Posted on 10/22/2004 9:45:56 AM PDT by outlawcam
Not perfect, but an improvement, wouldn't you agree?
Fire and Brimstone...so are they saying that Keyes is on fire and that Obama is stinky?
Better, but still hardly reporting that would give the uninformed reader a true sense of the debate.
I swear they attended a different debate than the one I saw.
I hate the media filter...
To put it more bluntly:
I hate the media!
Have the debate on Tivo and am just about to show to a few friends. Alan was tremendous! If President Bush used his 90 second response to the Iraq question, he would be a shoo-in.
Alan has done a better job defending the Administration's foreign policy than anyone I've seen.
I know. I wish these types of articles would tell people that they can download an mp3 of the debate from renewamerica.com. However, I was pleased that they called Obama on his faux sensitivity to being labled "not black enough." When he said that, I could only presume he took offense to Keyes' mention of "heritage" instead of "race" and filled in the blanks himself, but Keyes made no mention of Obama's race or heritage throughout the debate.
Amen to that.
Keyes, Obama face off on faith, fundamentals
Panel of local journalists questions candidates on abortion, gun control during first hour-long televised debate
By Shira Toeplitz
October 22, 2004
CHICAGO -- U.S. Senate candidates Barack Obama and Alan Keyes clashed with energy Thursday night in a debate that focused on local legislative issues and personal faith.
ABC-7 news anchor Ron Magers moderated the debate, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Illinois and a panel of three local journalists questioned the candidates. The candidates also had the opportunity to ask each other one question.
Abortion featured prominently as a differentiating issue between the candidates. Republican candidate Keyes is against abortion in all cases. Keyes also quoted statistics on disproportionately high rates of abortion among African American women.
"(Abortion) has killed 13 million black babies since Roe v. Wade," said Keyes. "(That's) 25 percent of the black population today."
When asked about how faith played into his life, Obama said it plays a role in his decisions, but he does not want to impose it on the state.
"I'm not running to be the minister of Illinois," Obama said. "I'm running to be the senator of Illinois."
The panel of journalists also focused on gun control, in particular referring to Obama's voting record in the Illinois State Senate. Obama referred to the recent expiration of the assault weapon ban in the U.S. Congress and his continued support for gun control.
"It helps when they don't have an assault weapon with them when they shoot into that crowd," Obama said.
Keyes said he wanted to ensure that citizens have the right to defend themselves.
"Law abiding citizens should have a right to bear arms," he said.
When the time came halfway through the debate to question each other, Keyes asked Obama about sex education in schools. Then Obama questioned Keyes about his support of repealing the 17th amendment, which lets voters elect their senators.
Outside on State Street, Keyes and Obama supporters chanted "Obamanation" and "Take your Keyes and leave" and waved signs in favor of their preferred candidate.
Emily Koches, a Weinberg sophomore who has worked on the Obama campaign for the past year, said she thought Obama remained calm throughout the debate.
"It's always interesting," Koches said. "But I think Obama did a good job and that's the important part. What's really amazing is that he was able to remain composed in the face of Alan Keyes and his ridiculous opinions."
Koches said at times Keyes used his faith to avoid answering questions.
"Alan Keyes only has a few issues that he can talk about with authority," Koches said. "I think the way he used faith (in the debate) is inappropriate. He uses it as a way to avoid any issue he doesn't want to talk about."
Weinberg senior and Keyes supporter James Gelfand said Keyes talked about his faith because he was addressing the causes of problems addressing Illinois voters.
"They both talked about faith," Gelfand said. "Keyes wanted to talk about causes instead of throwing money at the consequences."
Gelfand was very happy with Keyes' performance at the debate.
"I think Keyes completely destroyed Obama on the war on terror, gun rights, Obama's atrocious voting record, abortion, the death penalty and homosexual marriage," Gelfand said. "In the next debate he needs to perform just as he did tonight."
The debate was broadcast live from the ABC-7 studios on State Street. The City Club of Chicago will host the final televised debate live on WTTV-11 at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 26.
Reach Shira Toeplitz at s-toeplitz@northwestern.edu.
Actually while I was reading this article, I thought it was incredibly fair. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the debates, but from what EV says about it, and knowing what we know about the liberal media, Keyes probably killed Obama...and since the media is bound by their liberal bias to Obama, they tanked, and had no choice but to be fair.
"They both talked about faith," Gelfand said. "Keyes wanted to talk about causes instead of throwing money at the consequences."
Gelfand was very happy with Keyes' performance at the debate.
"I think Keyes completely destroyed Obama on the war on terror, gun rights, Obama's atrocious voting record, abortion, the death penalty and homosexual marriage," Gelfand said. "In the next debate he needs to perform just as he did tonight."
Great job!
One of the huge sins of omission in this piece is that the reporter doesn't report one of the strongest points that Alan made several times: the fact that abortion kills blacks disproportionately, and that the vast majority of abortion clinics are located in minority communities.
Margaret Sanger would be proud...
Excellent points, indeed. I was thinking that only a truly committed baby-murder supporter would *not* be affected by such facts.
Stayed up til 1:00 AM to watch the re-run on C-Span last night. It was worth every minute. Keyes is a one-man debating machine. He handled Obama and all the biased news media inquisitors with an easy aplomb that was amazing to behold. The man truly has a gift. I'm praying that it translates into votes in Illinois. Miracles do happen.
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