There's nothing Bush can change about himself in time for the next debate

[bigtree]

His whole shtick is a smirk, a phony southern accent, and a defensive whine.

I expect Bush to take his next debate performance to the red zone on the shrill meter. He'll allow no one in his presence who will snap him out of his fantasyland and convince him to change his adolescent lines of attack before he locks in this image he offered to viewers last night of a smart-aleck suck-up who needs an ass-kicking.

He'll get the same Cheney corporate lapdog cheerleaders who will tell him that all he needs to do is dish out more of the same sing-song slander that tears at the fabric of our democracy and gives aid and comfort to those who would exploit our hard earned sacrifices for greed and power.

The president's promoters all crowed before the debate about Bush's plain-spokeness. 'Plain-spoken' is one of those expressions that has no meaning independent of whatever bull you want to lay on top of it. Bush took plain-spokeness and reduced it to dirt-dumb, accented by the equally foolish expressions he used to signal his contempt for John's answers. His toady, spokesman Dan Bartlett, said Bush's telegraphed smirks showed that he wears his "emotions on his sleeve", another invented phrase used to explain away the shallowness of this counterfeit loser.

I think I'll steal one of those invented Bushisms to declare the president's performance a . . . 'catastrophic success'.

[latebloomer]

1. how about a brain transplant? n/t

[RetroLounge]

2. After last night I hope he changed his shorts!

RL

[Mojambo]

3. Interesting take.

I think it's possible that he makes an over-correction in the other direction. That's what happened to Al Gore when he was attacked for his mannerisms and body language in 2000.

The question is whether W even has the ability to moderate his debate behavior. He looks mentally and emotionally weak to me. He may genuinely be out of gas.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

4. Adolph Hitler was plain spoken and you always knew where he stood

Not that I'm comparing the Chimp to Hitler. But you're right that plain spokenness means nothing. It depends on the substance of that which is being plainly spoken.

[K. F. Gibbons]

5. If he had really bog boobs, I'd vote for him.

[Stephanie]

7. No you wouldn't.

Admit it, you wouldn't.

[donco6]

6. What you said.

And more. He's an embarassment.

[fortyfeetunder]

8. If he wasn't drinking before this debate

he will be swilling now...
Because I swear the last two minutes I heard him on the radio, his speech was slurred, dropping syllables and sounded confused as if his verbal skills were going to pot. Lehrer should have given him a breathalyzer test after the debate. * sounded incoherent as someone coming off a 3 day hangover...

[baltodemvet]

9. Actually he may do better

The dynamics of last night's deate were all Kerry's. Bush came off like a whining, pleading adolescent. He may do better in a more 'casual' setting where he's interacting with a crowd.

While he hasn't faced a really open audience in four years, the rules for the debate audience will protect him to some extent from open skepticism or expressions of disapproval.

Bottom line: I'm only sure the dynamic will be somewhat different.

[dogtag]

10. Bush is a plain spoken man.

No, he isn't. Harry Truman was a plain spoken man. Harry was also extremely well read and sharp as a tack. He spoke like a Missouri farmer which he actually was, not a bit like the phony rancher from Connecticut. Harry didn't use more words than were necessary. Shrub doesn't have a vocabulary and he mangles the few words he has at his disposal.

Harry made an art form out of minimalist speech, but he had a curious and agile mind. Shrub has no intellectual curiosity whatsoever and speaks like an eight year old brat talking down to a bunch of five year olds.

I resent the use of 'plain spoken' applied to Shrub. It's a damn insult to Harry Truman.

One small example, "It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours."

[fairfaxvadem]

11. You are spot on

I'd be curious as to how he understands how poorly he did, and how he and his handlers address this. It is possible that he could improve in time for the townhall meeting, but since the subject matter is domestic issues, well, that is actually alot more intricate in many ways than discussing foreign policy. And not his strong suit.

It all depends on if Bush knows he didn't do so well last night and if he doesn't, well...

My guess is that where last night it was all "hard work, it's hard, working hard", in Missouri it will be: "tax cuts, my tax cuts, more tax cuts".

Also, this is a genetic timebomb with the Bush family. Impatient, arrogant, not very curious, not detail oriented, don't like to be examined too closely, feudal.

Also, W gets bored very quickly. He goes into things full bore and then loses interest. I say this is the biggest reason behind his TANG AWOL. He got bored being a pilot and wanted to move on to another "identity". That was the MBA program.

He remakes himself every few years because he has no real interests and no realy staying power.

I'm leaning toward Bush isn't really too happy about being President for another 4 years. He's reached his interest limit, which, not surprisingly, seems to be about 4-5 years. Governor of Texas doesn't count since that was really only a part-time job!

[demwing]

13. Perhaps his neocon backers are tired

Having put themselves into positions of power, they don't really need Bush anymore. Perhaps that is why they keep him isolated. I wouldn't put it past Cheney to toss Bush if he saw it critical to his own career.

I almost feel sorry for the Chimpster

[bringbackfdr]

12. We move on to domestic policy

Even when he has been on the angels' good side, working with Ted Kennedy on No Child Left Behind, he pulls a bait-and-switch and underfunds it. There is no domestic record for him to defend, so expect a full 90 minutes of clawing, snarling, and trying to defame John Kerry, which will go over about as well as last night's smirks.

[agincourt]

14. Straight up,

If we vote in this drunken monkey when we could have a statesman like Kerry, than we are the fucken' dumbest bunch of americans who have ever lived. If shrub wins and it's not diebolded, we are the stupidest industrialized nation on earth, it is undeniable