Practicing Debate Theory
In the NYT today, a Kerry staffer pointed out that the reason Bush does unexpectedly well in debates is that the Bush team has a theory: "'What everybody learned out of 2000 was that the Bush people went in with a theory of that debate, and no matter what happened they stuck to that theory and they won the spin war,' said Stephanie Cutter, Mr. Kerry's press secretary." Of course -- the infamous Bush-Gore debate postulate. We think had to do with claiming to have won the debate no matter what actually took place, which, of course, laid the groundwork for the similarly structured "WMD-Iraq hypothesis." But Kerry supporters shouldn't worry, because "Ms. Cutter said Mr. Kerry had his own theory on the coming debate. She would not disclose it." Hey, a secret plan to win the debates! Too bad he didn't have a theory about the election.
