Posted on 10/03/2004 6:38:10 PM PDT by quidnunc
Q: With so many other commentators praising Kerry's performance in the debates, do you think Bush can still win?
Hanson: By classical standards of judging debates — the aura of assurance, clear, forcible, and confident answers, vocabulary and syntax mastery — Kerry clearly won the contest. However, …
(Excerpt) Read more at victorhanson.com ...
The Bush campaign has seriously miscalculated.
i agree as of now,i think they are setting a trap though--there will be an OCT surprise-like Libya telling all where the WMD's are or went or how they worked there on iraq's nuke program..something has to come out or it will seem it was for nothing to the dems.
I was less than pleased by President Bush's performance in the debate, for whatever reason. He let WAY too many untruths slip by unmolested. You can say what you want about having a message to get out in a short amount of time-- in my opinion, he could have backed off on the myriad of "flip-flopper" statements and beaten Kerry over the head with a few truth-checks.
In my view, the best moment of the debate was when Kerry accused Bush of unilaterally imposing sanctions on Iran, and Bush responded that the sanctions had been put in place years before he came to Washington.
He had several opportunities to show Kerry up in that fashion, and was left stuttering.
The stuff with Kerry's stupid position on North Korea is obvious, but only to people who actually understand the complexities of the situation-- which, unfortunately, does not include the vast majority of the voting public.
Not that polls are the be-all and end-all in the race, but it is discouraging to go from 7-8 points ahead, and drop to a dead heat overnight.
President Bush needs to get his act together in the next debate and point out the facts-- he sure can't rely on the MSM to do it for him, after the fact!
That is not what I read from his analysis. It seems he feels Pres. Bush still has the edge and will probably retain it, unless he blows the next 2 debates.
Who thinks that is even possible, that he will blow those debates? He is excellent in those situations when he has the rest he needs and the motivation. He clearly has the motivation now and NO WAY will he show up after 2 exhausting days in the humid heat of a hurricane disaster next time. Live and learn, that is what our wonderful Pres. does very well. He also LEADS very well. Kerry debates OK as any high school kid can. Look behind that and it's like the Wizard Of Oz, absolutely nothing but a facade. Many will see that. He gave his all in the first debate, as many over the years have.
President Bush needs to lower his voice; when he raises his voice to respond to silliness, it goes up two octaves. He then sounds pleading and defensive.
SNL had some devastating satires of sKerry Sat night...we need to get them out.
I caught that too. He was clearly getting annoyed with the spin from the other side, and lost some of his bearing.
He can be quite eloquent when he's annoyed, but has had time to absorb the feeling and convert it into righteous indignation. I think his strength/weakness is that he's too much like the rest of us-- he'd sooner hit Kerry over the head with a beer bottle than defend his policies against someone who's, frankly, too Koolaid-filled to understand the way the world works, and too truth-challenged to stick to a position.
For some much needed historical and political perspective, I encourage you to read the article cited at the following thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1234414/posts?page=1
I agree with this, and with the rest of your assessment. My fear is that this first debate was on international policy-- Bush's strong suit. The next debates focus on areas which he's seen to be less strong on.
In spite of this, I have high hopes. I've seen him when he's "on". On a good night, he can wipe the floor with Kerry.
Bush won!
Thanks! I needed that!
Like beauty, debate winners are in the eye of the beholder.
The majority of people watching the debate judged Kerry the winner.
Kerry won the beauty contest but Bush won the debate.
I'm beginning to suspect thhat there's things going on underneath the radar of which we're not aware.
It may be that they decided there was more to be gained by securing the Florida vote than there was to be gotten from the debate.
I also suspect that there's something about the Iraq war which the Bush administration can't talk about, otherwise they would have given a better explanation than the lame explanantions they have offered thus far.
I agree with VDH, Bush needs to give the speech of his life on Iraq and that will seal his victory. Bush cannot afford another off night.
Could very well be. Hope you're right.
Get out.
Immediate reactions to a debate are meaningless to its ultimate effect. We're only now seeing the meaning of the debate. It is playing out in the campaign in how each candidate is using it. Kerry is out there spouting off on having "won" the debate.
Bush is out quoting Kerry from the debate.
Who won? Obviously, the winner is the guy who walks away with some goodies to use on the trail. Kerry is getting kicked upside da head for his inanities spewed. Bush very, very careully said nothing that could be misused, misconstrued, or abused by Kerry. All Kerry has to use is that he "won." He has no soundbite, no quotation, no nothing from the President that he can employ. This is no accident.
Bush may not have "won" the debate, but he is winning its aftermath. That is, Bush wins.
We are suffering from the same poll mania that inflicted us four years ago. We are judging the candidates by the polls, so the polls become the story. That can only hurt Bush right now. We need to be more concerned with making the case to others, not just to ourselves, that some of the things Kerry said in the debate were foolish, as they were.
It wasn't so much what he said or didn't say that did Bush in, it was his hangdog demeanor.
He could have looked alert and engaged and still had his Kerry soundbytes.
Bush has been giving a lot of great speeches lately, while campaigning. At this point in the election cycle, in what forum can he give a speech that will not be reduced to 5-second sound bites?
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