A Win for Kerry - Newsweek

[Clinton Crusader]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6152186/site/newsweek


The first debate was reality TV, and it was not kind to Bush. Now the momentum shifts to the Dems—and raises the stakes in next week’s veep encounter
WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
By Eleanor Clift
Newsweek
Updated: 3:54 p.m. ET Oct. 1, 2004

Oct. 1 - George W. Bush didn’t look at his watch the way his father famously did during a presidential debate, but he might as well have. The president had the air of a man who couldn’t bother being there. Response shots aired by the networks captured his smirking dismay at his rival’s answers, much the way Al Gore sighed in disgust at Bush four years ago.

Republicans thought they had the race wrapped up. All their candidate had to do was repeat his road-tested slogans. But 90 minutes of Bush is a long time. There’s a reason why he has held fewer press conferences than any other modern president. He is incapable of conceptual thinking, and he came across as agitated and annoyed that more was expected of him now that he’s the self-styled “war president.” He repeatedly said he is “working hard” and “it’s hard work,” as though that alone should silence his critics.

If Republicans were overconfident going into the debate, Democrats had begun preparing themselves for defeat. Kerry had given up so much ground that he was close to being written out of the race. Voters had absorbed the image of Kerry as a flip-flopper without core convictions. A very different Kerry showed up in the debate hall. He was calm and disciplined while Bush was “slouching and praying for the light to go on so he wouldn’t have to think of anything else to repeat,” said a Democratic strategist.

Kerry spoke crisply and clearly, and he looked presidential. He defended his position on Iraq as consistent—agreeing with Bush that Saddam Hussein was a threat, but saying he would have handled the situation differently. When Bush confronted him with that old saw about how he voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it, Kerry scored big, saying, “I made a mistake in how I talk about the war. But the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?”
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:kick:

[Sparkly]

1. "90 minutes of Bush is a long time" -- hahaha

Yeah, four years of him has been an eternity!!

[Inland]

4. The more you see of Bush, the less you like him. The trick is to

cover him up and let commericials and talking heads appear every day on cable--and now networks--and present the "face" of the administration.

[goodboy]

2. kick

:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[rhino47]

3. Yeah most media say Kerry won

Then the next breath they say Gore won in 2000 but still lost the election.What bastards

[newsguyatl]

5. i don't know if i'd agree with this line

"Kerry had given up so much ground that he was close to being written out of the race."

but otherwise, good piece.

[teryang]

7. Agreed, the tide turned before this with the NYU speech

Kerry put together a solid coherent policy presentation on Iraq and national security at that time, which is causing the Bushonian wurlitzer to short out.

If anything, I think Kerry backed off of his NYU positions which were very thoughtful and well articulated, in order to get down to some more wieldy sound bites. This bothered me a little, but it has to be done with a medium with a short attention span and the time limits presented by the format.

[tmooses]

6. I think "hard work" and "George Bush" is an oxymoron

But we can't use that because it's Rush's new nickname

[teryang]

8. Whining about "hard work" is a not too subtle complaint

...by the dimson about having to get ready for the debate and actually having to stress his impaired brain to justify his failed policies.

[tedzbear]

9. Give * a buzz saw...

...to use for the usual photo op. That's all he's capable of.