerry's flip-flopping on several issues, most notably the war in Iraq.
"Vacillation is who he is, it's his strength, it's his defining characteristic," said Nicolle Devenish, director of communications for the Bush campaign.
She said Kerry has stated 11 different positions on Iraq and the war on terror. However, the independent campaign Web site FactCheck.org Monday disputed such claims, saying its analysis shows Kerry's position has been consistent.
I watched this its decently lamn. Im sad usually i am not. Im grounded i ussualy am not. I enjoy being nice to people, sorry if you feel like i havent. I heart people. Today was cool i hope im not grounded tommorow.