Looking at Thursday's Squabble to Capitalize on Friday's Forum!

October 5, 2004 | Sholander

[stocks05]

So we all saw what went down last thursday night, and we all woke up to the same news. What may have been normal headlines to you, were a shock to me. Media source after media source declared without a shadow of a doubt Kerry the winner of the debate (winner decleared after about 647 people were polled.) Should I have been that shocked? Well for starters I am a token conservative, so my bias was probably leaning towards Bush to win even before the debate started. Personally, I thought Bush had the best chance of going away from that debate untouched. I mean before the debate Bush was beating Kerry in the polls by eight points. He could have either tied the debate or won the debate and he still would have tied Kerry (giving Bush a 66.67% edge even before the debate started.) What occured in the media the next morning definently foreshadowed what the newest polls would contain that week. Was I surprised? In the back of my mind, no. Bush had to knock Kerry on everything he has voted for in the last 20 years. Senator Kerry probably has the most difficult time running for president, because he has the biggest target painted on his back- a target consisting of 20 years of inconsistency. However, Kerry through a lot of debate prep with a high profile Washington lawyer was able (as democrates are very good at) to flee from his own words and votes. Remember how Kerry responded to Bush on the 87 billion dollar flip flop, "I made a mistake of words, but this president made a mistake of judgement by going into Iraq. Which is worse?" What sounded profound to many sounded like a canned democratic response. Bottom line- Bush needs to capitalize on Kerry's voting record, all of it! Bush needs to reemphasizer his plans for the next four years! Bush needs to practice his rhetoric, because John Kerry showed us all that practice make perfect.... or something close to it.

Sholander

[stocks05]

So we all saw what went down last thursday night, and we all woke up to the same news. What may have been normal headlines to you, were a shock to me. Media source after media source declared without a shadow of a doubt Kerry the winner of the debate (winner decleared after about 647 people were polled.) Should I have been that shocked? Well for starters I am a token conservative, so my bias was probably leaning towards Bush to win even before the debate started. Personally, I thought Bush had the best chance of going away from that debate untouched. I mean before the debate Bush was beating Kerry in the polls by eight points. He could have either tied the debate or won the debate and he still would have tied Kerry (giving Bush a 66.67% edge even before the debate started.) What occured in the media the next morning definently foreshadowed what the newest polls would contain that week. Was I surprised? In the back of my mind, no. Bush had to knock Kerry on everything he has voted for in the last 20 years. Senator Kerry probably has the most difficult time running for president, because he has the biggest target painted on his back- a target consisting of 20 years of inconsistency. However, Kerry through a lot of debate prep with a high profile Washington lawyer was able (as democrates are very good at) to flee from his own words and votes. Remember how Kerry responded to Bush on the 87 billion dollar flip flop, "I made a mistake of words, but this president made a mistake of judgement by going into Iraq. Which is worse?" What sounded profound to many sounded like a canned democratic response. Bottom line- Bush needs to capitalize on Kerry's voting record, all of it! Bush needs to reemphasizer his plans for the next four years! Bush needs to practice his rhetoric, because John Kerry showed us all that practice make perfect.... or something close to it.

Sholander