Posted on 10/01/2004 3:09:50 PM PDT by Steven W.
Hugh on fire with the correct analysis on last night's debate.
I don't know what Bush was doing but whatever it was it cost him.
My own suspicion is that he was playing defense and making sure he didn't give Kerry any talking points.
At any rate, by a 2-1 margin viewers said that Kerry won, and there's no way you can put lipstick on that pig.
Maybe but Kerry is already running something showing Bush at the debate. By the way, as Rush pointed out Kerry isn't using his own words at the debate, nor can he use Bush's effectively. Because Kerry said nothing good, Bush nothing wrong.
The rats have already made a commercial with the President's facial expressions, which was expressly verboten by agreement. No reaction shots. All clips are now fair game.
I think you're exactly right. That's the point of Kerry trying to draw people out and raise their anger. It's how he got Weld. Bush was smart & cool and didn't play into that trap (which the press would have eaten him up for)
I just saw a clip of Kerry on the stump today and he seemed to be making a concerted effort to emphasize victory over cutting and running, as though it were a focus group concern.
He literally asked, 'who is talking about leaving Iraq?'.
Behind all the happy-talk I think there must be some worry about who actually liked Kerry last night and who didn't.
Senator Surrender!!!
Kerry telling us what makes no sense?
You are oh so right!!!! I wish some of our debaters on the newsfront would highlight this point!!! Kerry quit his job in the senate!!!!!!!
Let's not forget the famous New York subway closings, that Curr Kerry claimed hanppened, that never actually happened.
I look at this first debate as a set-up. It's like a hockey game......watch Bush check him hard as the game goes on.
Kerry made some goofs; W will exploit them.
Bush gets a pass for those because it's "known" and built-in ahead of time + he had some moments which were compassionate and open which probably sucked up the security mom fencesitter types that would have not approved of Bush taking Kerry head-on or brutal slam-down.
Translation of that admission is very insightful.
Great post re joy & hysteria, and Allentown.
I'm listening to Hugh and really thinking about the implications of Kerry imposing a nuclear freeze, so to speak, on the U.S., killing the bunker buster nuclear program. The unilateral disarmament he advocates is scary.
I think we need to get the phrase "unilaterial disarmament" out there as much as possible. It won't play well in a post-9/11 world.
"I'd take Clinton or Gore over Kerry any day. And that really freaks me out."
I thought the same thing a couple weeks ago. I told my husband, after I read Unfit for Command, that Kerry is SO self-serving and dishonorable, leading to MORE deaths in VN, that he is even worse than Clinton!
Then, I remembered Arkanicide . . .
I watched quite a bit of the debate with my 16 year old daughter. She didn't miss a thing and couldn't believe Kerry straddled over positions, being for both bilateral & multilateral negotiations over North Korea, for example. If she saw it & picked it up then so did many others IMO.
We all wish Bush had done better last night, but Kerry did hang himself with that "global test" line. He all but admitted he would seek foreign guidance before any preemptive attack. Is that what we want in an American president? Of course not.
We can hope the counterbalance works. Right now the spin and buzz is about Kerry's "victory" in the debate. This "victory" was based on the Presidents facial expression and hesitations, not on the facts and substance of the debate.
The President has to improve in the other debates. I doubt if the later debates will get the size of audience that this one did, but spin and buzz would work for the President should he improve.
Thanks for posting the summary. Bush could have cleaned Kerry's clock if he'd wanted. He's given Kerry a pass on his VVAW activities and the Swifties facts, his senate record, etc. Bush is a true leader who deals directly with the issues rather than making personal attacks as is Kerry's style. I believe Kerry is evil to the core and will put himself above country if elected.
I've read elsewhere that the comments about visiting KGB basement was wrong, too, in that Kerry specified name of Nazi concentration camp, not a square in Russia..............
Lubyanka---> famous Russian KGB prison and interrogation center
Treblinka---> concentration camp
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