DOYLE and GREEN: DEBATE #2

Jim Doyle and Mark Green had a second debate tonight. Well, it wasn't actually tonight. It aired tonight.

The debate took place in Milwaukee at 4:00pm. It was sponsored by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation.

Joy Cardin, Scott Hackworth, and Terry Sater were the panelists.

I missed the opening of the debate.

Why?

I have a life. I eat dinner. And I forgot it was on.

So, I came in a bit late.

First, appearance.

Green looked good. His makeup was better than last time. Green had on a dark suit, light blue shirt, and red tie, like the last time. He seemed very relaxed and confident.

Doyle look tired and gray. I don't mean what's left of his hair looked gray. I mean his face looked gray. He had the expression of someone about to snap when annoyed. He looked like he had been suffering from a headache for three days straight. In short, Doyle did not look good. He wore a dark suit, light blue shirt and matching like blue tie combo. I think that added to the grayness, the monotone -- not exactly Mr. Excitement. He lacked energy. He looked like he needed to take some Tylenol and take a nap.

When I tuned in, the issue was crime and Green was speaking.

Green brought up the Memorial Day weekend violence in Milwaukee and Doyle being missing in action. He promised that he would not keep his distance as Doyle did. He vowed to be involved and be there during times of crisis. Good answer.

Joy Cardin asked the first full question that I heard.

(If you recall, Cardin has issues with Green and it showed. Read about her hissy fit here. The woman obviously holds a grudge. Also, she traded her graying hair look for a blondish color.)

Anyway, Cardin asked about the Kevin Barrett controversy, the UW-Madison lecturer that teaches that the Bush administration orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, an inside job.

Mark Green noted what a disgrace Barrett is and that he isn't fit to teach in the UW system.

When it was Doyle's turn to answer, he gave a classic John Kerry type of response -- trying to be on both sides of the fence simultaneously. Doyle said that he would fire Barrett, but he believed he shouldn't interfere. It wasn't his place.

Wow. What a leader!

When questioned about abortion, Doyle said, "The law is sound."

No, it's not. Roe v. Wade is bad law. Obviously, Doyle believes in finding things in the Constitution that aren't there.

Doyle made distinctions between the trimesters of pregnancy. He said in the first, abortion is a completely private choice. By the second trimester, it's a mixed matter. He said that in the third trimester it was even less of a private choice.

That makes no sense. Doyle yaps about women's right to "choose" (to kill their babies), yet he was saying that choice can be curtailed as a pregnancy progresses.

He was trying to appear moderate, but came off as inconsistent.

Doyle tried to paint Green as extreme and out of touch on the issue; but he failed.

Green embraced his pro-life stance.

He talked about abortion being considered a safety net, when in reality, it's a safety hazard.

Green turned Doyle's words around and made him seem extreme for being in favor of the ghastly late-term partial birth abortion procedure. I prefer to call it what it is -- infanticide.

Green said he was proud to be the pro-life candidate. Good for him. Straight talk.

Doyle's gray face lit up when Cardin asked him a question. He actually smiled. He seemed to be buoyed by friendly words from one of his allies. For some reason, it made my skin crawl.

She asked about the deficit and the budget. Doyle bragged about his great work.

Then, Green shredded Doyle's remarks.

When Cardin addressed Green, she looked like Nurse Ratched.

Her body language, her face -- it was creepy. Truly.

Hackworth brought up stem cell research.

Green, of course, talked about his support for the research.

When it was Doyle's turn, he talked about his deceased mother’s Parkinson’s Disease, as though Green had been responsible for her pain.

Doyle kept saying that Green was going to shut down stem cell research. Just more obfuscation from Doyle.

The last question was on the death penalty. Time was very short, so the candidates answered briefly.

Doyle said he's against it. He believes in life without parole for the worst offenders.

Green said that he supports the death penalty for certain heinous crimes.

In general, the debate was very fast-paced. The candidates weren't given a lot of time to respond, preventing them from droning on and on. They had to get to the heart of the matter.

However, it was difficult for them to adequately address issues fully, not a good thing; but I think it forced them to cut to the chase, always a good thing when looking for differences between the candidates.

Something that was very striking was the way Doyle and Green directed their eyes while responding to questions.

Green ALWAYS looked directly into the camera. He didn't look at the panelists. He spoke to the people out there in TV land. I think that was very effective.

Doyle, on the other hand, rarely looked into the camera when he answered. He addressed the panelists, not the television audience. So he was often in profile. It made Doyle look shifty. The impression I got was that he was afraid to look the people in the eye, albeit via a TV camera's lens.

Doyle seemed like a shady character while Green seemed honest. It was really a smart move on Green's part.

The only time I saw Doyle look into the camera for more than a glance was during his closing statement. During his minute and a half, he chose to focus on stem cell research.

Doyle tried to scare Wisconsinites into voting for him, charging that Green wants to condemn ill people to a life of suffering. Typical Dem scare tactics.

Like in the last debate, Green closed on a positive note and called for strong leadership to move Wisconsin forward.

All in all, very well done, Mark Green.