FR Live Thread: Bush Kerry - First Debate - Thread 2 - Here we go!

[Admin Moderator]

Thread 1 - Pre-Debate discussion

[Cincincinati Spiritus]

I love Bush, but I'd like to slap him. Kerry is a big fat target and Bush is missing every opportunity hit him. This is very frustrating.

Agreed. He might have sunk him for his "bilateralism" with North Korea, he who is the alliance builder

Also he might have pointed out that Kerry although he has said wrong war wrong time, has only said that it was the wrong time right war all night. too bad.

[Chesterbelloc]

can anyone tell me just what the Heck is Kerry's Iraq policy?

Global Permission Slip

Kerry's "Mother may I" version of foreign policy.

[Mich0127]

I was overall pleased with Bush's performance. He spoke from the heart, he was real, and down to earth and his answers did not seem rehearsed. His only problem was his ummms, stuttering, and pauses. Other than that, I was pleased. He did not take Kerry's bait.

I think although Kerry was clear and articulate, he seemed completely rehearsed and he was very flippant. Overall, I think this might help him a little, but most likely his cavalier attitude will screw him. Oh, that and the fact that he did not lay out any clear position!

[Blowtorch]

please, people, let's not turn into kooks.

Kerry didn't have the questions, he's just a master debater.

[finnigan2]

My impression was a draw. Kerry knows you slide further on bullshit than gravel and he has the practiced debating society presentation down cold. It's only when you listen carefully to what he is saying that you see there is nothing new there. He also had the advantage of just second guessing everything that Bush has done by saying that he would have done it differently. Bush clearly has contempt for Kerry and I'm afraid he didn't hide it very well. I only checked CNN and FOX after the debate and surprisingly both called it as either a draw or a slight edge to one or the other on certain points but no clear winner. Did CBS let that a-hole Rather host the post debate discussion?

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Kerry : Help is on the way!
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[Mich0127]

I was overall pleased with Bush's performance. He spoke from the heart, he was real, and down to earth and his answers did not seem rehearsed. His only problem was his ummms, stuttering, and pauses. Other than that, I was pleased. He did not take Kerry's bait.

I think although Kerry was clear and articulate, he seemed completely rehearsed and he was very flippant. Overall, I think this might help him a little, but most likely his cavalier attitude will screw him. Oh, that and the fact that he did not lay out any clear position!

[Kitten1]

BRAVO!!!! Well said!

[kpp_kpp]

Throwing in my 2 cents.

Here is what I heard:

* Kerry denegrates the coalition in Iraq and Iraq itself
* Kerry wants to build a better coaltion for the wrong war at the wrong time
* Kerry will do it faster and better, just because
* Kerry thinks the U.S. should have been more confrontational in dealing with Iran at the same time he thinks we are too confrontation in dealing with Iraq
* Kerry thinks Iran would listen to us
* Kerry wants to give up our nuclear programs for the cause of nuclear non-proliferation
* Kerry is AGAINST the coalition dealing with North Korea
* Kerry wants to go it alone and take on North Korea because ... he can do it faster and better, just because

I could care less about style -- I could not keep track of the number of flip-flops and inconsistencies just within the debate itself. And everyone saying "Kerry had facts" is just silly, he may have made statements that sounded like facts but it was so absurd one doesn't know where to start.

He denegrates the coalition in Iraq and at the same time wants to go it alone against North Korea! And people buy this???!

[sinkspur]

Get ready, folks. Stephanopoulos just said that the CBS and ABC instant polls say that Kerry won. That's what's going to come out of this debate, folks.

Bush could have put Kerry away tonight and, instead, we've got to hope Bush relaxes, is himself, and does better.

Bush has simply got to relax. He was overprepared, and was stumbling for talking points.

Karen Hughes needs to take him aside and tell him he sucked tonight.

[george wythe]

Bush look tired, the way I look when I have to stay up past my bedtime.

Kerry looked energetic in his freshly manicure and spray-on tan.

Let's see how the the voters react tomorrow. Since the debate was boring to the average voter, most people only watched the first part of the debate; IMHO, Bush did much better in the first half-hour.

[Mich0127]

I was overall pleased with Bush's performance. He spoke from the heart, he was real, and down to earth and his answers did not seem rehearsed. His only problem was his ummms, stuttering, and pauses. Other than that, I was pleased. He did not take Kerry's bait.

I think although Kerry was clear and articulate, he seemed completely rehearsed and he was very flippant. Overall, I think this might help him a little, but most likely his cavalier attitude will screw him. Oh, that and the fact that he did not lay out any clear position!

[Jim Noble]

I was actually one of Bush's harshest critics tonight.

I'm biting my tongue.

It made me fear for the future for the first time.

[poweqi]

Aol poll update, well, it took me 10 min. to bring up the reply box so it's probably changed by now. Bush 51% Kerry 49% out of 52,000 voters. Impossible to reply so from now on I'm just reading. DON'T PANIC EVERYBODY!

[Darkwolf377]

"Mark my words Boy's and Girls, John Kerry just lost the election tonight."

You're right. I went into this hoping Bush would jsut hold his own.

From the start, Kerry was dour and repetitive. He came off as a stiff; Bush came across as a man in command--of the facts, of the Korean and Iran issues, of the larger war in Iraq. Bush had to correct Kerry's "facts" a couple of times, and generally came off as energetic and intelligent.

People like a friend who just called get stuck in the moment--"Why didn't Bush call Kerry on this, that or the other?"

It doesn't matter. Tomorrow, you will be talking to friends at work who won't be able to quote much, but they will remember that Bush was alive, that he spoke of a widow whose husband's sacrifice in Iraq was the supreme one, that he has a plan for N Korea.

The crew on MSNBC looked like they were attending a wake, though that was just for the second I flipped by.

I think Kerry lost the race tonight.

[ApesForEvolution]

NBC/MSM just had a panel of undecideds that ALL flipped to sKerry...this whole thing is a set up.

By tomorrow they'll be saying "he's gaining ground, it's a new race, they're even now, blah, blah, blah"

[Blogger]

Bush won the debate, I believe, and here is why:

1)Stylistically, Kerry came off as too polished, to smooth. When he did use people to drive home a point (the alleged soldiers) it was to attack Bush. President Bush seemed non-slick and earnest. When he used the story of the woman who lost her husband as an example, he was just himself. You could sense him weeping with her - but realizing the importance of what her husband's sacrifice was for.

2) Substantively, Kerry did better than I thought at staying away from flip flops but didn't do so entirely. He said we should have used more diplomacy and exhausted the entire forces of the UN before action in Iraq, yet, he's ready to throw in the towel with current talks and switch gears completely with Korea. Also, going with the Kyoto treaty as well as nuclear disarmament as key messages showed a complete lack of feeling for what is best for America and I believe the American people will have alarms going up. Plus, he did nothing but attack the President all night. Susan Estrogen said that it would be about 25 percent attack and 75% substance and it was just the opposite.

On substance, President Bush defended his policies and explained them in detail to the people in a way that could be understood and in a way that gave comfort that he cared about this nation and what he was doing was the best thing.

In short, Kerry's message to the people "I'm going to fix the world in just 4 years and do so by relying on the world to help us. America isn't strong enough to lead on her own, and my focus is going to be on making buddies with our friends.

President Bush's message was "It's a tough job but we are winning and my focus is always going to be first and foremost doing what's best for America and protecting you."

[alnick]

I've been trying to put myself in the shoes of an undecided voter. One theme that emerged tonight is Kerry trying to take both sides of the war. On one hand he repeatedly stated that he will win this war, he will kill the terrorists, he will "win this thing." On the other hand, he made it clear that the mission in Iraq is NOT something he believes in.

How can he "win this thing" if he doesn't even believe it's the right thing to do?

[GVnana]

At least Benedict Arnold had a real wound from the revolution.

[hispanarepublicana]

Don't you wish you could actually see what Kerry was scribiling on that pad tonight?

Reminder: Mystic Tan appt. 2:00

B

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S U C K S

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JOHN LOVES HEINZ TERESA

 

TO DO:

-FLOWERS FOR DAN RATHER

-MANICURE

-MUST TRY THAT BARBEECUE STUFF

-WHAT IS A TRAILER HOUSE? MUST GOOGLE

=PUT OFF MEETING W/HILLARY