The hype for this debate was so high that neither candidate could possibly have left anything to chance. Every word spoken by either candidate had to be vetted to ensure that no one made a catastrophic mistake such as the Soviet domination of Poland remark by President Ford or the lackluster response by Governor Dukakis to the prospect of his wife being raped. At this stage in this neck-and-neck race, any gaffe like those of Dukakis or Ford would prove absolutely fatal to either campaign and an adequate comeback would be too late with only forty or so days left before Election Day.
The substance of what either candidate said during Thursday's debate matters less than the candidate's mannerisms while speaking and listening. Part of what cost Al Gore the 2000 election was his attitude during one debate where he tries to physically dominate the stage while Governor Bush was speaking. President George H.W. Bush's simple act of looking at his watch contributed to his loss in 1992.
I say that the substance does not matter much because we have come to expect that both candidates, especially considering the importance of foreign policy in this election, would have preparation from the best possible sources and nothing spoken would be spontaneous and, therefore, lethal. Had the moderator, Jim Lehrer, asked an impromptu question about a different area, then what was said would have mattered.
We expect that both candidates hired the best foreign policy minds in the business. President Bush has a significant strategic advantage with the counsel of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Secretary of State Colin Powell. Senator Kerry has no choice but to ask others, probably those who are not in government positions currently and therefore away from the front lines, for counsel.
One may argue that President Bush's responses to policy questions have to be canned. Should he deviate from the present strategy of the Administration, such response could be deemed new policy and would therefore impact the global situation tremendously. Senator Kerry has the strategic benefit of being able to call out the President, which will happen in a subtle fashion due to the sheer umber of potential voters watching that the Senator will not want to turn off with an arrogant remark, on areas where the Senator thinks the Administration has gone wrong. The Senator also has the benefit of not being responsible for the current state of affairs whether you think the current state is bad or good. He cannot take the blame but he cannot also take the credit.
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