In the debate last night and the prior ones before what one question or topic do you wish had been asked or addressed and was not? And why?

I wish in the last presidential debate..on domestic issues..that the two approved candidates had been asked about the pending supreme court case on juvenile death penalty. Why? Because I honestly believe the right thing is going to be done...that this will be found unconstitutional...sorry but the" leader of the free world" can't go on ignoring the moral standards of the rest of the world...and it would be interesting to see what each one feels about it.

Well, this thread is, What one question or topic do you wish had been asked?

This just in: More Bush military records found after officers sign oath saying all disclosed
According to a report in Canadian Press, dated today, Saturday, October 16, 2004, in response to a Freedom of Information suit, more records were found re: GWB's National Guard service. The official reason sounded like pure Bushspeak:


I can just hear the late night comics pick up a phone and say, We're sorry President Bush, Sir. We put the records in the type of controlled climate that you recommended, but they were able to find them, anyway."

It would have been nice to hear someone ask President Bush, "Sir, you have two minutes to explain why some of your Texas National Guard Records, nearly 100 pages, including your pay records and flight logs; were stored in a dumpster behind the officer's mess."

Well, the commentator didn't have a time machine, so how about a question I would really like to have heard raised:

Commentator, Mr. President, you have been quoted as saying:


Referring to the top 2% of the income level, those persons earning more than $200,000 a year, as "your base" raises an interesting question. It has long been argued that we get the best politicians that money can buy. However, as you have been trying to shore up your popularity by appealing to a base representing a mere 2% of the population, do you think that you will find enough voters there to win the election? You have 2 minutes to respond.

What one question or topic do you wish had been asked?
I was disappointed that immigration didn't have a greater focus in the debates. Unfortunately both sides view that has a political hot potato and even had the question been asked I'm not confident a decent answer would have been had.

Doc

What one question or topic do you wish had been asked?

What I cannot believe Kerry never challenged the President on was the tax cut and how it is paid for by debt.
A tax cut financed by debt is not a tax cut at all but a tax deferral. The government sells bonds or borrows to make up the shortfall. These are usually financed over 30 years and the resultant compounded interest is paid back by everyone, not just those who benefitted from them in the first place. This is a dangerous way of doing business since your kids end up paying for the tax breaks of yesterday. Eventually more and more of your tax dollars are going towards paying interest on these shortfalls and less goes to actual services resulting in higher taxes in the long run.

Challenging the President to repudiate the Swift Boat liars would have been nice- and to truly deny, point blank, that his campaign didn't work with them.

I realize Kerry was far to respectful to GW, and there are a number of "slams" that Kerry passed by out of respect I think.

Not so much a question that wasn't asked, as a debate that wasn't had... I think that there should be a proper debate where members of the public get to contribute to the debate itself, in a moderated way.

The question-and-answer format of the second debate was the best of the three, in my opinion, but I wanted to see it go further, coming back to the questioner for their view, and then opening things up to the audience.

This would show, to a useful extent, how good the candidates are at listening to the concerns of ordinary people, who is suspect neither of them get to speak to as often as they (or we) would like, just because of the circles they move in.

As an aside leading on from this, there is an edition of the BBC TV political debate programme Question Time coming from Miami, Florida in a few weeks' time.

You can apply for tickets (which I believe are free) online using the links at their website here, which also has links to RealVideo recordings of previous shows.

I'm not sure, but I reckon it would be shown on BBC America, but it definitely goes out on BBC1 over here. It would be cool to see anyone from AD in the audience, especiallly if you stick your hand up and get to say something.