WHY A TRIAL LAWYER SHOULD MODERATE A PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Wouldn't it be nice to see decent questions and follow up that puts a candidate on the spot!

TRIAL LAWYER (TL): Senator McCain, you are a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, isn't that true?

Senator JOHN McCAIN (JM): Yes, my friend, I did. By the skin of my teeth, I'm sorry to say. (quick, nervous grin and mild dry chuckle).

TL: When you were there, the Academy had an honor code which stated something to the effect that:

"Midshipmen are persons of integrity: They stand for that which is right. They tell the truth and ensure that the full truth is known. They do not lie."

JM: (Looking puzzled). Yes, we did. In fact, it was Ross Perot, who graduated a few years before me, who drafted the first code. (quick smile, looks furtively at the audience for signs of approval that he knows this fact, which was drummed into him and the other thousand midshipmen during his plebe year.)

TL: Senator, you would agree, wouldn't you sir, that if that honor code were applied to your presidential campaign, you would have to withdraw in shame, isn't that correct?

JM: (looking nervous and angry at the same time). Absolutely not! I am a man of honor and integrity, and I stand by my statements during this campaign!

TL: Senator, isn't it true that the person you picked to be your Vice Presidential nominee, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, said, and I quote: “Our opponent … is someone who sees America it seems as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country..."

JM: (hesitates). I'm not sure of her exact words...

TL: Senator, is there any doubt in your mind that Governor Palin was attacking Senator Obama for his alleged ties to Bill Ayers?

JM: Well, no...

TL: And Senator, your campaign ads have accused Senator Obama of being linked to Bill Ayers for one reason and one reason only: because at one time, Bill Ayers was a member of the 1960's radical group called the Weathermen, isn't that true?

JM: Yes, and he was linked to Ayers, and we have to question his judgment for associating with someone like that...

TL: Senator McCain, are you stating as a fact that Barack Obama is a terrorist?

JM: Of course not. I said just the other day that he's a decent man, a family man, with whom I have disagreements...

TL: Senator, are you saying that Barack Obama associated with Bill Ayers when Mr. Ayers was planning to bomb federal buildings?

JM: Of course not, I never suggested any such thing...

TL: In fact, Senator Obama was a child during the Vietnam War when these violent protests occurred, isn't that true?

JM. I'm not sure. I'll have to get back to you on that.

TL: Senator, are you saying that Senator Obama is "palling around with domestic terrorists?"

JM: No, I'm questioning his judgment...

TL: Because Governor Palin didn't use the past tense, she said "he's palling around" as in something that is happening currently. Isn't that true?

JM. (stuttering) I, I, I already said, that I wasn't sure of her exact words...

TL: Senator, are you saying that your campaign can legitimately attack Barack Obama and try to link him to domestic terrorism because he served on a school charity board founded by Mrs. Walter Annenberg, wife of Ronald Reagan's ambassador to London and former publisher of TV Guide? A board on which numerous notable Republicans also served?

JM: Of course not. (turning to audience). My friends, I would never... I didn't... but his judgment in who he chooses to associate with is legitimately in question...

TL: Are you saying that associating with persons who committed violent acts against the United States and killed American citizens disqualifies a person from the presidency?

JM. (relaxing a bit). Now I think you're starting to understand. I don't attack "that one's" character, I'm just questioning his judgment...

TL: So if a presidential candidate associated with persons who killed over 58,000 Americans, would that disqualify him from the presidency?

JM: (getting angry, again). Wait a minute, now, are you suggesting...

TL: Senator, you met over seven times with terrorists who killed thousands of Americans, who tortured Americans, who kept some of them in tiger cages, and you tried to pal around with them, tried to do business with them, isn't that true?

JM: Now you just hold on. If you're talking about my trips to Vietnam...

TL: So you admit it, you don't deny that you consorted with and associated with known foreign terrorists who had targeted Americans, killed thousands of them, during the same time Bill Ayers and his Weather Underground were committing violence against Americans, isn't that true?

JM: (sputters)

TL: In fact, you also associated with a known criminal who targeted America's financial industry, isn't that true?

JM: No, no way (visibly angry again).

TL: You took hundreds of thousands of dollars from a man who went to prison for defrauding the investors in Lincoln Saving's and Loan, isn't that correct? The man who was part of the last American financial disaster, the Savings and Loan scandal? And that man was Charles Keating, isn't that true?

TL (not waiting for an answer): And that man got you to personally visit and lean on federal regulators who had intended to look into the schemes Mr. Keating was running with his Savings and Loan, isn't that true?

TL: (still not waiting for an answer): And the Senate investigated you and four other senators who attempted to use illegal influence on behalf of your friend, Charles Keating, the man you vacationed with in the Bahamas, your godfather who got you started on your road to congress in your first election, isn't that true?

JM: (finally getting a word in edgewise, and taking a page from Sarah Palin's VP debate handbook). I want to talk about the economy, about our energy plan, so I may not answer the question the way you want me to or the way "that one" wants me to....

AUDIENCE: "BOOOOOOO!!!"