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This is my analysis... Found at
http://www.neoperspectives.com/1st_debate.htm

The 1st Debate

Bush vs Kerry

9/30/04

I was a bit disappointed in the first debate. I am a strong supporter of President Bush, but felt that Kerry got the upper hand. Not because Kerry was right in any of what he said, but that President Bush didn't refute him in the most effective way. I constantly found myself mad because Bush just let things slide and didn't correct the many distortions that Kerry made. It seemed his advisors just focused on "don't screw up".

Bush seemed a bit nervous and uncertain and Kerry seemed smooth, knowledgeable, and articulate. I found Jim Lehrer to be very nonpartisan and fair. I was also surprised that the PBS panel that analyzed the debate afterwards seemed to tilt in favor of President Bush. I have never seen this happen before. Perhaps in the larger, more undecided, mainstream audience, Bush's presentation went over better than with a partisan like myself.

I was not surprised at what Kerry did or said, but I was surprised that Bush didn't refute him. These are a list of things I would have liked Bush to have said.

Bush: "Well Senator, I am surprised you are saying you want to build more alliances because we have (list 10 biggest nations) all contributing in Iraq. These nations understand the power of Freedom and understand Saddam was a threat."

Bush: "I'd like to correct something my opponent just said. He said Saddam was not connected to terrorists. This is not true. Saddam sheltered and harbored Abu Nidal, whose group killed the American diplomat in Jordan. He sheltered Abu Abbas, a terrorist who hijacked an American cruise liner and shot and threw overboard a man in a wheelchair because he was Jewish. Saddam also paid $20,000 to the families of suicide bombers in Israel."

Bush: "Senator, you say we haven't found weapons of mass destruction, well we have. For your information we just recently flew 1.95 tons of low-enriched uranium out of Iraq. Our troops have found bombs filled with blistering mustard gas or the nerve agent sarin. We've found deadly bacteria in an Iraqi scientists home and buried nuclear material."

Bush: "Well, we are working to get our troops the best equipment available at all times. I find it surprising that this issue of body armor and armor for vehicles is being brought up. I mean, you voted against the 87 billion dollars to fund these very things. If this was a big issue for you then why vote against it? Funding our troops is not a complicated decision to make."

Bush: "I'd also like to respond to you saying that our troops surrounded the oil buildings. We sent troops to surround many buildings and put a special priority on suspected weapons sites. This war had nothing to do with oil. Actually, I find it amazing that you would make that charge, would make our troops out there fighting this war believe that the war is for oil. This was a war to rid America of a growing threat and to protect the United States of America.

Bush: "I thought we were going to save economics for another night. But since you brought it up, I'll tell you one thing I am sure of: raising taxes never grew an economy. The rich didn't just get taxes, everyone got taxes. Despite a recession and the attacks of September 11th, our economy is rebounding and the reason it is doing so is because of the tax relief that this administration passed."

Bush: "Let me give you a little history of what happened in North Korea. It is important for the American people to understand this. In 1994 the Clinton Administration reached an agreement with Kim Jung Ill, by the way this is a man who builds gulags and starves his people. But the Clinton administration reached an agreement to give him oil and food so he wouldn't build a nuclear weapon. The Korean dictator never honored his agreement. He built a nuclear weapon right under our noses. So in my Administration, when we found this out we weren't going to keep giving them food and oil. Then we decided to pull in all parties in the area to try diplomacy in a group of 6 nations. My opponent wants to go back to the failed policies of the past. Kim Jung Ill already lied to us once, there is no reason to trust him again."

Bush: "See, I don't see America as a threat to the world. The reason we are building these bunker buster bombs and our missile defense system is so we can confront rouge states and terrorists. What happens if diplomacy and sanctions fail in one of these rogue states? What if terrorists or rouge states build underground structures to make nuclear weapons of mass destruction? A strong America is a secure America. If I may remind people, my opponent voted against the weapons of the cold war, which helped us win that war and the first gulf war, which he voted against. These new weapons will play just as great a role in securing the peace. Ronald Reagan once said, "history shows war begins when nations believe the price of aggression is cheap". This will not be the case under my administration.

Bush: "I believe a leader needs to be consistent and firm. The war on terror is not something you can play politics with, or only follow public opinion, or do only what makes us popular in the world. With all due respect to my opponent, we've been here for almost 90 minutes tonight and I still don't know whether he thinks the war in Iraq was worth it or, if he even thinks or thought Saddam was a threat, or what he would do in Iraq, or whether he regrets not voting to fund our troops. All I can gather is that he was in someway opposed to the war, but not completely, and in some way against it now, but not completely. That's no way to lead. Especially in war, the commander in chief needs to mean what he says and we owe at least that much to our troops."

I think Bush was far too timid and hope he has a better showing next round.