American Politics Journal -- Debate Pap: Round 3

Debate Pap: Round 3
Corn-fed candiaites bicker over ethanol, abortion in Des Moines

by The Editors

Saturday Night Live was right -- they do look like the Reservoir Dogs!! (l.-r.) Forbes, Keyes, Bush, Hatch, McCain and Bauer gun for Iowa votes.

Monday, Dec. 13, 1999 --- New York (APJP) -- We tuned into round three of the GOP presidential debates from Iowa on MSNBC. NBC anchor Tom Brokaw and Des Moines WTO anchor John Bachman were hosts and questioners.

Here's a quick rundown of the debate pap.

Question one: "Do you think entertainment... [and] video games had a role in Columbine?" McCain said yes -- but also talked about parenting, filtering software, and pretty much claimed that watching porn on the Internet turns kids into molesters.

"Is there anything that a President can do to focus on the culture of rage?" Bush replied with programmed sound bites ("If there were a law that would make people love one another, I'd sign it"). Keyes called for restoring the nation's original principles, then talked about "killing children in the womb" -- one of his favorite goals followed by one of his favorite boogeymen -- then went on to advocate restoring prayer in the classroom. He called for "filling the void with faith."

Brokaw asked Hatch if violence could be tied to legal abortion -- and Hatch said yes! Then he said that the President should be "a man of integrity, decency," and said (naturally) that he would be the man of integrity to go after -- the entertainment industry! What the entertainment biz has to do with legal abortion is beyond us. Hatch claimed that the Columbine killers learned how to kill from the video game Doom -- a ridiculous statement, because they actually killed only fifteen people; if they were as good at Doom as they were at serial killing, the body count would have been far, far higher.

Bachman mentioned that top Iowa churches were calling for gun control -- and Gary Bauer slammed them for getting involved in politics. What a supreme hypocrite! Bauer then talked about Klebold and Harris giving each other the Nazi salute (he did the same thing in Arizona last week). "Are you saying gun control is not a religious issue?" Bauer talked about the sanctity of life and America raising kids with empty hearts. A shame that most of the kids with empty hearts are raised by rednecks more likely to identify with your party, Gary! Bush talked about Texas being safer -- and sending a message not to sell illegal guns. Yeah, right -- like a signal will stop anyone out to make a fast illegal buck.

Forbes finally got a word in -- talking about parental authority and "parental choice" (in education). Of course, he doesn't say word one about money talks when it comes to choice. He slammed Clinton for "palaver" about gun control with no real enforcement -- but neglected the fact that local authorities are the ones not enforcing the laws! Are the mainline churches wrong to call for gun control? He talked about churches inculcating right and wrong and life emanating from God.

Brokaw asked McCain if Medicare was broken, and McCain said yes. He mentioned the Thomas-Breaux blueprint and "one issue that has come up in Town Hall meeting[s]" -- programs that will help elderly pay for prescriptions and expanding health programs for kids. Wow -- McCain sounded almost like Ted Kennedy! Brokaw asked Hatch about means testing; Hatch replied, "I don't think you're gonna ask for Medicare... in fact, I think you could take care of all of us on stage!" The audience ate it up -- we laughed too. He was not specific about a solution, but said it had to be worked out, as he detailed projections in increased Medicare costs.

Brokaw asked Keyes about Bush and Texas Dems compromising on health for kids, incorporating "compassion agencies." Keyes claimed that concentrating on cost-containment was the answer -- and that the consumer should be in the driver's seat. Hey, Alan -- that's the reason HMOs are so popular...not! He said a consumer-policed system of competition was the answer, with voucherization. Huh?

Bachmann asked McCain why he opposed Iowa getting $2 million for fighting methamphetamine -- and McCain replied "I don't think you quite get it" -- that the porkbarreling is unfair. McCain then said, "I'm here to tell you the things you don't want to hear as well as the things you do, and one of them is ethanol," and then slammed ethanol subsidies -- following up by claiming that the other candidates were scared to say so! McCain got a mixture of applause and boos. Hatch said that Chuck Grassley convinced him to support "renewable resources that help farmers." Big applause. Bauer then said the biggest crisis in Iowa is the "destruction of the family farm." Oh, please, Gary -- they're as obsolete as the buggy whip! Drop the nostalgia! Forbes said called the current situation a "bankruptcy" of new uses for agricultural products -- words which must have warmed ADM's and Monsanto's hearts. "Let ethanol have its run to 2007 -- if it doesn't work, let it go."

Brokaw talked about main street stores dying out to change -- why should family farms be any different? Bush, like a doofus, said he'd open up markets -- but then said "I support ethanol" and got a rousing cheer. He said it reduced our dependence on foreign oil (yes, but by how much?). Keyes jumped in, saying that the New York Times ran an article on the family farm being dead -- then said that the family farm is the "bedrock" of American values, adding in so many words that we cannot afford to lose the moral nursery where cannon fodder for wars is bred!

Bauer said that "the politicians in Washington pulled a fast one" on Iowa farmers. Of course they did -- they sold the Beltway to ADM! Bauer called for a government to defend American farmers, then ranted about China dumping goods in the US. He got some applause. Bush hit back at Bauer on trade, and Bauer made a catty remark about not knowing whether Bush was asking a question. Bush said he supported Chinese membership in the WTO, and Bauer hit back hard -- saying it would be another agreement for them to break. Ouch!

Hatch talked about the "death tax" hurting family farms. There is no death tax, of course -- there are estate taxes that do affect some farm families with huge holdings that are not smart enough to use the law to prevent their families from having to pay estate taxes.

Talk turned to the minimum wage. Forbes lied by saying that incentives would bring up wages. He claimed that Europeans tried it and it didn't work -- but he's wrong. McCain talked about veterans -- then dared to go back to ethanol! The nerve! We loved it -- because it sends the message that he is a rebel and not one of the "pack." McCain said that he agreed with Bush that China would be open to exports -- and would love to send them Iowa pork when he is President.

Brokaw asked Bauer if creationism is science and evolution is a theory, and Bauer said that most Americans believe God had a hand in creation -- then lied when he said that evolution is taught as if it were doctrine. Is the elimination of the EPA a good idea? Hatch said no -- then said he would repeal the Kyoto accords, incorrectly saying (i.e. lying) that there was no scientific evidence to support them, then talking about their high cost. Brokaw asked Bush about the Iowa GOP calling for privatization of Medicaid, and Bush called it a bad idea. Then Brokaw asked Bush about a "caveat" on his web site about suing federally approved HMOs -- and Bush looked and sounded like he'd been cornered. He shifted into rehearsed "states should have control." Keyes started ranting about bureaucracies and the WTO -- it was fun in the first couple of debates, but now it's getting tiresome. Forbes said that we should remain in the WTO -- and got a laugh when he called it a woolly mammoth without the charm (we'd heard him say that in an interview, but he got a laugh from the audience anyway).

Then came the fun -- candidates asking candidates questions!

Bauer called "welcoming the unborn" the top civil rights issue of the 21st century -- would Bush have a pro-life running mate? Bush had a great comeback -- it is presumptuous to make a choice now (as Bauer did in his snide putdown of Christie Whitman), and his top criterion will be whether the running mate would make a great president. It's the best thing he's said in any of the debates. Forbes asked Bauer whether he wants to kill the IMF, and Bauer put down a litany of international organizations, lying again by saying that "America is being played for a sucker by international bureaucrats." So Bauer's a born-again isolationist.

Keyes asked Hatch about his position on the Microsoft antitrust case -- aren't we punishing the innovative Microsoft in a socialist manner (applause)? No, said Hatch -- Microsoft has been using monopoly power to stifle innovation, and mentioned one company that had its software sabotaged by Microsoft's OS. Good for Orrin -- one of our writers was involved in production of a product that was rendered useless when a Windows 95 "upgrade" by Microsoft rendered the multimedia component of the product unplayable on PCs.

Bush to McCain -- if you want to get rid of pork in Washington, get rid of the hog, and Bush's tax plan uses cuts in pork to cut taxes -- then he asked why single moms get no tax cuts under McCain's plan. McCain said Americans won't get their money back until the special interests are shut out of Washington -- "you and I can stop that tonight" and commit to swear off soft money -- "I hope you'll make that commitment." "I'd be glad to talk about it... It'll hurt the Republican Party!" McCain: "How did Reagan get elected? That was before soft money!" Bush said that soft money is people spending money the way they want -- and supports it -- "otherwise we don't have a shot!" Lots of applause from the crowd. Keyes said that freedom of association allows for soft money if it's coming from individual voters.

Hatch "colloquized" about McCain, saying that McCain-Feingold was unconstitutional! Hatch then said to Forbes "I'm gonna pitch you a home run!" Forbes: "That means watch your wallet." This was followed by a great group of one-upping zingers that got tons of applause. Hatch said he wants an anti-flag-burning amendment -- will he join him? Forbes, no friend of civil liberty, said yes -- then started talking about fake school choice. Forbes then claimed that making kids reading the Declaration of Independence would make them moral.

Finally, McCain to Keyes -- first mentioning Russia in Chechnya. "It offends our Judeo-Christian values." He then mentioned Yeltsin's comment that Russia has nukes! Keyes said he was surprised that McCain did not mention Sudan -- then said McCain was a shill for Kosovo! Keyes started talking about sovereignty and intervening in other countries, calling Kosovo a "surrender of our moral position" -- and then saying we should not be giving aid to Russia. The man is an isolationist and nutcase -- and his act is getting pretty grating.

On to foreign policy. Bush talked about America being a peaceful nation -- and should not tolerate "accidental" launches, which led into a push for the destabilizing "strategic missile shield." Would McCain give that shield to Taiwan and go to START III -- he said no to both, but did say that a sea-based system could cover them. But we already have nuclear subs, JJ! He talked about the criticality of Asia as a trading partner. Is the one-China concept dead? Hatch said that he had met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin -- and how a half hour meeting turned into a ninety minute exchange. Hatch said he supports keeping commitments. Bauer said he was glad to hear what Hatch said -- but called the candidates naive about Chinese leadership, then started talking about how "that nation intends to replace the United States," then called for a "Reaganesque" approach.

Forbes was also tough-minded, saying we should "make it clear" where we stand on Taiwan and human rights. Then Forbes, the worm, claimed that Clinton was only pushing for peace for his "legacy," then slammed Palestinians -- "I'm not going to twist Israeli arms to get a false peace." Bauer said there should be "an American desk" in the State Department, and said "it is the height of arrogance to pressure Israel to give up territory." He claimed a strong military would defend Israel. Sure, Gary -- ask the families of bus bombing victims how useful a military is when their family members are blown to bits. McCain also turned to the Middle East -- giving Clinton and Carter credit for hard work, but then claimed that Ronald Reagan ending the Cold War (a favorite conservative myth) was a major factor.

Ronald Reagan did not end the Cold War -- the Soviet realization that they could not get their people consumer goods or food, combined with the digital revolution in the West and a strong effort by Communist "apparatchiks" to move to market principles, were the real causes.

Bush turned from foreign relations to American families having the means to live -- then said that Al Gore would spend, spend, spend.

As much as Reagan? We doubt it.

What thinker has most influenced you? Forbes said Locke and Jefferson, Keyes said the founders "who had interesting thoughts and translated them into a working system." Including slavery, Alan! Bush said Christ, because it changed his heart -- then made a Pat Robertson-style altar call speech that got applause. Hatch agreed with Bush -- then mentioned Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. McCain cited the founding founders -- then named reformer Theodore Roosevelt, who shut down robber barons, made America a global power and established the national park system. Bauer quoted scripture, citing Christ and then again mentioning the unborn -- more Robertsonian talk.

Final question: Bill Buckley's recent talk concerning laws on the books punishing possession of marijuana. Bush said interdiction should be the priority -- then told kids not to abuse drugs.

Closing statements were nothing new. Forbes cast himself as an outsider out to put power back in the hands of the people, then talked about school choice. Bauer did his unborn kids song-and-dance, saying he was raising money for pregnancy crisis centers while Steve Forbes was raising money for Christie Whitman -- and again said he would appoint pro-life judges. Hatch talked about Iowa values -- and did a rerun of his Arizona closing remarks. Bush talked about his "record of results" -- and rattled off an ambitious but vague list of his issues (the 60-second stump speech). Keyes said "we are not leaving children behind -- we are killing them" then went into his losing-our-morals, surrendering-our-liberties fearmongering that his radio listeners love. McCain talked reform -- especially of the campaign finance system and its turning a generation of young voters into cynics.

How did they fare? Keyes and Bauer are just too one-trick-pony, using the same phrases and issues ad nauseum, and Forbes, smart as he is, is undone by his lack of charisma. McCain showed some real brass by attacking ethanol subsidies before a hostile audience -- in fact, he took the booing in stride and got more applause than we expected. Hatch also was impressive -- but he is the best public speaker among the entire crowd.

And Bush was far better this time around than in his previous debate appearances -- less stammering, more relaxed in demeanor, and (despite using so much rote material) striking a pretty good balance between vague platitudes and actual details.

If we had to declare a winner, it was Bush's night.