The big bilingual Democratic presidential debate was a bore. Some

questions were asked in both Spanish and English. Others were asked in

English only. Some candidates volunteered answers in both Spanish and

English — Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s burst of Spanish exhortation

sounded like he was channeling the ghost of Eva Peron. Other candidates

stuck to English. All the translating chewed up enough time that none of

the candidates gave an official opening or closing statement.

The debate was mostly on Iraq and the economy. Language issues (my

specialty) came up just twice tonight.

North Carolina Senator John Edwards repeated his call for “a national

translation center, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week” for Spanish

speakers to receive medical translations. (He made a similar proposal to

<A

HREF=”http://edwards.senate.gov/speeches/2003/MALDEF_0611.html”>MALDEF

last June.) Taxpayers would do well to ask themselves why Edwards, who

made his fortune as a personal injury lawyer, seeks to expand a whole new

category of malpractice litigation — erroneous translation.

Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean received the first question of the

night and called for Iraq to be occupied “preferably with Muslim troops,

Arabic-speaking troops.” For Dean, respect for Iraq’s national language

and culture is paramount. No word yet on whether he applies the same

principle to the United States.

The last topic of the night was (surprise) amnesty for illegal aliens. The

responses to the question, “Do you support [amnesty]?”, were as follows:

Kerry: “Absolutely.”

Gephardt: “I’m proud of that [amnesty] bill [I introduced].

Graham: switched the topic to Puerto Rico’s status. “We have not yet

solved what relationship [Puerto Rico] has with the United States.

Kucinich: “Yes, I’m for amnesty.”

Dean: switched the topic to racial profiling.

Edwards: “They have earned the right to citizenship.”

Moseley-Braun: “I would agree with legalization.”

Lieberman: “Mexicans are dying in the desert. That is no longer

acceptable. . . . Bush has used 9/11 as an excuse. . . . lift the cap on

family reunification.

Sharpton did not participate in the debate.

Both Lieberman and Kucinich attacked Dean directly. (Kucinich noted,

pointedly, that Vermont did have a military to fund in budget Dean boasted

of balancing.) This led Chris Suellentrop of Slate to <A

HREF=”http://slate.msn.com/id/2087877/”>comment:

The buzz among the press corps before the debate is that John Kerry is
finally going to go toe to toe with Dean, in an attempt to close the
double-digit lead that the former Vermont governor has opened over Kerry in
New Hampshire. But it’s wallflower Joe Lieberman who pummels Dean instead.
Rocky showed up to fight Apollo Creed, but somehow he ended up in the ring
with Paulie.