Kerry on The Daily Show
Stewart, who may as well have kissed Kerry, didn’t just throw Kerry softballs. Stewart did, however, ask questions designed to allow Kerry to rebut the claims of his critics (Were you actually in Vietnam? Have you ever flip-flopped?). And Kerry didn’t. He could have addressed the Swift Boat Vets but didn’t. Could have said that issues are complex and new information may cause him change to his mind so he’s no flip-flopper. But he didn’t. He made chit chat and stuck to talking points (Note to John Kerry: You cannot use the phrases health care and health insurance interchangeably).
Kerry kept speaking of the issues. But when asked about them, his only issue was that he was not George Bush. Kerry kept giving his statistics (1.8M jobs, 4M now without health care even though he means insurance, and jobs now pay $9K less) about how bad Bush was. Never once did Kerry detail how he would deal with those things, just the Bush was bad. And, of course, SayUncle feels obligated to point out that the president has no control over those things.
Stewart tried to help Kerry. He gave the opportunity to address things. Kerry didn’t. Instead, Kerry gave Stewart the opportunity to rebut Kerry’s critics and the president. Wasted opportunity for the Kerry camp.
Any bets on whether Bush will be on the show? And get such a cushy interview?
Update: And what was with that whole military records are public theme on The Daily Show? They do know Kerry hasn’t signed a full release, don’t they?
August 26th, 2004 at 12:36 pm
[…] air and balanced |By SayUncle| In a follow up on my recent The Daily Show posts here and here: Boy, Jon Stewart went pretty easy on Ed Gillespie last night too. T […]
August 25th, 2004 at 7:49 am
So, what you’re saying is that it is OK for Bush to completely avoid the issues and attack Kerry’s honorable military service of 35 years ago, but it’s not OK for Kerry to mention Bush’s miserable, destructive record of the past four years?
August 25th, 2004 at 8:49 am
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.
Seriously, fine attack his record but I think people want to know what kerry will do. Those questions remain unanswered. Bush has a message (fight terror and cut taxes). It may not be much of one, but people know what it is.
Also, Bush himself has not attacked kerry’s service. The same cannot be said of kerry.
August 25th, 2004 at 9:39 am
Show me where Bush has attacked Kerry’s military record.
August 25th, 2004 at 9:46 am
http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0427b.html
August 25th, 2004 at 9:46 am
Or rather lack of service.
August 25th, 2004 at 1:05 pm
I disagree that Kerry only said “I’m not Bush,” but I do agree that Stewart seriously had the kid gloves on, and that Kerry stuck to talking points. But then what did you expect? It’s a fake news show.
We’ll see what sort of treatment Gillespie gets tonight, but the last time he was on, Stewart went easy on him, too. I think there are certain types of guests he tends to go a lot easier on than others.
As for the military records, no, not all of them have been released, but it seems that most of the relevant ones have been. Is there something specific you’d like to see that he hasn’t released? Or do you just want to go fishing?
August 25th, 2004 at 1:12 pm
Oh, and maybe you went for a beer during this part or something, but Kerry did take the opportunity to address the “flip-flopping” thing. Remember, the stuff about taking a more nuanced view, and being willing to admit mistakes and change course as new information becomes available? Yes, he did contrast this against the Bush Administration’s stubbornness and refusal to change course on most key issues, but why shouldn’t he do that?
August 25th, 2004 at 1:23 pm
Perhaps i missed the subtelties of his stubborness point but I don’t recall him explaining why he changed his mind.
August 25th, 2004 at 3:46 pm
First, I wouldn’t have described it as a “subtlety,” I would have described it as “his main point.”
He didn’t explain why he changed his mind because he wasn’t asked about any one specific issue; he was asked a general question, “are you a flip-flopper.” Anyway, when you start with an essentially meaningless allegation, you can expect meaningless follow-up questions. ๐
August 25th, 2004 at 3:51 pm
Well, maybe it was obvious but i’m not at my best during the 3 am baby feedings. How did i get along without TiVo?
August 25th, 2004 at 5:12 pm
Kerry on The Daily Show
So last night, John Kerry was on The Daily Show. SayUncle calls out Jon Stewart for tossing out nothing but…
August 25th, 2004 at 5:13 pm
Upon reading a transcript, the flip-flop thing wasn’t quite so obvious, and part of it was thanks to a leading question by Stewart, so I’ll relinquish that complaint. Still, I think it’s false to say that Kerry didn’t have anything substantive to say. I’ll bet there was at least as much substance in Kerry’s 10 minute Daily Show appearance as there was in Bush’s 90-minute Tim Russert interview. ๐
August 26th, 2004 at 10:30 am
John Stewart does go easy on guests. (Especially compared to the news channels where they badger people.) That’s good of you to notice that he treated Gillespie about the same.
(I taped it but haven’t watched it yet.)
As for Kerry striking out against the Swift Vets – you’re not supposed to give credence to bullies. I mean, the whole thing is out of control and he probably didn’t want to add fuel to it. He did say that they’re connected to the administration and he’s not surprised, and as you mentioned he covered some failures of the Bush Administration. Since he’s running against the guy that’s entirely on topic, IMO.
He didn’t say specifically “I’m not a flip-flopper, information is complex and I changed my mind,” but he did explain his reasoning behind the issue people are using to call him a flip-flopper. His statement on why he voted for the Iraq resolution is consistent with what he has said in the past:
“The president promised that he would build this international coalition…He didn’t exhaust the process of the UN Inspections…”
He’s not a spontaneous, charismatic speaker like Clinton, he’s more subtle and he may have to stick to talking points to keep on topic in interviews. He only has so much time, and that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have detailed plans. There are detailed plans on his website. (They’re linked as subtopic papers to the lower right of each subject area.)
Many people agree with you about Kerry’s appearance on TDS, just not me. ๐
Your baby is so cute! I can relate to a lot of what you posted about pregnancy, since I’m due in 2 weeks, but I’ll post that in the right section.
August 26th, 2004 at 11:51 am
Good luck with the pregnancy and new edition, katie. Best wishes
August 27th, 2004 at 9:22 am
John Kerry on the Daily Show
Update: August 27 While I heap praise on our soon-to-be President in this post and describe how an appearance on “The Daily Show” helped change my mind about Kerry, many others, including Steve, Say Uncle and a Dana at…