I gotta say Howlin, I agree.
The first dirty deed by Kerry was bring up Cheney's daughter as lesbian. He made it personal, and showed his true colors.
The second SLAM DUNK was when asked about the women in their lives. President Bush spoke from the heart about his daughters and his wife. Kerry spoke about his deceased mother, which was nice, but what about his wife and daughters?
His response to that question was beautiful.
Frankly, I think he gained ground from anything he lost due to Kerry's litany of fact-twisting without Shieffer letting Dubya rebut.