Mr. President, you're blowing it

Posted on Thu, Oct. 14, 2004

Mr. President, you're blowing it

Missing a chance for introspection
By Linda Campbell
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/9916208.htm

In a presidential campaign punctuated by the snotty and snide, by caustic accusations and deceptively contorted caricatures, Linda Grabel was searching for something that voters hadn't seen.

When the 63-year-old from University City, Mo., meticulously crafted her question (with her boss' help) for the second presidential debate, she hoped to elicit a new piece of information about President Bush that might help her -- and other "undecideds" -- make a choice.

"I think he's perceived as being inflexible, and once he's made up his mind, that's the end of it," she said. "I was trying to give him an opportunity to show that he's not quite that rigid. … Had he shown