First Presidential Debate, Coral Gables, Sept. 30, 2004

First Presidential Debate
University of Miami - Coral Gables, FL - September 30, 2004

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Introduction	Question 1 to Kerry Do you believe you could do a better job than President Bush in preventing another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States?	Question 2 to Bush Do you believe the election of Senator Kerry on November the 2nd would increase the chances of the U.S. being hit by another 9/11-type terrorist attack?	Question 3 to Kerry "Colossal misjudgments." What colossal misjudgments, in your opinion, has President Bush made in these areas?

Question 4 to Bush What about Senator Kerry's point, the comparison he drew between the priorities of going after Osama bin Laden and going after Saddam Hussein?	Question 5 to Kerry As president, what would you do, specifically, in addition to or differently to increase the homeland security of the United States than what President Bush is doing?	Question 6 to Bush What criteria would you use to determine when to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq?	Question 7 to Kerry Speaking of Vietnam, you spoke to Congress in 1971, after you came back from Vietnam, and you said, quote, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" Are Americans now dying in Iraq for a mistake?

Question 8 to Bush You have said there was a, quote, "miscalculation," of what the conditions would be in post-war Iraq. What was the miscalculation, and how did it happen?	Question 9 to Kerry You just -- you've repeatedly accused President Bush -- not here tonight, but elsewhere before -- of not telling the truth about Iraq, essentially of lying to the American people about Iraq. Give us some examples of what you consider to be his not telling the truth.	Question 10 to Bush Has the war in Iraq been worth the cost of American lives, 1,052 as of today?	Question 11 to Kerry Can you give us specifics, in terms of a scenario, time lines, et cetera, for ending major U.S. military involvement in Iraq?

Question 12 to Bush Does the Iraq experience make it more likely or less likely that you would take the United States into another preemptive military action?	Question 13 to Kerry What is your position on the whole concept of preemptive war?	Question 14 to Bush Do you believe that diplomacy and sanctions can resolve the nuclear problems with North Korea and Iran? Take them in any order you would like.	Question 15 to Kerry Senator Kerry, you mentioned Darfur, the Darfur region of Sudan. Fifty thousand people have already died in that area. More than a million are homeless. And it's been labeled an act of ongoing genocide. Yet neither one of you or anyone else connected with your campaigns or your administration that I can find has discussed the possibility of sending in troops. Why not?

Question 16 to Bush Clearly, as we have heard, major policy differences between the two of you. Are there also underlying character issues that you believe, that you believe are serious enough to deny Senator Kerry the job as commander in chief of the United States?	Question 17 to Kerry If you are elected president, what will you take to that office thinking is the single most serious threat to the national security to the United States?	Question 18 to Bush It's a new subject -- new question, and it has to do with President Putin and Russia. Did you misjudge him or are you -- do you feel that what he is doing in the name of antiterrorism by changing some democratic processes is OK?	Closing Statements Adapted from the CPD transcript.