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From Classroom Teachers | General ideas for using clips
Campaign specific
Give your students some background
before showing this clip. Sen. Kerry has accused Pres. Bush of
misleading Congress--and the American people--and rushing the
country into war. In the debate, Pres. Bush contends that he and
Senator Kerry looked at the "very same intelligence." President Bush
has repeatedly attacked Sen. Kerry for being "inconsistent" on his
views toward the war in Iraq. How do you reconcile this? Which
candidate do you believe? How do the candidates turn the tables on
who is guilty of "misleading" and who is guilty of "flip flop?" Do
the candidates present convincing evidence? Is it better to have a
president committed to his convictions and unwilling to change his
mind or one who changes his course when convinced he was wrong?
Secondly, look at the candidates’ responses to the question about
the loss of American lives in Iraq. What do they rely on for their
answers-experience, emotion, statistics, principles? Whose response
more strongly resonates with you?
 Media literacy Imagine you could only heard the
debate on the radio. Would this influence your opinion of which
candidate "won?" How did the candidates’ expressions and gestures
influence your opinion. Are some expressions and gestures more
"presidential" than others? During the debate, some networks focused
primarily on the candidate responding to a question. Alternatively,
C-SPAN showed a split screen in which both candidates could be seen
at all times. Which production style do you prefer? Which style
provides more information? Secondly, consider the role of the
moderator. Was he fair and non-partisan? Did he lead the public to a
better understanding of the candidates and their stances on foreign
policy and homeland security? Did the debate offer a fair hearing of
each candidate’s positions? What do debates offer that other
campaign mediums such as newspapers, campaign speeches, or
advertisements do not? More ideas Watch more of the debate. Pres.
Bush repeatedly labeled Sen. Kerry as being inconsistent. Bush
charged that Kerry's view on the Iraq war was "the wrong
war, at the wrong time, at the wrong place." What impact did this
repetition have? Do you believe Bush relied on this repetition more
than substantive points? Alternatively, Kerry repeatedly accused
Bush of being misleading and of making serious errors of judgment.
Do you believe Kerry failed to use more substantive points
throughout the debate? Do the following one-liners do justice to the
position of either candidate: Kerry is inconsistent vs. Bush
promises more of the same? What role do one-liners play in
elections? Does it say anything about voters when these one-liners
become so important as to have to be repeated over and over in a
ninety minute debate?
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