Debate #1: What I Saw

[Plaid Adder]

I'm several time zones away, so I only caught half the debate and it was 3:00 in the morning where I was. But here's what I saw:

* Bush does not look good. Lots of pauses, lots of waiting for the choo-choo of thought to get back on track, and although he was trying to keep his conviction face on, to me he sounded whiny and defensive. Then again, to me, Bush has always sounded whiny and defensive.

* Kerry has no problem being articulate and he seems to be good with rebuttal. I was disappointed in his closing statement, which didn't have very much of what the West Wing guys would call "altitude."

* The most interesting thing to note, perhaps, is that Bush himself--as opposed to attack groups like the Swift Vets--now cannot touch the character issue except with that tired old "flip flop" thing. When he got the "character" question, he seems to have decided it was a trap designed to get him to look like he was condoning the smear campaign--which it well could have been. The good thing, for us anyway, is that Bush's team clearly recognizes that as a danger and has counseled him to stay away from character attacks because Rove has now made the 'character' debate so toxic and disgusting. I think this works for us.

* Kerry seemed a lot more animated than Bush, who looked like he would really rather be just about anywhere else.

* On edit: Kerry was on the offensive all night. That's the right place to be, and thank God he's finally there.

I think Kerry came out better; but the thing is it doesn't really matter to most of Bush's base. By not falling over, urinating on himself, or shouting an uncontrolled stream of expletives, Bush did well enough to give most of his base an excuse to continue voting for him. As for the swing voters, I'm not sure they still exist.

And on we go,

The Plaid Adder

[KlatooBNikto]

1. To me the only thing missing from his dad's debate with Bill Clinton

was a Bush looking at his watch! You are dead right.He wished he was someplace else.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Well

in talks with undecideds after the debate, many were swayed towards Kerry. Personally, I think Kerry's performance may have been enough to convince many folks who want ABB but won't sure of Kerry that JK is the man for the job.

[bklyncowgirl]

3. Kerry won on both substance and style

Interesting point though. My husband who is essentially apolitical and may be getting alot of arguements from conservatives at work or on the bus, thought Bush did well on continually pushing the theme that Kerry is a flip flopper--although of course he did not use these words.

We watched it on CSPAN and the split screens were devestating to Bush. When we switched channels, I thought that Bush came off alot better.

I'm going out canvassing for the first time today and this debate will make it a hell of alot easier.

[onehandle]

4. All I saw was a petty, smirky, bitter Bush.

Was there another guy there? ;-)

[eurolefty]

5. I agree, Bush sounded whiny.

I got the mental image that Bush behaved like a teenager debating his dad. He was determined to get his point through by repeating same stuff over and over and over. This is familiar to anyone who has had an argument with a stubborn teen.

Kerry was strong. He made clear that Bush had made a mess in Iraq, and now others would have to sort it out. Bush had nothing to say about Osama bin Laden, he even confused Osama and Saddam once.

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. Again...the KEY is that these debates sway the undecideds....

Those of us here are understandably energized (geez - was hard to get to sleep last night) - those on the right are going to see it as they wish, not how it was......

PLENTY can change over these past few weeks, and last night was a great opening act....it needs to be followed up with intense, constant pressure and positive events...and MUST reach the somehow-still-undecideds..though if they are still in the middle, they may have serious mental and behavioral issues themselves!

[Jokinomx]

7. I agree with all your points. Smirky Smurf was on the defensive all night!

:kick:

[Longhorn]

8. Bush's "style" is so annoying.

He makes a statement as if what he just said is so profound that we should just throw up our hands and demand that he be re-selected by acclamation. He smiles and giggles at inappropriate times and looks so damn clueless.

And I could have sworn that he was expecting applause after some of his comments as if he was making a campaign speech before his loyalty oath-sworn Kool Aid drinkers.