I will tell you in a sentence what both guys tried to do earlier this evening: they wanted to get the women's vote. It was all about pitching to the gals and moms out there. If you were a guy, you probably lost interest after the first five minutes.
I could tell that there were certain messages that were aimed at women. My uninformed (non-female) opinion is that Kerry fumbled his messages often, and Bush's straight, genuine answers made Kerry's akwardness stand out like a sore thumb.