Friday, September 05, 2003
Highlights of New Mexico Democratic Presidential Debate
If you were watching Monday Night Football instead of Thursday's Democratic Presidential Debate in New Mexico, you didn't miss much.
This 90-minute forum was supposed to highlight Hispanic issues. But with nine talkative candidates, plus translation time for questions asked in Spanish, there was time for few questions and no statements.
Both Lieberman and Kucinich poked at Dean directly. Kucinich noted that Vermont did not have a military. Dean either took no bait or the format precluded his responding.
Kerry was wooden at the beginning but warmed up and told a few jokes. Gephardt snuck in a lengthy stump speech on prescription drugs as a response to a foreign policy question.
Amnesty for illegal aliens dominated the last 20 minutes or so of the debate.
"Do you support [amnesty]?"
Kerry: "Absolutely."
Gephardt: "I'm proud of that [amnesty] bill [I introduced].
Graham: switched the topic to Puerto Rico's status. "We have no yet solved what relationship [Puerto Rico] has with the United States.
Kucinich: "Yes, I'm for amnesty."
Dean: switched the topic to racial profiling.
Edwards: "They have earned the right to citizenship."
Moseley-Braun: "I would agree with legalization."
Lieberman: "Mexicans are dying in the desert. That is no longer acceptable. . . . Bush has used 9/11 as an excuse. . . . lift the cap on family reunification.
Sharpton did not participate in the debate.
North Carolina Senator John Edwards repeated his call for "a national translation center, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week" for Spanish speakers to receive medical translations. (He made a similar proposal to MALDEF last June.) Taxpayers would do well to ask themselves why Edwards, who made his fortune as a personal injury lawyer, seeks to expand a whole new category of malpractice litigation -- erroneous translation.
And, in case you missed it, Washington 16, New York Jets 13.
|posted by Jim on 12:32 AM|
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