I have another question regarding the debate. Why did President Bush agree to any debates at all? He is the sitting President of the United States. Why should he have to debate some upstart challenger not once, but THREE times? It's demeaning and pointless. Such an activity can only help the challlenger--if you don't believe me, ask Jimmy Carter. President Bush should have shown some cojones, laid it on the line and said in effect, "Look, I refuse to debate Mr. Kerry. There's no point in it, and I'm not known as a great public speaker anyway. Judge me by my actions, not by some song and dance at a podium. If anyone wants to vote against me because I won't take part in such a demeaning activity, so be it." Face it, the guy has a few bucks in the bank; it's not like he NEEDS the presidential gig, anyway. Just some thinking outside the box.
DING! You get the prize! You are exactly right. It would have hurt President Bush much less, to let the Dems whine, than to agree to the debates.
I cringed, when I heard that they give in to the Democrats and agreed to 3 debates, even though they only agreed to two originally.