[RexBeach]

Good post! I am relieved to learn this. I love the president, however, I do not think last night was an especially strong performance.

He will do better next time!

Viva Bush!

[G.Mason]

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll offered these numbers:

Who won the debate? 53% Kerry to Bush 37%

Who expressed himself more clearly? Kerry 60%, Bush 32%.

But the White House can take some comfort from these other numbers from the same poll.

Which candidate did you agree with more on issues you care about? Kerry 46%, Bush 49%

Who was more believable? Kerry 45%, Bush 50%

Who was more likeable? Kerry 41%, Bush 48%

And 54 percent said Bush would be tougher as president, compared with 37 percent listed Kerry as tougher.

For all you here that are weak in the knees. ;)

[stockpirate]

I think today's stock markets are voting on who they think won the debates. And the markets want Bush.

[Puppage]

do not consider the purported Kerry debate "win" to be significant in the election.

Historically, the debates don't change the outcome of an election.

[ThinkDifferent]

Sounds about right. Kerry won on style, but on content it was at worst a draw. I only saw the first half hour so I didn't get to hear Kerry's "global test", which if the GOP is smart they will be reminding us of frequently.

[cyncooper]

The MSM has been tempering any Kerry win lines. I never detected a sincere embracing of that stance, myself. I perceived a wishful thinking on their part.

The polls indicated people granted Kerry debate style but the internals gave the substance to Bush. As Kerry's lies and flawed thinking are gradually exposed, any positives will disappear.

In fact I just heard on one of the channels that Kamp Kerry is saying they do not expect the polls to "reflect 'the' win" soon.

Yeah, right. Try never.

[Joseph Leming]

I hate to say it but I refuse to be a blind partisan! President Bush disappointed me last night. Why did he let Kerry get to him? From what I understood the president watched past Kerry debates which showed that Kerry is an expert at getting under his opponents skin. President Bush was completely on the defensive and bumbled all over himself! Why didn't the President open up Kerry's senate record and rip him to shreds? John Kerry himself is avoiding his Senate record on purpose because he knows it is his weakness. Why didn't the President tell America that we are looking for Osama bin Laden as we speak. Why didn't the President quote John Kerry in which he said "It would be irresponsible to vote against the 87 Billion supplemental"! why didn't the President mention how the events of Sept. 11th forced him to look at the world in a different perspective and that he refuses to allow that awful day to happen again? Why didn't the President mention Abu Abbass, Abu Nidal, Zarqawi getting medical treatment in Baghdad during the Afghanistan war? Why didn't he mention Ansar Al Islam which is an Al Qaeda affiliate which operates out of Northern Iraq? There are two President Bushes. One is straight foreword, calm, confident and comfortable with himself. The other George Bush is a bumbling fool who can't even spit out the most simple thoughts! Don't get me wrong! I love the guy and I believe if given the chance he can deliver a pretty serious blow to the terrorist and that is the guy I want in the white house. John Kerry is a fraud and President Bush must expose him to the American people if he wants to win. The next debate is domestic policy and John Kerry is going to have plenty of material and if President Bush wants to win he must be armed to the teeth with John Kerry tax increases and other big government votes from John Kerry's senate record. The President must proudly defend his record and put John Kerry on the defensive about his far left liberal record. The President must not make faces or slouch and he must be on the ball! We should all send an email to both the white house and the Presidents reelection site and implore him to not let this country down and to rise to the challenge and be the determined strong leader we all know and admire. If he does not take John Kerry seriously then he is not taking America seriously and he deserves to lose and the whole country loses with him!

[Rokke]

A telling bit of information on Tradesports isn't the shift in share price but the volume. Bush has dropped .5 points on the day at a volume of 574 thousand shares. Kerry has climbed 3.5 point BUT on a volume of 21 thousand shares. Good grief. The price is up, but no one is buying.