90 minutes later a new race

[julialnyc]

Ninety Minutes Later, A New Race
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6161680/site/newsweek/

Game on: The Bush team went from cockiness to concern to resolution to stop Kerry's postdebate surge. How 'The Closer' made it a dead heat
......

n George W. Bush's makeshift "staff hold," you could hear a pin drop as senior aides watched the president slog through 90 minutes in the ring of a televised debate with Sen. John Kerry. Karl Rove, the consigliere who built Bush's career from day one, was upbeat, declaring that Bush was displaying toughness on the war on terror and compassion for the growing casualties in Iraq. But few others in the room had anything to say. The action was left to a table of "oppo" guys--led by a fellow with the nickname "Bullet"--who were busily grinding out mid-debate press releases attacking Kerry, often in ways the president himself was failing to do onstage. With 15 minutes left in the debate, silence became unease. "We heard that Kerry's people were in the spin room crowing," a Bush adviser said later. "That was disconcerting."

.......

In the new NEWSWEEK Poll, Bush's 49-43 percent lead in a three-way race has been erased, with Kerry now ahead 47-45 percent. Electoral politics is a game of comparison, and the first appearance of the two men side by side--one having a good night, the other a bad one--did wonders for Kerry's image. His "favorable/unfavorable" rating, last month a tepid 48-44 percent, rose to 52-40 (while Bush's dropped from 52-44 to 49-46). A whopping 63 million voters watched the Miami debate, and Kerry was scored the winner by 61 percent of them; only 19 percent thought Bush had won. Among viewers, Kerry overwhelmingly was regarded as the better informed and more self-assured. More ominously for Bush, Kerry was seen as the stronger leader onstage (47-44 percent)--and even as the more likable guy (47-41 percent). Bush aides privately had to admit that it was a race again, understating the obvious.

more....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6161680/site/newsweek/

[Cha]

1. Thanks for this...

"Triumphant moments often fade quickly but, as in Iowa last winter, Kerry had fought his way off the ropes. This time he did it against a president who looked unprepared for battle, advised by overconfident aides who were twirling cigars on the eve of the debate at a bar in South Beach. With pride, the president suggested that he deserved re-election primarily for his personal strength—but, at least last Thursday night, Kerry was seen as the strong character. And while Bush contended that liberty would bring tranquillity to the planet, he was unable to make that claim with the kind of inspiring rhetoric and detail he offers in the melodious speeches crafted by his speechwriters."

[DemocracyInaction]

2. Thanks for the big shit eating grin that is now on my face!!!!

You know what the creatures who handle Bush forgot?? They forgot that they had protected him from the public for 3 and 1/2 years and kept him from reality. It was the first time someone, in essence said to him: "you are a fucking loser, asshole". They couldn't control the surroundings this time. They have so fallen for their own totally managed propaganda that they forgot they were working with an idiot. And they are going to see the idiot on parade two more miserable, suffering times. They can stuff the cigars up their butt and light them.

[vickie]

3. Actually, they control the surroundings - they B/C set out the 32

ridiculous rules and conditions of the debate - and JK still mopped up the floor with the * Dim Son...

[tedoll78]

4. I sometimes wonder..

if Kerry pulled a "please-don't-throw-me-into-the-briar-patch" trick on them with the debate rules. The formality of it.. the podia, the time limits, the lighting system.. it all seemed so structured, which fits Kerry's image nicely.

I'm also wondering if Kerry "settled" on the schedule on purpose. Debate viewership usually goes downhill from the beginning, but sometimes peaks at the last debate when the race is close. We have a town hall format - presumably Kerry's weakest (which is itself arguable) - buried on a Friday night. And then we have Kerry's home turf format - the podia - on a Tuesday night at the last debate.

I'm more and more convinced that Kerry's negotiator psyched-out Bush's negotiator when negotiating format and schedule.

[SpiralHawk]

5. Podia! Podia! Podia!

Bring them on.

Bring on the AWOL Appointee-in-Chief, too. Rope him to his podium so he cannot wriggle smirkingly free.