 |
Bill Press is co-host of CNN's Crossfire. He is providing exclusive analysis to CNN allpolitics.com during the election season. |
Bill Press analysis: Jumping in the political mosh pitBy Bill Press/CNN
January 27, 2000
Web posted at: 5:22 p.m. EST (2222 GMT)
Please! Somebody stop them before they debate again!
This last pair of debates, Republican and Democrat, did nothing to raise the level of substance in this campaign, and much to debase it. When candidates start to focus on jumping in mosh pits, you know they have nothing left to say.
Still, it's impossible to turn loose all seven remaining presidential wannabes on the same stage without learning something -- and we did learn a few things Wednesday night.
On the Republican side, we learned that George W. Bush is just one more suit on the stage. Sure, he can hold his own. And no, he didn't fall flat on his face. But he didn't stand out, either. He never does. Somehow, I think people expect a little more pizazz, not to mention substance, from a front-runner.
For my view, if anybody won the debate, it was John McCain. He knocked Bush out of the box on campaign reform, destroying his oft-repeated assertion that getting rid of soft money would hurt the Republican party by acidly commenting: "George, I believe that what's good for the country is good for the party." McCain also nailed Bush between the eyes when the governor equated him with Al Gore. "If you say I'm like Al Gore," snapped the senator, "then you're spinning like Bill Clinton." Ouch!
Compared to the sharp exchanges between Bush and McCain on taxes and campaign reform, the other three candidates were a mere sideshow. Steve Forbes tried hard, but was simply not convincing. Gary Bauer is the most skillful debater of all, but will soon be out of the race. And Alan Keyes, who usually performs brilliantly, was positively incoherent in trying to explain why his jumping into an Iowa mosh pit accompanied by obscene rock lyrics was OK, but John McCain's going to a rock concert with his teenage daughter was not. Pull the plug!
On the Democratic side, we learned, most of all, that Bill Bradley is a crybaby.
Somebody should explain to Bradley that he's got it wrong: politics is like sports. There are winners, and there are losers. In basketball, Dollar Bill never expected the opposition to just stand there while he dribbled down the court for a lay-up, without trying to stop him. In politics, he can't expect Al Gore to just stand there while he dribbles across the country with his health care proposal, without pointing out the holes in it.
Bradley blew a great opportunity. After his devastating loss in Iowa, this was his chance to really put it to Al Gore. Take the gloves off. Talk about the campaign finance scandals of 1996, including Gore's inexcusable fund-raising at a Buddhist temple, and say: "Look, Al. This is why I'm running. Because you and Bill Clinton have debased the presidency and I want to rebuild it. This is a corrupt administration, and you're part of it."
Instead, he wasted time with his constant complaints about Gore's so-called "negative" campaigning. Doesn't Bradley get it? It's not negative campaigning to take apart your opponent's campaign proposals. It's just good debating. If Bradley can't stand a good give-and-take without crying personal foul, he should get out of the game. But first, stop whining.
The morning after the Iowa caucuses, among the political press corps gathered at the Des Moines airport for a charter flight to Manchester, the conversation was all about New Hampshire. And most reporters agreed: this debate was critical, especially for George Bush and Bill Bradley. To do well in New Hampshire, both had to shine.
Bottom line: neither one did.
|
