UPI Commentary: Bush Blew It on the Last Lap

[DeepModem Mom]

Thanks to skooooo, who posted in LBN, now in Editorials and Articles --

Commentary: Bush blew it on the last lap
By MARTIN SIEFF, UPI Senior News Analyst

....Bush was thrown as his last question the request to list three mistakes he had made as president. The nature of the mistakes was not specified. He could, for example, have regretted not asking for a bigger tax cut. He could have regretted not changing his mind on creating a Department of Homeland Security or approving the Sept. 11 Commission sooner than he did.

There was potentially an endless list of mistakes the president could have admitted that either were harmless to him politically or could be made to sound so. He might have even regretted not asking for more funding for hydrogen-powered fuel-cell research.

Instead, Bush came nearer to freaking out than he ever has in front of any national television audience. He refused to acknowledge a single mistake on any issue, however small. And he turned the subject back to Iraq when the questioner had never specified it. He then launched into a long and repetitious defense of the reasons why he approved the war to topple Saddam Hussein. It was at least the third time in the two presidential debates he has made the same arguments. It was the second time he made them within the St. Louis debate alone.

Just by reopening the gaping, septic wounds of the Iraq issue, the president of course gave Kerry a heaven-sent opportunity to weigh into him again with his rebuttal -- and Kerry did so, making a far more forceful counter-blast on the subject than he had even done when the two men were debating it earlier in the evening.

Will this matter? It probably will -- a lot....

http://interestalert.com/brand/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10080000aaa0614f.upi&Sys=siteia&Fid=LATEBRKN&Type=News&Filter=Late%20Breaking

[spooky3]

1. these parts are good but other parts of this story are very odd.

Bush was calm until the end? (did he miss the shouting throughout about the first half hour?)
Kerry usually appears awkward but didn't last night? (has he see any of Kerry's campaign appearances?)
Bush's fluffing the mistakes question hurt the progress he'd made with his earlier comments? (what progress?)

And, much as I didn't like to see it, his closing statement gave him a chance to recover from that question and the CNNfn audience ratings showed that the women thought he did well in the statement; men less so.