Food for thought: tonight's debates

A companion piece for tonight's debate: some quotes from the last first presidential debate, October 3, 2000. In some places, I've added some more recent quotes to add context; the rest should speak for themselves.

Bush: [Al Gore is] trying to scare people in the voting booth.

Gore: The main issue is whether or not the Roe v. Wade decision is going to be overturned. … It is important because the next president is going to appoint three and maybe even four justices of the Supreme Court.
"[O]ver the next four years the President of the United States will appoint as many as four Supreme Court justices." – John Kerry, September 9, 2004

Bush: I believe that the judges... ought to look at the Constitution as sacred.
"[O]ur nation must enact a constitutional amendment to protect marriage in America." – George W Bush, February 24, 2004

MODERATOR: How would you go about as president deciding when it was in the national interest to use U.S. force, generally?
BUSH: Well, if it's in our vital national interest, and that means whether our territory is threatened or people could be harmed, whether or not ... our defense alliances are threatened, whether or not our friends in the Middle East are threatened. ... Secondly, whether or not the mission was clear. ... Thirdly, whether or not we were prepared and trained to win. ... And finally, whether or not there was an exit strategy. I would take the use of force very seriously. ... [Gore] believes in nation building. I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders. I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and therefore prevent war from happening in the first place. ... Some of our troops are not well-equipped. I believe we're overextended in too many places. ... I don't want to be the world's policeman, I want to be the world's peacemaker by having a military of high morale and a military that is well-equipped. ... [I]f we don't stop extending our troops all around the world and nation building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road, and I'm going to prevent that.

BUSH: [Gore] is going to grow the federal government in the largest increase since Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1965. ... We're talking about adding to or increasing 200 programs, 20,000 new bureaucrats. ... [T]he surest way to bust this economy is to increase the role and size of the federal budget.
"[A] recent study by New York University and the Brookings Institution shows there are 1 million more actual government workers today than in 1999. ... And it's not just the size — the cost of government is also up. ... [T]he fastest growth is in jobs, not spending related to defense and terrorism." - Jake Tapper, ABC News, 9/22/04

BUSH: I think the economy has meant more for the Gore and Clinton folks than the Gore and Clinton folks have meant for the economy. I think most of the economic growth that has taken place is a result of ingenuity and hard work and entrepreneurship and that's the role of government to encourage that.
"[T]he economy is moving in the right direction because of the action that we have taken." – Bush's Press Secretary Scott McClellan, November 11, 2003.

BUSH: I understand the limited role of the federal government, but it could be a constructive role when it comes to reform, by insisting that there be a strong accountability systems.

Keep especially that last bit, about accountability, in mind tonight.