Transcript
STROBE TALBOTT: Good morning, everybody. I'm Strobe Talbott and I want to just say a quick word of welcome to all of you coming out to participate in this forum on the major domestic issues figuring in the presidential campaign this year.
At this stage in the process, it's natural enough that most of the journalists and the political analysts are concentrating on the horse race, which is to say on the candidates' standing in the polls and their personal styles, their campaign strategies, the main themes in their stump speeches, and that kind of thing. Today's discussion is going to focus very much on the substantive issues facing the nation, the issues that are going to matter the most over the long term to the citizens of this country.
Those of us here in the room today who are associated with Brookings like to think of this event as a classic Brookings activity very much in the spirit of the motto of the institution, which is up here on the wall above the panelists. It's our mission to try to help develop sound public policies through independent, nonpartisan analysis and research, to promote better public understanding of the most important issues on the national agenda, and to set an example, in the way we go about our business, of a high level of civil, political, and public discourse, particularly in a season when that commodity is in fairly short supply.
We're going to be concentrating today on the following issues: education, health care, taxes, and the budget. We've assembled an excellent group of experts to assess the two major candidates' positions. We're also very pleased that there would be with us today representatives of both the Bush and Kerry campaigns to offer their perspectives and to respond to observations and questions from all of you.
Read the introductory and panel one transcript (PDF—122KB)
Read the panel two transcript (PDF—107KB)
View Full Transcript »