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RUSH: James in Memphis, as we go back to the phones. It's great to have you, sir, on the EIB Network. Hello. CALLER: Yes. This is James. RUSH: Yes. CALLER: I was calling 'cause I wanted to let everybody know that Barack Obama really stomped McCain in the debate Friday. RUSH: You wanted to let everybody know that Obama stomped McCain in the debate Friday? CALLER: Yes, he did. The reason why I say that is because McCain was using the same old tired things that he had been trying to bring forth all along, and Barack Obama called him...

I’m giving it to McCain — and you know I’m a tough grader on him. He was slow out of the gate — a broken record on earmarks and spending — but Obama failed to turn the bailout debacle against him. McCain hit his stride in the second half, schooling Obama on counterinsurgency, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia. McCain made no major soundbite-able gaffes. It was more a matter of a few missed opportunities for McCain than the commission of any major errors. Major omission of the night from McCain: Did he say a single word in defense of...

The Battle of the (Bush) Bulge: Why Did the 'NYT' Kill Its Story? By Brian Orloff Published: February 09, 2005 1:00 PM ET NEW YORK "It's just as important a story after the election, and they've dropped it," says freelance writer David Lindorff, referring to the alleged bulge under President Bush’s suit jacket during the first presidential debate late fall. Lindorff’s take on how, and why, The New York Times killed a story on the controversy just before the November election gained wide attention this week after it was published in Extra!, a magazine produced by the media watchdog group...

The last word on Bush’s bulge Call off the conspiracy freaks. Now it can be told: That mysterious bulge on President Bush’s back during the first presidential debate was not an electronic device feeding him answers, but a strap holding his bulletproof vest in place. Speculation about the bulge on the Internet only increased since Georges de Paris, the Washington tailor who makes Bush’s suits, told The Hill last month that it was nothing more than a pucker on the back of Bush’s coat caused when he crossed his arms. But sources in the Secret Service told The Hill that...

The Internet, as it will, has been buzzing for weeks about that mysterious bulge under President Bush's jacket during his first debate with Sen. John Kerry. Was it an electronic receiver? Was Bush being coached via a hidden earpiece? The president finally responded to the speculation this week by insisting that the bulge was in no way an electronic device. "I'm embarrassed to say it's a poorly tailored shirt," he told a TV interviewer. Jason Woodside, owner of San Francisco's International Spy Shop, the Bay Area's sole purveyor of espionage and counterespionage gear, could only shake his head when told...

I thought John Kerry clearly won the first debate, lost the second, and did worse in the third. Most Americans, however, apparently disagreed, since many polls showed that respondents thought Kerry won all three. We hear of mayhem daily in Iraq; news on the economic front is mixed; and an entire host of surrogates has defamed George Bush in a manner not seen in decades during a political campaign. Why, then, does Kerry gain little traction, trail in most polls, and perhaps even start to slip further? After all, he is a hard campaigner, has a razor-sharp memory, speaks well,...

Elisabeth Bumiller, Left-Wing Conspiracy-Monger White House reporter Elisabeth Bumiller again treats a conspiracy theory as actual news. Monday marks her second piece on the "bulge," previously a subject of debate only on the far-left side of the Internet. She writes in her "White House Letter": "In these closing weeks of the presidential campaign, the talk at an edgy White House is of polls, turnout, swing voters and polls. There are also two story lines from the presidential debates that to the exasperation of President Bush's advisers won't go away: the bubble and the bulge. The bulge -- the strange rectangular...

In the first presidential debate, John Kerry made a little noticed statement affirming his intention to provide Iran with nuclear fuel. "I think the United States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel, test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for peaceful purposes." For those with a short memory, this was essentially the same policy the Clinton administration adopted toward North Korea – provide them nuclear fuel under the ridiculous assumption that Kim Jong II would only use the nuclear fuel for electricity. Hence, the growing nuclear arsenal being amassed in North...

"Friday October 15, 2004--The Presidential debates are over and the election is just two-and-a-half weeks away. The latest Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows President George W. Bush with 49% of the vote and Senator John Kerry with 46%. The Tracking Poll is updated daily by noon Eastern. Voters surveyed last night declared the third and final debate a tie, with fans of each candidate thinking their man won. The number of voters who prefer Bush over Kerry on both national defense and the economy has returned to the levels that existed before the first debate" Posted by: Adrian Spidle...

<p>The man behind the story picked up by The Washington Post and New York Times &#8212; suggesting a bulge in President Bush's suit during last week's debate may have been a transmitter feeding him answers &#8212; turns out to be left-wing writer Dave Lindorff (search), who just last year said, "It's going a bit far to compare the Bush of 2003 to the Hitler of 1933. Bush simply is not the orator that Hitler was."</p>

I personally think the first debate was a tie and the second debate GW up slightly but by the 3rd debate John Kerry was used to mop the floor. Why? GW’s strong suit was supposed to be the first debate. Shouldn’t he have won it? Let’s look at this for a minute. If you are an A student in math do you study for that test or do you study for the test in English where you are a C student? GW and his team did NOT prepare him for debate 1 because his numbers were already up for this...

• Question 3 -- What 'misjudgments' has Bush made? • Question 4 -- Who's top target, bin Laden or Saddam? • Question 6 -- When should troops come home? • Question 7 -- Are U.S. soldiers dying for a mistake? • Question 8 -- What was the 'miscalculation' in Iraq? • Question 9 -- When has Bush misled the public? • Question 10 -- Has the war been worth the loss of life? • Question 11 -- When will the war in Iraq end? • Question 12 -- Would Bush lead another pre-emptive war?

If President Bush fails in his re-election bid, the enduring image of his campaign will be the scowls on his face while Democratic nominee John Kerry answered questions during the debate at the University of Miami last month, according to one of Bush's opponents in 2000. "It was the single most disastrous performance of any president at the debate level," Patrick J. Buchanan, the 2000 Reform Party presidential candidate, said Tuesday night at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. "He had the chance to put it away." Buchanan spoke at Fisher Auditorium for the college's "Ideas and Issues" lecture series, which is...

According to the NY Times: "First they said that pictures showing the bulge might have been doctored. But then, when the bulge turned out to be clearly visible in the television footage of the evening, they offered a different explanation." I recall that theory all over the internet about the possibility of the photo being doctored, but I don't recall Bush or the Bush campaign ever being the ones making that claim. Anyone got a link, a quote, or is the NY Times just blowing biased smoke into our eyes?

Expressing its appreciation for some Sen. Kerry’s remarks during the first presidential debate, the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT*), a coalition of the ten largest American Muslim organizations, has asked him for greater clarity and commitment. The AMT leaders believe that the Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry may have raised two of the most important questions concerning election 2004 during the first Bush-Kerry debate: Are we at war against Islam or against terrorism? Are we waging a war of liberation or occupation? The election 2004 could actually become a national referendum on these two questions....

OLEAN -- Somewhat lost in all the media mist over who won last week's initial debate in the presidential election is a stinging John Kerry reference to late September news that I thought would draw much more play and citizen attention than it did. It should have triggered a public furor. Three days before the Kerry-Bush face-off in Miami, the Justice Department released a classified summary of a frightening report by that agency's Inspector General. The bad news literally sent a chill down my spine. The IG investigation discovered that 123,000 hours of eavesdropped recordings related to possible terrorist plans...

The Mystery of the Bulge in the Jacket WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 - What was that bulge in the back of President Bush's suit jacket at the presidential debate in Miami last week? According to rumors racing across the Internet this week, the rectangular bulge visible between Mr. Bush's shoulder blades was a radio receiver, getting answers from an offstage counselor into a hidden presidential earpiece. The prime suspect was Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's powerful political adviser. When the online magazine Salon published an article about the rumors on Friday, the speculation reached such a pitch that White House and campaign...

John K. Fairy? Columnist Maggie Gallagher has an amusing take on last week's presidential debate: What got to Bush? Here's what I think: It was not the brilliance of Kerry's debating tactics but the absurdity of the essence of the new Kerry position: The war on Iraq is an easy thing. The reason bad things are happening is Bush is bungling. Give that man a wand and slap a pair of wings on his back: John Kerry is running for fairy godmother! Our allies are opposed to the war? A swoosh of the Kerry wand and President Kerry will have...

You know what I think was the most telling moment in the first Presidential debate; the shining moment that illuminated the candidates? President Bush taking the opportunity to compliment Senator Kerry. President Bush pointedly put aside differences, both personal and political, and found actions to admire in his fellow human being. Sincerity and genuineness saturated the President’s voice as well as his words. His words were so authentically spoken as to even take the Senator off guard, if his facial expression was anything to judge by. Senator Kerry paused in his statesmanlike pose to direct a surprised look at President...

Oct. 8, 2004 | Was President Bush literally channeling Karl Rove in his first debate with John Kerry? That's the latest rumor flooding the Internet, unleashed last week in the wake of an image caught by a television camera during the Miami debate. The image shows a large solid object between Bush's shoulder blades as he leans over the lectern and faces moderator Jim Lehrer. The president is not known to wear a back brace, and it's safe to say he wasn't packing. So was the bulge under his well-tailored jacket a hidden receiver, picking up transmissions from someone offstage...

Was President Bush literally channeling Karl Rove in his first debate with John Kerry? That's the latest rumor flooding the Internet, unleashed last week in the wake of an image caught by a television camera during the Miami debate. The image shows a large solid object between Bush's shoulder blades as he leans over the lectern and faces moderator Jim Lehrer. More (if you can stand it) at: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/08/bulge/

Salon.com reports that Bush had a radio receiver taped to his back during the first debate so he could receive messages via a tiny hearing-aid-like device in his ear. They back this up with a photo. I have no way of verifying the story, but the Commission on Presidential Debates has verified that one of the rules of engagement the Bush campaign insisted on was no camera shots of the candidates from behind (which one of the pool cameras did anyway). This story is either investigative journalism at its best or wishful thinking. If you are not a Salon.com subscriber,...

October 7, 2004 Kerry Gained Favorability after Debate but Bush Is Still Preferred As Commander-In-Chief John Kerry goes into Friday’s second presidential debate with more Americans having a favorable opinion of him now than did before his first debate with George W. Bush. But the public still clearly regards Bush as someone they would trust more as commander-in chief of the military and to lead the war on terrorism.

October 7, 2004 Kerry Gained Favorability after Debate but Bush Is Still Preferred As Commander-In-Chief John Kerry goes into Friday’s second presidential debate with more Americans having a favorable opinion of him now than did before his first debate with George W. Bush. But the public still clearly regards Bush as someone they would trust more as commander-in chief of the military and to lead the war on terrorism.

WE'VE never seen anything like this, even the old Kennedy-Nixon classic great debate," said a breathless Chris Matthews on the "Today" show as he touted a poll showing that John Kerry had won presidential debate No. 1 by as much as a 4-to-1 margin. But actually we have seen something like this - and at that first Kennedy-Nixon debate. The polls may have gyrated more violently this time around, but the scenario is identical: a campaign's seemingly mundane decision about television theatrics has potentially changed the dynamic of a presidential election. Only Election Day will reveal if Sept. 30, 2004,...

If President Bush had not clearly won the three debates in 2000 against so formidable a debater as Al Gore, one would be tempted to chalk up last week’s inept performance to an innate lack of verbal skills. But Bush’s forensic abilities were so amply on display four years ago that their disappearance last week is all the more puzzling. The fault, one suspects, lies with the candidate’s advisers and coaches, who clearly were not up to the task of preparing the president for the debates. It is a much more difficult task to prep a president than to get...

Robert Novak warns that if George Bush’s deficiencies in the first presidential debate expose ''the candidate’s basic flaws'' rather than his ''poor debating skills,'' then Republicans may have good reason to be depressed (''Bush backers have cause to worry,'' Chicago-Sun Times, October 4, 2004). Novak’s column, however, pins Bush’s ''loss'' in the first debate on two things: Bush’s facial expressions while Kerry spoke--caught on camera by networks not party to the pre-debate agreement barring reaction shots--and his failure to answer Kerry’s many dubious assertions. Among the assertions that Bush did not effectively answer in Novak’s view were these: the president...

I'd like to suggest a campaign debate strategy that might account for the Bush showing during the first debate. At this moment polling results at the bottom of the Latest Posts page on Free Republic, indicate that by 92% Freepers believe Vice-President Dick Cheney won his debate.  This compares to a similar poll regarding President Bush and his first debate.  52% of Freepers responded that Bush won that debate.  As biased as we were for Bush during that debate, most of us were aware that Bush did not measure up. I don't mention this with malace.  In truth, I believe...

The power of the media's spin: Newsweek's Evan Thomas and NBC's David Gregory conceded on Imus in the Morning this week that they thought George W. Bush won the debate last week, but changed their mind in the face of the media line. "I was quickly informed I was wrong and that Kerry had won," Thomas quipped Monday morning. Thomas said that while "Kerry did well," he "didn't think that Bush was as terrible as everybody else did." Gregory stated that he "initially" saw Bush as the winner, but then "there was kind of a debate in the press corps,...

John Kerry (search) appeared to score points in Thursday’s debate by mentioning the thousands of hours of recordings of Arabic terror suspects that sit useless on FBI (search) shelves because we have so few Arabic translators. What Sen. Kerry did not mention is that the FBI warned of this in the Clinton administration, which did nothing to alleviate the shortage.

Boston Collage Prof. Joseph Tecce (Psychology), who studies the causes and effects of nonverbal expressions discussed the Bush/Kerry and and Cheney/Edwards debates on the NECN cable network (controlled by the Boston Globe) and said in the Bush/Kerry debate Bush had an average eyeblink rate of about 40 (a normal range is between 30 and 50) and Kerry had a 51 blinks per minute average, slightly outside the normal range. According to Tecce, the eyeblink rate, an indicator of stress, was predictive of the winner in the 6 in the last 7 of the last presidential elections, and for the 2000...

The first moderator of the Presidential debates asked extremely biased questions aimed at damaging the President and putting him on the defense.  He did not ask a single question critical of John Kerry.The moderator of the VP debate wasn't much better -- but the comparison to the first moderator made her appear to be more fair.  She wasn't, and asked Edwards leading questions while slamming Cheney with difficult ones.Now, I know it won't change things necessarily, but unlike PBS (which cannot be pressured by the public), ABC is a private sector company like CBS, and they saw what happened to...

Whether or not you think the debate last Thursday was fair depends on how you view the purpose of the debate process. If you see as its purpose, to examine President Bush's performance regarding events that have not gone perfectly, to give him a chance to explain and to give Senator Kerry an opportunity to criticize and state how he could do better, then you should have found the first debate fair. If you see as its purpose, to let us learn what goals the President and the Senator have in mind for the next four years and to let...

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh Thursday morning, and he said: "Folks, you want to know about the debate tonight? Well, you don't have to bother to tune in. What will be reported on Friday morning is that John Kerry walked away with it." Well, that's not exactly the unanimous verdict, but it's true that Kerry scored. There were two reasons for this, one personal, the other objective. Sen. Kerry was presentable, polite, informed, combative and credible. Those who felt that he would crumble, or hoped that he'd do so, waited out the 90 minutes without gratification. He is quick...

Senator John Kerry came out of the first presidential debate having reassured many Americans of his ability to handle an international crisis or a terrorist attack and with a generally more favorable image, but he failed to shake the perception that he panders to voters in search of support, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. The poll also found significant doubts about President Bush's policies toward Iraq, with a majority of the public saying that the United States invaded too soon and that the administration did a poor job thinking through the consequences of the war. But...

NEW YORK — Even as a clear majority thinks Sen. John Kerry (search) won the first presidential debate, the Democratic challenger and President George W. Bush are still in a sharply divided race for the White House, a FOX News poll released Tuesday shows. While Kerry gained ground in key areas, the president retained his spot as being seen as the stronger leader and the candidate who would do a better job on terrorism. Most voters (79 percent) claim to have seen or heard at least part of Thursday night's presidential debate and by more than four-to-one, debate watchers believe...

Here are the specific frames from the debate video shoqing most clearly what Kerry had in his hand as he took it out of his pocket and placed it on the podium. I have taken two of the frames, lightened them, zoomed in, and sharpened the pics. No other enhancements have been made: Cropped, lightened original of Kerry pulling item from pocket. Enlarged and sharpened. Cropped, lightened original, of Kerry putting article down. Enlarged and sharpened.

So GWB did not dominate the first debate, the sky is not falling. It seems that Freerepublic is filled these days with whiney little weenies that want to do nothing but complain. Would you people please toughen up! Elections are hard work and you can't expect the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth to carry your water all the way to November. Live with it and do something postitive to help, instead of bitching about it. Some of these same namby-pambys are the people that complain the most about "spineless republicans" that let the dems roll them over. When the going...

What was the final verdict on what Kerry took out of his pocket before the debate started?

Tuesday, October 5, 2004 How Kerry won Posted: October 5, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern By Dennis Prager © 2004 Creators Syndicate, Inc. This column, which could be titled, "Whatever your position on Iraq, John Kerry is your man," is dedicated to Sean, a listener who called my radio show the day after the presidential debate. He enabled me to understand why most people believe John Kerry won the debate. Sean explained that he was an opponent of the war in Iraq and only now could he finally vote for John Kerry. I asked him what Kerry said that confirmed that the Democratic candidate...

    Monday, October 4 2004 PEW INTERNALS ON DEBATE PERFORMANCES: This is fascinating. Look at the responses from 727 people who watched the debate surveyed in the just-released Pew Research poll: Please tell me what one word best describes your impression of George Bush/John Kerry in the debate. Bush Kerry 33 Honest 23 Strong/Strength 14 Sincere 14 Confident 13 Defensive 11 Determined 11 Good 11 Steady/Steadfast 11 Adequate 11 Liar 11 Nervous 10 Tired/Fatigued/Exhausted 9 Leader/Leadership 9 Repetitive 8 Angry 8 Confused 8 Resolute 8 Frustrated 8 Uncertain 7 Stubborn 7 Flustered 7 Unprepared 7 Consistent 7 Integrity...

Well, sports fans, we’ve now had four full days to review, recount, recant, refute, reexamine, and, possibly most important, request answers to polling questions concerning what transpired in the debate last Thursday night. And, with much fanfare, the winner is…George W. Bush! Now, I know that some of the headline numbers from recently released polls quite suggest otherwise. And, to be sure, if this were a high school debate, we would probably all agree that Kerry did a much better job than the President, and, as a result, was the clear victor. However, this wasn’t a high school debate. This...

Get your TIVOs ready. Brit is about to show the object Kerry pulled out during the debate. (6:30 PM Eastern)

More voters consider President Bush a strong leader who can do a better job combatting terrorism even though they widely agree that Democratic Sen. John Kerry won the first debate focused solely on foreign policy. The Republican incumbent has a slight lead over Kerry -- 49 percent to 44 percent -- among likely voters questioned in the Pew Research Center poll released Monday. Several surveys conducted after last Thursday's debate showed the race even. Bush and Kerry were running even at 47 percent apiece in a CBS-New York Times poll, and Bush was slightly up in an ABC-Washington Post poll...

Sen. John Kerry's debate performance appears to have returned the presidential campaign to a dead heat and eroded some of President Bush's advantages on national security issues, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll. Three out of five registered voters surveyed said they believe Kerry won the Sept. 30 debate in Miami, compared to 23 percent who think Mr. Bush prevailed. Kerry's performance helped boost the Democratic ticket five points to a 47-47 percent tie with the Bush/Cheney team, erasing a lead that the Republicans held for a month. One percent of likely voters surveyed backed Ralph Nader....

October 4 2004 PEW INTERNALS ON DEBATE PERFORMANCES: This is fascinating. Look at the responses from 727 people who watched the debate surveyed in the just-released Pew Research poll: Please tell me what one word best describes your impression of George Bush/John Kerry in the debate. Bush: 33 Honest 23 Strong/Strength 14 Sincere 14 Confident 13 Defensive 11 Determined 11 Good 11 Steady/Steadfast 11 Adequate 11 Liar 11 Nervous 10 Tired/Fatigued/Exhausted 9 Leader/Leadership 9 Repetitive 8 Angry 8 Confused 8 Resolute 8 Frustrated 8 Uncertain 7 Stubborn 7 Flustered 7 Unprepared 7 Consistent 7 Integrity Kerry 47 Confident 25 Prepared...

After First Debate, Bush Still Leads Kerry Post-ABC Poll Shows President Holding 5-Point Edge By Richard Morin and Christopher Muste Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, October 4, 2004; 5:00 PM President Bush continues to lead rival Sen. John F. Kerry among likely voters despite surging enthusiasm for Kerry among Democrats and new doubts about whether the president has a clear plan to deal with terrorism and the situation in Iraq, according to the Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll. In the aftermath of last week's presidential debate, Bush currently leads Kerry 51 percent to 46 percent among those most likely to...

This just in on ABC radio.... More info to come.

HAMPTON, New Hampshire (CNN) -- Sen. John Kerry on Monday lambasted as "pathetic" scaremongering, Republican criticism of his comments during last Thursday's debate in which he said the president's decision to go to war should pass a "global test" of legitimacy. Asked during a town hall meeting in Hampton to explain what he meant, the Massachusetts senator said, "It's almost sad; it's certainly pathetic, because all they can do is grab a little phrase and try to play a game and scare Americans." "And if they were honest enough to give America the full quote, which America heard, they would...