I take the White House at its word that Bush was tired and emotionally drained after visiting storm-damaged areas earlier in the day. But while I realize that's part of a president's job description ... I would can the officials who scheduled that on the day of the debate, with all that was at stake as far as the election. Bush could easily have done the storm-damage tour Friday morning, and kept his entire focus on the debate Thursday. I don't think what happened Thursday is reason to break out the cyanide, but Bush really needs to be focused and on his game next Friday. Because IMHO, Kerry can "win" these debates, but that doesn't mean he'll convince the American people to fire Bush and elect him president, as long as the president is in the game and competitive, and I'm sure some folks here will disagree and/or say it's unfortunate, but I think being in the game and competitive realistically includes both style and substance.
I agree with you. Bush had no business visiting hurricane victims the day of a debate.