Q: Welcome Mr. President, and Senator Kerry to our final debate. I believe the nation would like to know is how you would express the general theories and practices of your respective parties. Just how would carry them out?
Mr. Pres: Actually I have been doing that already for almost four years. My party has always stood for a strong defense and I believe I have shown that in my decisiveness with respect to Afghanistan and Iraq. My party is also against high taxes and I have certainly cut them dramatically to show the people that I have faith in their right to spend or save their money as they wish. The result has been a booming economy, enriching millions of investors, including the retirement funds of countless workers, and, of course, the creation of jobs and small businesses. In addition, my party has always believed in the entrepreneurship of the American people who don’t need big government to interfere with the ambition to accomplish their dreams. Surely, Ronald Reagan, the greatest president of the 20th Century, drove this into the consciousness of the people who have since profited. His famous advice to Gorbachev could also apply in tearing down the wall of big government. I shall continue these policies in the next four years.
Mr. K: First of all, I cannot allow the reference to the greatest president of the 20th Century go unchallenged: There are three other names that come to mind — and they’re all Democrats — Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy. These men were heroes of mine because of their magnificent show of leadership in crises. Roosevelt led the nation in the greatest war in history. Truman set the stage for toughness in the cold war. Kennedy by a classic combination of toughness and diplomacy prevented a nuclear catastrophe.
That said, is there any wonder I lead my party with pride in what it stands for. These three great men were not just warriors but were social engineers that built a political structure to secure fairness to all Americans. Roosevelt had the courage to show the corporate world that laissez faire belonged the 19th Century and no longer applicable in a complex society that required regulation to do business. Where would we be today without his initiative of the Federal Reserve? When was the last time there has been a run-on a bank? So much of our infrastructure today is in disrepair because little effort has been made to maintain so much of the bridges, roads, dams, schools, houses, and transportation built by the New Deal’s public works and national reconstruction incentives for private contractors.
Truman set the military on its head by executive order to end racial discrimination in its ranks. The Marshall Plan and the Berlin Air Lift rank as the highest achievement in preventing a communist take over of Europe, let alone Korea.
Far more significant than Reagan’s “ tear down this wall” when it was already destined to crumble was Kennedy’s eloquent "Ich bin ein Berliner" at the wall built but two years before, that planted hope in the German people that America had not abandoned them. Kennedy was the catalyst for sweeping civil rights and did not hesitate to use domestic force to protect the rights of the black minority. This is why I am a Democrat so that America can regain the proud principle of a fair deal to all citizens and no longer continue the raw deal of the current administration.
Q: But, Senator, you have said what they did. What would you do in the next four years?
Mr. K: In the spirit of the party of the people, I would emphasize the need for rebuilding America before the luxury of spending untold billions for Iraq. That is why it is so important not to go it alone in foreign policy. We need the resources of allies to help or enforce the peace round the world. The president’s own father knew that — the cost of the Gulf War in dollars was shared predominantly by the coalition, particularly Saudi Arabia. With the blood of well over 800 of our brave troops dead and thousands wounded in Iraq, I hate to put it in dollar terms, nevertheless, it is all the more important that with diplomatic patience we could have achieved the same kind of coalition to share the blood as well before invading Iraq.
Mr. Pres: Well, that’s history now. Iraq is now an ally of the United States and free of a brutal regime that threatened our safety at home. As for costs, the coalition is steadily growing and sharing the burden in post war Iraq. And that has come about by my administration’s commitment to diplomacy. So you really have no cause for argument.
Mr. K: And is this the strategy you will hold true to for the future in relation to Iran, Syria, Palestine and North Korea? Or will you continue unilateral action and use back door diplomacy again?
Mr. Pres: If you mean by that will I stake foreign policy on a permission slip, the answer is clearly no when our country is in danger.
Mr. K: And does that mean you will again rely on questionable intelligence to assist you in determining what danger lurks, rather than consultation with congress and allies?
Mr. Pres: This may come as a surprise to you, Senator, but the United States happens to be a sovereign nation — and we have vastly improved our intelligence.
Q: Senator, the president has clearly shown that on the domestic front he will pretty much continue the policies of his first term. What direction domestically will you take if elected?
Mr. K: I implied that earlier by reference to the presidents. There is to be no more raw deals that shaft the average American citizen. When Lincoln referred to of, by, for the people he did not have corporate America in mind. Look, I have nothing against corporations; we need them to improve our daily lives, but they must also understand that they need the people to produce their products and buy them. Before the Republicans began to run the country we called this corporate conscience, and recognizing that the laws of this land make it possible for corporations to exist and thrive in conjunction with the people they service. Government is a service for the people as well and it must have a conscience to direct it for the benefit of the whole, not of the few. For instance, in education what gain the label “failing schools” if we lose the soul of public education? There has to be a better way to commit ourselves to solving the problem in education, rather than simply the meaningless shibboleth of leaving no child behind when lurks the conspiracy to dismantle the public education system in favor of vouchers. Everyone with common sense knows that the bulwark of this democracy is in the education of all children taught by traditionally dedicated teachers who are not by the way “terrorists” because they are unionized. Nor does it take a rocket scientist to acknowledge that poor school districts are pathetically at a clear disadvantage. Corrective measures are in order: we need to prioritize these goals and the first initiative is to roll back the tax cuts for the wealthy.
Mr. Pres: I was wondering when you were going to get to the redistribution of wealth and its socialistic aims to make government one giant corporation dictating our lives. Your reference to the New Deal earlier clearly shows that your intent is to take us back to the old welfare state designed to strip our people of the backbone to fend for themselves.
Mr. K: I am not going to apologize because I perceive that there are people in dire need of help. When I retire you in January, you’ll go back to Crawford with a handsome retirement, and a lifetime of free health care, thanks to the people, millions of whom, because of your conservative thinking, do not have such gratuities.
Mr. Pres: It is evident, Senator, that you do not possess a divine calling to be president.
Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: June 30, 2004.