Anyone pick up on this set up by Kerry?

[SeekingTruth]

Notice how Kerry threw out the Osama/attack/not Hussein/ statement and got Bush to say he knew that - just think how that is going to go over on Tuesday - Just the other day AGAIN stressed a link between al Queda and Hussein.....going to be great....

[rsmith6621]

1. That Was

The first time the words OBL had come out of Shrubs mouth in over two years.

[Guaranteed]

3. Kerry should say that Friday.

It says everything.

[cheshire]

2. They way * responded was like a surly child. I know it. My teens did that.

[napi21]

5. You're right! My kids are grown, and I've forgotten.

That is the way teens talk! Of course I know Osama attacked us!!!

I knew it sounded really strange for a President to respond that way, but I didn't make the link to the teen years.

[Redleg]

4. It was a Kodak moment!

Kerry really knew how to push Bush's buttons. Brilliant stuff!

[William Seger]

6. Actually, Bush was already on the ropes by then

I was just reading the transcript, and I do believe that this one line is the precise point that Kerry took control of the debate:

"This president has made, I regret to say, a colossal error of judgment. And judgment is what we look for in the president of the United States of America."

It was beautifully executed piece of rhetorical Kung Fu: It not only framed the rest of the debate on Kerry's terms, but it also aimed a guided missile directly Bush's ego and temper. The timing was perfect, too: It was in Kerry's rebuttal to Bush's first question, so Kerry got the next question, and Bush had to just stand there fuming while Kerry had two more minutes to elaborate on what those errors were. Then, of course, all Bush had was his memorized responses, and he was too flustered to deliver them very well. Obviously, he just wasn't prepared to answer to a charge of "colossal error of judgment." He lost his temper, and he never recovered.

It seems to me that Rove and Hughes really blundered by believing their own hype, and by "misunderestimating" Kerry. Remember how the right-wing echo chamber was spinning how "Bush is playing chess, while Kerry is playing checkers?" The debate was more like they sent Bush out to play "pawn to King 4" and Kerry replied with a roundhouse kick up-side his head.

[PermanentRevolution]

7. You know...

"The debate was more like they sent Bush out to play "pawn to King 4" and Kerry replied with a roundhouse kick up-side his head."

I think more people would watch televised chess matches if this happened...

[opihimoimoi]

9. Bush donnu a pawn from a rook. Kerry "mated" him before 10 min into

the deflate. TOO EAASY

[SeekingTruth]

10. I once read that...

the Kerry campaign was running the show like a chess match and the Bushies were doing it like a checker game.....how true.

[Redleg]

8. LOL

Yes, I believe you did select the defining moment of the debate. Kerry was masterful.

[Carla in Ca]

11. Cheney is a lot of things...

but dumb isn't one of them. Might he have a bit of intelligence previously not shared?

[SeekingTruth]

12. He has stated that and recall...

that the 9/11 Commission stated they would like to have another talk with him about that....don't think it ever occurred.

But if he brings it up, and we should all hope he will, Edwards can hammer home about how Cheney's statements keep contradicting the statements of all sorts of other people....