Here is my piece on the first debate, enjoy... :
Rarely in the political history of the United States has there been such an absolute victory in a presidential debate. There have been many debate defeats on a single point either substantive or intangible: the sweating Nixon comes to mind. Rarely have the two things come together. From the first moment of the debate, the tall and almost effervescent Kerry draws Bush into a long handshake (almost embracing). It's a defining moment. Bush is small, orangish-red and definitely unpresidential. That moment set the tone for the whole debate. Bush was constantly on the defensive against someone who not only had command of the issues, but tonight bent them into small bite-size pieces for the American electorate to digest. In contrast, Bush clung to the rhetoric of the stump and his oft-repeated mantras sounded like the bleatings of a petulant sheep instead of the constant steadiness of a proven leader. Even when Bush really tries to sell the rehearsed flip-flop lines his timing is just plain off. He is cruising on mediocrity and the tank is empty.
The one major unscripted moment of the debate was the exhange concerning the Kerry and Bush daughters. It was a moment where Bush could have shined in some folksy fashion. Instead, he jokes about his daughters needing a 'leash'. Once again Bush showed he wasn't so much a leader, but a run-amok frat boy. The face reddens, the joke falls flat. The sound you hear is Bush's campaign having a blowout on a busy highway. The dynamics of the race will shift in a major way because of this. Rove is changing the tire, but can they make it all the way to November with a spare?
http://www.thesyndrome.com/archives/00001121.htm(posted with permission from the author, namely me)
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