U.S. presidential election debates, 2004

The 2004 United States Presidential Election Debates were sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) and concluded October 13, nearly three weeks before election scheduled for November 2, 2004.

Second presidential debate — October 8

Venue

The debate was held at Washington University in St. Louis in St, Louis, Missouri.

Related Topics:
Washington University in St. Louis - St, Louis, Missouri

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Questions for Senator Kerry

• Senator Kerry, after talking to several co-workers and family and friends, I asked the ones who said they were not voting for you, why. They said that you were too wishy-washy. Do you have a reply for them?
• Senator Kerry, the U.S. is preparing a new Iraq government, and we'll proceed to withdraw U.S. troops. Would you proceed with the same plans as President Bush?
• Iran sponsors terrorism and has missiles capable of hitting Israel and southern Europe. Iran will have nuclear weapons in two to three years' time. In the event that U.N. sanctions don't stop this threat, what will you do as President?
• Senator Kerry, we have been fortunate that there have been no further terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11. Why do you think this is? And if elected, what will you do to assure our safety?
• Senator Kerry, you've stated your concern for the rising cost of health care. Yet you chose the vice presidential candidate who has made millions of dollars successfully suing medical professionals. How do you reconcile this with the voters?
• Senator Kerry, would you be willing to look directly into the camera and, using simple and unequivocal language, give the American people your solemn pledge not to sign any legislation that will increase the tax burden on families earning less than $200,000 a year during your first term?
• Senator Kerry, how can the U.S. be competitive in a manufacturing given — in manufacturing, excuse me, given the wage necessary and comfortably accepted for American workers to maintain the standard of living that they expect?
• Senator Kerry, thousands of people have already been cured or treated by the use of adult stem cells, or umbilical cord stem cells. However, no one was been cured by using embryonic stem cells. Wouldn't it be wise to use stem cells obtained without the destruction of an embryo.
• Senator Kerry, suppose you are speaking with a voter who believed abortion is murder, and the voter asked for reassurance that his or her tax dollars would not go to support abortion. What would you say to that person?

Questions for President Bush

• Mr. President, yesterday in a statement you admitted that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction, but justified the invasion by stating — I quote — "he retained the knowledge, the materials, the means, and the intent to produce weapons of mass destruction, and could have passed this knowledge to our terrorist enemies." Do you sincerely believe this to be a reasonable justification for invasion when this statement applies to so many other countries, including North Korea?
• Mr. President, my mother and sister traveled abroad this summer and, when they got back, they talked to us about how shocked they were at the intensity of aggravation that other countries had with how we handled the Iraq situation. Diplomacy is, obviously, something that we have to really work on. What is your plan to repair relations with other countries, given the current situation?
• Mr. President, since we continue to police the world, how do you intend to maintain a military presence without re-instituting a draft?
• Mr. President, why did you block the reimportation of safer and inexpensive drugs from Canada, which would have cut 40–60 percent off of the cost?
• Mr. President, you have enjoyed a Republican majority in the House and Senate for most of your presidency. In that time, you've not vetoed a single spending bill. Excluding $120 billion spent in Iran and Afghan — I'm sorry, Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been $700 billion spent and not paid for by taxes. Please explain how the spending you have approved and not paid for is better for the American people than the spending proposed for your opponent.
• Mr. President, how would you rate yourself as an environmentalist? What specifically has your administration done to improve the condition of our nation's air and water supply?
• President Bush, 45 days after 9/11, Congress passed the Patriot Act, which takes away checks on law enforcement, weakens American citizens' rights and freedoms, especially Fourth Amendment rights. With expansions of the Patriot Act and Patriot Act II, my question to you is, why are my rights being watered down and my citizens around me, and what are the specific justifications for these reforms?
• Mr. President, if there were a vacancy in the Supreme Court, and you had the opportunity to fill that position today, who would you choose, and why?
• President Bush, during the last four years, you have made thousands of decisions that have affected millions of lives. Please give three instances in which you came to realize you had made a wrong decision, and what you did to correct it.

Transcript and video stream

• from Wikisource
• Real player video stream of the debate from the BBC website
• Video and stream of the debate from the Internet Archive

Post-debate poll

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup snap poll taken immediately after the presidential debate found that 47% of respondents felt Kerry had won while 45% said the same of Bush.

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Analysis

Bush attempted to deflect criticism of what was described as his scowling demeanor during the first debate, joking at one point about one of Kerry's remarks, "That answer made me want to scowl" http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-deb09.html.

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When asked about possible appointments to the United States Supreme Court, Bush replied he would not pick the type of judge who would support the Dred Scott decision. As that case dealt with slavery, abolished in the United States almost a century and a half ago, some commentators thought that Bush's reply was a rather strange bit of historical minutia. Others commented that the President's citation was aimed at the pro-life (anti abortion) voters, for whom "Dred Scott" is code for Roe v. Wade, meaning that President Bush would appoint Justices who were opposed to keeping abortion legal. http://slate.msn.com/id/2108083/ Further, the reference might have been meant to draw a parallel between the judicial activism of Judge Taney's Dred Scott decision to allow the morally abominable practice of slavery, and the pro-life position that Roe v. Wade was judicial activism allowing (in their opinion) the morally abominable practice of abortion.

Related Topics:
United States Supreme Court - Dred Scott decision - Slavery - Abortion - Dred Scott - Roe v. Wade - Judicial activism - Judge Taney's - Dred Scott decision

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