FR Live Thread: Bush Kerry - First Debate - Thread 2 - Here we go!

[Admin Moderator]

Thread 1 - Pre-Debate discussion

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Hey, there are at least one hundred FReepers who could have handled Kerry better.

BS!

[Howlin]

And now look who he's brought on to trash Franks, none other than Bob Graham, the whack job.........LOL.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Sorry, Sinkspur, but Kerry confidently referred to knowing the question would be coming up later in the debate.

Yes, he sure did. I am sure that Rather and Lehrer are cut from the same cloth. It wouldn't surprise me a bit.

[onyx]

Go ahead :)

The waste of bandwidth is what irks me most.

[jbarkley]

I agree with you and after I quit acting emotionally to the style, I realized this as well. Kerry stood up there and lied his ass off. The knee jerk reaction of tonight will temper down in the coming days.

[genxer]

I think IF he picks up points is because it was clear that he was very annoyed by Kerry. And it just scream to me that anyone can be an armchair quarterback (Kerry).

I personally think he let Kerry rattle him because Kerry was wrong the President knew it and his body language spoke volumns. JMO

[OldFriend]

Don't know what your problem is but some of us with dial up are having a hard time here on FR tonight.

If the idea is for us to get lost, well so be it.

Now that FR's in the big time maybe they don't need the old freepers.

[topdog1]

Bush really missed a chance to nail Kerry when he said he didn't phrase the $87B vote well, but what's important is that he got the vote right. Bush should have said, "So you still think that voting against the troops in time of war is the right thing to do?"

[kimchi lover]

Kerry is a huge, stinky POS...I can hardly stand it! he is the biggest JERK on the planet!

[nopardons]

You're utterly and completely nuts! What the bloody hell were YOU watching? LOL

[commish]

OK..I went and did the dishes, cleaned up the kitchen and let the debate sink in a little. My observations

Both : No Home Runs. No Major soundbites. Nothing to change the dynamic.

Kerry : Surprisingly articulate and nimble. his vaunted debate skill did show. He was every bit the Used Car saleman Shyster lawyer he is.

Bush : Stuttered, paused a little to much, seemed on the defensive. Looked just like he did in the Debates with Gore - Obviously uncomfortable with the format. However, He also showed that he is steadfast, comitted and passionate. His love for America and his steel nerve shown through.

Final Score :
Style - Kerry
Image - Bush

BOTTOM LINE - TIE. The only think Joe sixpack will take from this is that there was no "Defining moment", no soundbite to remember -- this means that this debate will be forgotton by next week.

ANALYSIS : Kerry needed a knockout to change the dynamic of the race and he did not get one. You have to Knockout the CHAMP to win the title, and Bush is still standing.

[mylife]

Are we all watching the replay? on CSPan?

i Am

[RasterMaster]

He also flubbed Falujah...."flajubla"!

[lilylangtree]

I was listening to that myself. Tommy F. did just great.

[JustaCowgirl]

And now look who he's brought on to trash Franks, none other than Bob Graham, the whack job.........LOL.

No contest there, I'd say.

[mountainfolk]

I also was listening rather than watching the debate at the beginning and finally sat down and watched. That made all the difference in my perception of what was going on. Kerry was smooth and said nothing new. He couldn't help but allude to his Viet Nam service three or four times and continued to say that he would do a better job in Iraq than Bush has done. President Bush was trying to deal with what Kerry was saying which took thoughtfulness because it was so out of sync with either reality or truth. I wanted him to attack but that was not in the rules. The one, rather obscured, point that Pres Bush made was slipped in at the end when he said the war will continue to be fought by a VOLUNTEER military. Just that one little sentence put the lie to the RAT claim that a draft is imminent. I hope the Republicans use this against the CBS newest bogus claim that a draft is in the works.

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

Here's something I haven't read about here yet.

I had a little sales training and the key decisions are made in the close. And the key to the close is that you have to come right out and ask for the sale if you are selling. Bush did.
He said, "I ask for your vote tonight."
Kerry was too pompous to even finish the close.

[steveyp]

Yes. The Clinton payoff was to exchange a research reactor for two state of the art power stations. Of course, NK doesn't stop the bomb development program and upgrades it's understanding of control systems, metallurgy, and everything else you get with a new nuclear plant.

And they still get the bomb. I have no problem with NK getting the bomb, because that will be the end for them. One boomer off of SK and their bombs are worthless. They still haven't fed their people.

[TonyInOhio]

The problem I have is that I'm not that smart

Me either. :)

but I had five different comebacks to Kerry's accusations that would have made the Senator look like a fool.

I hear ya. But...

I think the President helped himself by staying on message. He wasn't trying to score points on Kerry, he was connecting with voters.

He didn't need to keep a Broken Glass Republican like me happy; he needed to connect with The Great Unwashed, and I believe he did that well.

[Robe]

Ya know the bottom line is this...
The Candidate can say anything he likes about what he would do..... IF I WERE PRESDENT, I"D BOMB NORTH KOREA ".. it's just written off as " his policy".....
Now if the sitting president of the United States says the same thing .. it 's a a "WAR DECLEARATION"..
The candidate if free to speculate all he wants..
However if the President states the same thing it's "US POLICY"
The President words are held to a higher standard..

Too bad the American public doesn't understand this nuance