Special Report: The Presidential Debates

Bush Misleads in the First Presidential Debate

John Kerry was clearly the winner of the first presidential debate on Oct. 1. Here are the unofficial stats. Kerry outspoke Bush by 1,142 words. Kerry paused nine times throughout the debate to collect his thoughts. Bush paused 23 times. Bush’s arguments were repetitive. He mentioned "hard work" 21 times. He accused John Kerry of sending "mixed messages" eight times. Lest we forget "wrong war, wrong time, wrong place," he reminded us of it on six different occasions. Bush referred to "terror" or "the terrorists" 21 times, but only mentioned "safety" and "security" 14 times, more evidence that he is running on a politics of fear rather than hope. During the 90-minute debate, Bush declared himself to be a "pretty calm guy," but the split-screen format showed us something different: He smirked, sighed, and shifted uncomfortably. "You could tell who won this debate with the sound off," said Tommy Tomlinson of the Charlotte Observer.

Nevertheless, people were listening and here are some of the mistakes they caught in Bush’s arguments:

"Ten million people have registered to vote in Afghanistan in the upcoming presidential election." Later in the debate Bush remarked, "It's a phenomenal statistic." Indeed it is. Unfortunately for Bush, Human Rights Watch released a 53-page report on Sept. 28 that stated the figure was significantly inaccurate. Many eligible Afghan voters have registered numerous times, believing their voting cards would entitle them to benefits or food rations, a problem believed to be widespread. The report also declared that few voters have faith in the secrecy of the balloting. Some voters claim to have been threatened or bribed by militia groups.

"Forty-one percent of those 10 million are women." This figure is also inaccurate. Tens of thousands of Afghan women, as well as men, have registered to vote multiple times hoping to obtain benefits or food rations. In addition, this figure masks regional variations. Data from some southern provinces shows that less than 10 percent of those registered are women.

"It's the hardest decision a president makes. So I went to the United Nations. I didn't need anybody to tell me to go to the United Nations. I decided to go there myself." While Bush did initially seek guidance from the United Nations, the administration quickly rejected the compromised plan of action.

"Saddam Hussein had no intention of disarming." Bush asserts that by "no intention of disarming," Saddam Hussein assumed responsibility for weapons of mass destruction and would disarm according to sanctions enforced by the United Nations. However, Iraq insisted there were none of these weapons in its filing with the United Nations in December of 2002.

"Of course, we're after Saddam Hussein—I mean bin Laden. He's isolated. Seventy-five percent of his people have been brought to justice." Not only did Bush mix up Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, just as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld did in September, Bush’s assertion was also misleading. His claim about al Qaeda refers to the deaths or arrests of 75 percent of bin Laden’s network at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, those in charge of the terrorist organization today are using the U.S. occupation of Iraq to fuel anti-American sentiment and recruit new members.

"Let me first tell you that the best way for Iraq to be safe and secure is for Iraqi citizens to be trained to do the job. And that's what we're doing. We've got 100,000 trained now, 125,000 by the end of this year, 200,000 by the end of next year." Although 100,000 is the official figure, Bush failed to mention that only 8,000 of those have received the full eight-week course of training. The others, mostly police, received only three weeks of training, a militia that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage referred to as "shake-and-bake" forces when he testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee on Sept. 24, 2004.

"As well, help is on the way, but it’s certainly hard to tell it when he voted against the $87 billion supplemental to provide equipment for our troops, and then said he actually did vote for it before he voted against it. Not what a commander-in-chief does when you’re trying to lead troops." Since the beginning of Sen. John Kerry’s presidential campaign, Bush has accused Kerry of vacillating on the issue of support for the war in Iraq. What the Bush campaign has failed to acknowledge is that the Senate process is based on voting for different versions of the bill. Bush demanded a war budget of $87 billion, to include support for our troops and Iraqi reconstruction efforts. Many Republicans and Democrats in the both the House and the Senate opposed the plan, asking for the funds to be acquired through loans, Iraqi oil sales, or financed by a temporary 3.2% increase in tax rates for incomes greater than $312,000. Kerry favored increased taxes and an inclusion of other nations in sharing the financial burden of reconstruction. When the loan provision was dropped, Kerry and Edwards were two of 11 Democrats to vote against the loan. In a televised program prior to the final vote, Kerry was asked how he would vote on the $87 billion package, Kerry stated "I don’t think any United States senator is going to abandon our troops and recklessly leave Iraq to—to whatever follows as a result of simply cutting and running. That’s irresponsible." The Bush campaign has harped on this quote since the beginning though failing to give the public the continuance, "What is responsible is for the administration to do this properly now. And I am laying out the way in which the administration could unite the American people, could bring other countries to the table, and I think could give the American people a sense that they’re on the right track."

"And now we're fighting them now. And it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work." Obviously Bush doesn't understand the seriousness of the situation if he only deals with casualty and television reports. As a member of the National Guard during the Vietnam War, he never saw combat. As for all the "hard work" he supposedly puts into his job, Bush holds the record for taking the second longest vacation of any U.S. president. Bush's vacation in Aug. 2001 was just three days short of Richard Nixon’s record of 30 days. According to an April 2004 news report, Bush has spent 42.4 percent, all or part of 535 days, of his time in the White House at a vacation spot. Since April, Bush has spent an additional 33 days at either Camp David or his Crawford, Texas ranch. Lest we question his commitment to the job, Bush reminded us of all the "hard work" he does and the "tough decisions" he's made 21 times throughout the 90-minute debate.

"Actually, we've increased funding for dealing with nuclear proliferation about 35 percent since I've been the president." Instead of an increase in funding for curtailing nuclear proliferation, Bush proposed an initial budget cut for this funding by 13%—approximately $116 million.

"Again, I can't tell you how big a mistake I think that is, to have bilateral talks with North Korea." During the first round of presidential debates, Bush insisted that a bilateral meeting between the U.S. and North Korea would break up the six-party process and "drive away China." The reality is that while the other four states have had bilateral discussions with North Korea, China has specifically requested to be excluded from the talks and suggested that the U.S. speak directly with Pyongyang.

Sources: Annenberg Political Fact Check, "Distortions and Misstatements at First Presidential Debate," Oct. 1, 2004; Democratic National Committee, "George W. Bush: Taking Vacation, not Responsibility," Aug. 17, 2004; Human Rights Watch, "The Rule of the Gun: Human Rights Abuses and Political Repression in the Run-Up to Afghanistan's Presidential Election," Sept. 28, 2004; National Public Radio, "W Stands for Women: But Which Ones?" Juan Williams, May 17, 2004; The Washington Post, "War in Iraq Likely to be Topic One," Dan Balz and Jim VandeHei, Sept. 30, 2004; "For the Record: Few Factual Errors, but Truth Got Stretched at Times," Glenn Kessler and Walter Pincus, Oct. 1, 2004; "North Korea Resists Talks on Nuclear Arms: Meeting by U.S. Election Is Unlikely," Colum Lynch, Sept. 28, 2004; "Report Urges Tighter Nuclear Controls," Peter Slevin, May 24, 2004; "Inside the Vote to Fund War, Rebuilding: Republicans Were Among the Loudest Skeptics," Jonathan Weisman, July 25, 2004

Cheney Needs to Get His Stories Straight

Dick Cheney misled the American people on numerous occasions at the Oct. 5 vice-presidential debate in Cleveland, just as his bumbling boss did at the first presidential debate on Oct. 1. Cheney claimed he "has not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11," but Washington Post researchers cite numerous occasions where he said that Iraqi intelligence had met with Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers on Sept. 11. He stuck to that story even though it had been largely discredited, repeating it at several "Meet the Press" appearances. In response to John Edwards' charge that the U.S. has sustained 90 percent of the casualties in Iraq, Cheney said, "when you include the Iraqi security forces that have suffered casualties, as well as the allies, they've taken almost 50 percent of the casualties in operations in Iraq, which leaves the U.S. with 50 percent, not 90 percent." The source of Cheney's numbers is unclear, but apparently the Bush administration has decided to find such numbers when they can be used to obscure the harsh realities on the ground. It's not U.S. policy to keep track of the number of Iraqi casualties, either civilian or in the security services, and before the war in Iraq, General Tommy Franks was quoted as saying, "we don't do body counts." According to the Washington Post, "a senior U.S. official in Baghdad estimated that 750 Iraqi policemen have been killed, but the official had no estimate of those wounded." A U.K.-based website, IraqBodyCount.net, estimated the number of Iraqi civilian deaths somewhere between 13,086 and 15,149 at the time of the vice-presidential debate. It's unlikely Cheney would want the American people to be familiar with that figure.
Sources: The Washington Post, "Transcript: Vice-Presidential Debate," Oct. 5, 2004; "Debate Referee," Oct. 5, 2004