"I thought Bush got creamed last night."
Here at our house it seemed the opposite. Hubby & I thought Kerry was his ususal stiff, charmless self. He said Vietnam! or (vietnam) far too many times. He's got NO PLAN for anything, that's plain.
Bush was no shining star, that's true, but I'd still say he came across better than Kerry.
If you want a guy who can win a debate contest, and as long as the score keepers don't do a fact check on his answers, then Kerry is your man. He will say anything to win a formal debate. However, being C in C involves much more than formal debating. When Kerry gets outside of the debate box, he offends people, he lies to people, he is obviously much more concerned about himself than with you and me. The comment I recall from people on Capital Hill is that Kerry "does not play well with others."
Everyone should forget about "style," and look at substance. Kerry made several statements that simply were not true, he contradicted himself (Saddam was not a threat, Saddam was a threat), and he has no distinctive plan for Iraq, despite his assurances that he does (it is pretty much the same plan that Bush has, and Kerry knew he was lying when he said "I have a plan, Bush has no plan").