Sept. 30, 2004 was the first Kerry-Bush debate. I'll poke around for an October 1 transcript, it would interesting to see what the show was like.
President Bush had spent the afternoon delivering ice and other supplies to Florida hurricane victims. He started out well in the debate, but became seriously fatigued during the 90 minutes, leaning on the podium and sipping at a glass of water that was empty before the debate was over. He kept lifting the empty glass to his mouth.
Kerry was his "normal" self.