Unfortunately, Bush* survived to fight another day.

[BillZBubb]

On substance he was pathetic, almost laughable. But he used the stage to his advantage. He didn't look as small as he did in the first debate.

My guess is the media will say Bush* did well. That's a combination of absurdly low expectations and the fact that they their bosses want him to win. So, the Chimperor will get a small boost.

Kerry was good, but not as sharp as in the first debate. He let a bunch of opportunities to nail Bush* go by without comment. His only real screw ups came with the questions from the Fundies about stem cells and abortion. He came across very weak to me on those--but maybe it will play to the middle?

[Mr_Spock]

1. Dumbya is hanging by his fingernails as I see it.

And his campaign is just running out of spin. Either Rove pulls a dirty trick out of his evil bag, or Kerry slides past Dumbya at the wire.

[mmonk]

2. Actually, I think

some people will question bush's behavior after all the spin from the media. Some images of his irritation will be somewhat imbedded into many minds of those that watched.

[DebJ]

3. actually I really approved of JK's abortion message. And I'm

not supportive of abortion.
But Kerry's message will only sink in with intellectuals and Constitutionalists, with lawyers, etc, in saying that we can not legislate the ethics of any one segment of society, that we must represent all of society in our Constitution and laws. I thought his answer was the perfect answer. But I have no doubt that I'm in a small minority.

[DebJ]

5. His legal logic reminded me of something I heard in business

law in college. I can't quite remember the quote; too many years have passed. But it was along the lines that you have legal justice, and true justice, and you can't really get true justice in court, you can only get the remedy of the court.

[SoCalDemocrat]

11. Kerry needs to dumb down his message

He's hitting the 120+ IQ crowd, but missing 80% of America.

He needs dumbed down versions that are short and to the point.

[high density]

4. Yep, * survived

But there was so much to nail Bush on that I'm not surprised Kerry had to pick and choose what items to mention. I still don't understand every time the $87 billion comes up that Kerry never mentions that the president threatened to veto the bill.

Bush parroted more lines from his ads. Kerry probably said "I have a plan for that" one too many times. That said, I think Kerry did show tonight that he's going to run the country much differently from *, and I hope that appeals to the clear majority of voters who feel that the country is going in the wrong direction.

[DaveinMD]

6. my feeling

on the debates have been that they are about people getting comfortable with Kerry as their commander in chief. We're 2 for 2 on that score. We are going to win this thing.

[BillZBubb]

13. Agreed, Kerry looks mucho presidential.

Once a majority of people see that, it's over for Bush*.

[fujiyama]

7. I agree for the most part

I think he could have done better on the stem cell question, but I actually thought he handled the abortion question well.

I think he should have nailed Bush harder on the 87 billion vote. The campaign has IMO been inept in addressing this question. Kerry should have clearly said that Bush himself tried to veto a bill if it rolled back tax cuts on the wealthy. Kerry came close to addressing it (better than the other night) but I think it could have been a bit better.

Overall though I thought Kerry did very well. Bush did better than the other night, but that's not saying much. It was certainly not the same blow out as the other night, but I'd be tempted to give Kerry the edge.

[DaveinMD]

8. When I watched

I thought Kerry did just as well as the other night, but Bush did better than he did the other night. I'd be interesting on the polls among swing voters. This debate will do nothing to change the momentum of this race. That momentum is with us.

[kentuck]

9. Correct. He did not bury himself.

He lives to fight another day.

[AlinPA]

10. JK did not hit * hard on the environment. Wait till next week. *'s answer

was well prepared, rattling off all that crap on the phony programs. If someone just started following him now, they may believe some of the garbage.

[William Seger]

12. A "small boost" out of that performance? I don't see how.

Screw the media; I really don't see Bush hanging on to the "weak Bush" vote after that.

[venus]

14. Kerry's best responses were the ones on abortion and stem cell IMO.

He was courageous enough to state his views and not waver. These wedge issues set him apart from Bush. He didn't dance around the issues and stood totally unafraid. And this is how he will govern.

[BillZBubb]

19. I sure didn't see what you saw.

I wish he had said straight up: I'm pro-choice. Then go into his rationale. To me he just crabbed around without a forceful answer. To much talk, not enough to the point. In this type of setting you've got to keep it simple. But, I'd be the first to admit Kerry wasn't trying to get my vote--he's got it. He's going after people in the middle so maybe his way is best.

On stem cells he stumbled badly. As best I can recall it was only one of two big stumbles. (the If/When on terrorists being the other). He was listing the potential benefits of stem cells and lost his way. Again, his response was tepid and not hard hitting.

[Tangledog]

15. The abortion thing was OK

I think he showed proper respect to the questioner. What can you do with that issue? He shaded it as well as I think he could.

The stem cell one was a little muddier. Kerry lost his footing somewhere, and didn't quite come across.

The only thing I'd criticize him for was the very last question. B-boy was asked if he'd made any mistakes, and he just blew it. "A couple of appointments. I don't want to embarrass them on television." Give me a break!

Kerry could have (a) politely pointed out that B-boy never makes mistakes, or (b) mentioned a mistake or two of his own, in the spirit of the question. Line-listing B*'s mistakes just wasn't very effective with a couple of minutes left.

But if I could think on my feet for 90 minutes, I'd probably be rich and famous. I just was hoping for that final hammerblow.

[bigtree]

16. see the polls?

where's the 'boost'?

[0007]

18. 'Tis coming!

[Tom_Foolery]

17. My thoughts going into this debate were...

Bush REALLY sucked in the first debate, so he had no place to go but up. Kerry did what he had to do and did it extremely well. I think the repukes will spin this to such a degree that they will let their guard down. They actually think Bush won tonight. We know he didn't. They will now have an inflated sense of accomplishment.