Before last Thursday, Bush was rollin'. He had no vulnerabilities. None.
With his stumbling performance, he made Kerry look more presidential in comparison, something Kerry was simply not able to attain by himself in three months of serious campaigning.
None of us are going to change our votes over any of these debates. But Bush has now opened the door for those who are wavering or undecided. He must be better prepared on Friday, and go on the offensive. Answering Kerry all night made Kerry look like he was in control of the debate.
Perception is important. It may not be determinative by itself, but to say it doesn't matter how Bush looked is to ignore reality.
By acknowledging Kerry won in Style, I believe I have avoided falling victim to ignoring reality, haven't I? It is an admission in itself that in performance Bush did not excell. Though under no stretch will I ever make the leap to say Kerry looked Presidential.
Certainly perception is important, so is what was said. Iran Fuel, Globel test, U.S. Responsibility for Al Quida, possible nuclear domentation destroyed acknowledged by the Good Senator. Let's not forget his insistence he'd never call the President a liar and now we have his new ad doing so. Whatever negative Bush had from performance is outweighted by Kerry's own words. I don't believe the American people are going to base their votes on Style. I do believe they are going to consider what was said thuesday night.
I do agree he needs to improve his performance by Thursday, though only marginally. Bush has his own limitations and the public has laregly adapted to them at this point. Should he retain his calm a little better, he'll be fine. I simply do not support the consensus that suggests we should all be depressed or in hysterics based on Thurday's night's single performance.
Yes it is, that's why even the perception that Kerry cheated, especially if he did, is important. It's also fits the pattern of his past behavior. He cheated to get his purple hearts (at least two of them), he cheated to get his silver and bronze stars, in the sense that writing yourself up to make it look like you did way more than the facts support is definitely cheating. Leaving your crew behind after only 4 months, when you were still fit to fight, is a sort of cheating as well, at least as far as it offends the traditional American sense of fair play and equal treatment.