Bush's Strategy Is Clear - Debate and Post Debate

My take on the debate:

Kerry: eloquently, magnificently described to the entire country how incredibly stupid he is on defense, and foreign affairs in general (wants to give nuclear material to Iran, doesn't understand that the US is capable of fighting wars on multiple fronts. Thinks that you should have multilateral diplomatic efforts on the one hand and bilateral talks with North Korea, essentially undermining China's role and giving them a very easy out (I would also add that we've tried bilateral talks with Korea - under Clinton, and Kim Jong backstabbed us). Also wants to have us pass a "world test", says horrible things about our allies and suggests that the troops are dying in vain).
Bush: bluntly, steadily and somewhat too briefly, described his very good positions, which are working in the world today.
Kerry: came off as a salesperson who wows you in 30 different directions and sends you home with a bad case of sticker shock. He shows his incredible grasp of the English language.
Bush: proves he's incapable of preparing canned statements and slick turns of phrase. But we've all known this for the last 4 years.
Kerry: we learned nothing new about him that we didn't already know - though perhaps a few of the clueless, nonvoting, yet oddly opinionated public, might have. This is bad for Kerry.\
Bush: we were reminded that he's not Orson Wells, that he believes what he's doing and trusts his fellow Americans to help him achieve his goals, that he's not a BS-artist - far from it. In short, we learned nothing new, and that's neither a victory or a defeat.

I got the sense Bush was just incredulous at what he was hearing coming out of Kerry's mouth. The stupidity was just so thick and deep that it did require a measured approach by Bush in response, as he was trying to remain respectful.

I thought that Bush considered Kerry's remarks so self-defeating on their face that he was afraid to push back too hard. Bush's theme was that Kerry just simply didn't have a grasp on the reality of geopolitics...he was rearing to respond to the inanity at every chance. It was like a President debating a 7th grader on how to conduct foreign policy. The 7th grader has no concept of the stakes, the nature of the players and the negotiations, and has no feel for where his fantasies and and reality begins.

Plainly stated, the proper response would be, 'Are you friggin kidding me Senator? -- this is some of the most dangerous and idiotic shit I've ever heard in my life.'

I think that was going through Bush's mind, and he tried to be forceful but was aware he might step over a line if he wasn't careful. Kerry was just too goofy to be taken head-on....we all know the dangers of getting into a point-by-point argument with an idiot...it can just bog you down. Kerry made too many gaffes to deal with them all one by one and still get a message across, so Bush tried to stay on message and keep it simple.

I thought he did make Kerry look small and unrealistic, and he made some bunker-busting responses, and dropped heavy nukes at the end in the closing remarks.

Bush was very effective in my eyes.

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