Did anyone have the feeling * had the questions in advance last night?

[spotbird]

He was about to jump out of his shoes while they were being read. He had answers, which was very suspicious and the only times that he was frankly wrong were in response to Kerry's comments.

[libhill]

1. Don't know, but -

Letterman commented a few nights back, about a lump in the back of Shrubs suit jacket - what the hell is up with that?

[spotbird]

3. At the first debate he wore an ear piece,

naturally they deny it, but it was obvious.

[bushwakker]

2. listening on the radio

it sounded like he was reading a script. very weird.

[CityHall]

4. He seemes to be wired

I think this has gone beyond a conspiracy theory. He was fed facts that he probably wouldn't remember on his own. He had a strage halting delivery on some lines like he was getting points fed to him. He's never before demonstrated any ability to come up with new points while still figuring out how to finish his previous sentence.

[libhill]

6. Hmmm-

the cabal behind the puppet are getting awfully bold, or awfully desperate, to be showing their hand in such an obvious way. Call me a tinfoil hatter, a conspiracist, whatever - I've had a feeling for some time now, that Shrub is just to damned stupid to be a credible Chief Executive.

[GiovanniC]

5. I Have To Say This

IF Bush was wearing an earpiece, that means he can't even win a debate when he's cheating. How pathetic is that?

Now, if I could answer my own question with a question for a moment, is it almost as pathetic as an oilman who can't even find oil in motherfucking Texas, for Christ's sake?

How about a man intricately connected to big oil companies and foreign nations that control oil, who has the biggest and most powerful job in the biggest and most powerful nation on this planet, and who STILL can't get gas prices under $2.00 a gallon?

Pathetic.

[SammyWinstonJack]

25. Ha! The oil business....bush family bidness!

And the Moran can't even find oil in Texas! Yes indeed that is pathetic!

[H2O Man]

7. At very least, the last question.

Everyone who was in my house watching the debate last night immediately came to the same conclusion: Bush was too well prepared for that. It's not the same as being prepared for a question on unemploymen, on taxes, and on schools, and of which are easily anticipated. This was different. It wasn't a necessary question .... the one on the environment which went unasked was necessary .... it was fluff. And while Bush does have an ability to respond with snappy one-liners, this was different also. It just appeared to be a prepared question to try to divert attention from the president's dismal failure in the rest of the debate.

[spotbird]

14. My brother said that the moderator was an old friend.

I hadn't heard that before, but it makes sense.

[H2O Man]

15. Bob S.'s brother was in business

with George W. Bush in Texas; co-owners of a baseball team.

[underpants]

8. He still didn't answer them

Especially on abortion and homosexuality but then he was just keeping the bases tight.

[Rockholm]

9. When the questions were being asked/read...

Bush seemed to be listening to someone,. He certainly was not looking at or listening to Bob Scheiffer.

[Francine Frensky]

10. Yes, I definitely got that feeling. Know what else is weird?

Now, I can't swear to this, but if someone has this on tape, perhaps they could check, when Schiefer read the rules at the beginning of the debate, did he say that neither candidate had seen the questions? I don't remember him saying that.

[oddtext]

11. yes i did

the flu question for example. he was way too eloquent on that one. i thought there was a leak when i heard that answer.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

12. That's what I thought

It seemed like he was reading his answers. I can't think why else he kept pausing and looking down...uh...uh....uh...even on the biggest softball -- the religion one. He is such an empty shell, he couldn't even speak on that one from his brain or heart.

[Roland99]

13. He laughed at Bob's "email" comment before Bob mentioned the subject.

But...Bush was too hopped-up on something to be effective.

[Shakespeare]

16. Absolutely not, because that 1st question caught him totally off-guard.

He looked like a kid getting a surprise pop quiz when Schieffer asked the flu vaccine question.

[libhill]

17. But that by itself -

doesn't really mean much - they had to throw him at least one or two surprise questions, just to make it look good.

[Shakespeare]

18. eh...I just don't think he had the questions in advance.

The burden of proof is on positive evidence, and I just don't see any. :shrug:

[spotbird]

29. But he had an answer all ready.

Just about the flu vaccine. He said he would selflessly not get one, like the brave and courageous leader we all know him to be.

[Digit]

19. On some questions, he seemed TOO prepared.

[Digit]

20. I also thought that Scheiffer "GEARED" the questions to favor *

Bob Scheiffer was clearly the MOST biased towards *
I lost all respect for him.

[onecent]

21. Yes I think he definitely knew SOME of these questions! See thread

on "Check out this new ad on the DNC"..He's doing exactly what you are talking about. He laughs BEFORE the question is asked, or before the word "Administration"

[AirAmFan]

22. * had the ANSWERS. He didn't need the Qs, softballs geared to his stump

speeches from as long ago as summer 2000. It wasn't hard for Rove and Hughes to figure everything a timid Bob Schieffer might conceivably ask and craft all-pupose answers from scripts President Stupid already had used many times in the past.

Thus President Stupid had been rehearsing the answers for months or years. To prepare him for last night, all Rove and Hughes had to do was get him to choose the best available answer in response to any question. No matter what the question was, President Stupid already had rehearsed the answer he was going to give.

But on several occasions President Stupid managed to screw up even this simple a task. Did you notice how a 'No Child Left Behind' speech was his answer to questions about both unemployment and the minimum wage?

Rove and Hughes should have had a 'third base coach' standing in the auditorium to give President Stupid a signal that would trigger the answer his handlers preferred. They should have known better than to let a complete idiot call his own signals.

[Cha]

23. If you see the new DNC ad.."Not Funny"

..bush is laughing maniacally before bob gets the question out..he either knows the question or is on something or Both.

http://www.democrats.org/notfunny/index.html

[liberal N proud]

24. And his answers still were weak at best.

That is pretty bad, cheat at the test and fail miserably, but that is what bush is best at, failure.

[sunnybrook]

26. some of us thought that at the second debate

In the second debate, which was held at my campus here in St. Louis, at one point Bush said something about an issue, I've forgotten now what it is, it may have been taxes or education. Anyway, it was not relating to what he'd been asked (surprise) and he said something like, we'll have a chance to talk about that later. Some of us caught that and were like "How would he know that is a topic for later?" Supposedly Charlie Gibson picked the questions from the panel and noone knew, etc... Sorry I don't remember this more clearly, but did anyone else catch that?

[beaconess]

27. I don't

A large part of debate preparation includes practice questions on every topic the staff thinks could come up. Except for the first and last ones, each question covered a subject area that both Bush and Kerry have been talking about on the campaign trail and had probably drilled over and over and over in debate prep - health care, Social Security, the economy, jobs, gay marriage, abortion, immigration, minimum wage, the draft, affirmative action, assault weapons. I don't think it's strange that Bush was at least somewhat prepared to address each topic. Given the areas covered, I'd have been surprised if he weren't.

[dogman]

28. When the questions are based on guns, God , and gays

how could a programmed RW extremist go wrong? He didn't need the answers as long as the questions were underhand pitched to him.