CavX, one of the smartest fellas out there, weighs in on the debate. I did get to see it in a rerun here, and I agree with CavX's assessment. And I think Bush won. I just re-read the transcript. I don't care if the MSM networks are saying Kerry won, because in reality his answers were muddled and his thinking illogical.
Posted by Sarah at October 3, 2004 07:59 AMI think Bush definitely won in the areas that count, being real and having substance. The MSM is trying to giveKerry a boost, but some polls are showing Bush gained points. We'll know more on Monday, but Kerry is such a fool, he is bound to lose big.
Posted by: James Hudnall at October 3, 2004 08:37 AMThanks for the compliment, Sarah. You know what? I've been thinking about it, and it may be that Bush deliberately threw away style points in a debate on a subject Kerry can't possibly beat him on. Expectations for Bush are now lowered for Friday's "town hall" style all-subjects debate (which will be the tough one), while expectations for Kerry are raised. Plus, I've seen clips of Kerry's speeches since then, and he's getting even more cocky and arrogant than before (which I didn't think possible). I've said before that Bush plays chess while his opponents play checkers; we'll see Friday whether that's true. :)
Posted by: CavalierX at October 3, 2004 01:28 PMA woman called a talk-radio program here after the debate and said she watched the debate with her kids (8 & 10, I think). Neither child was tuned in to the content, of course, but their observations were interesting. One said Kerry looked like a Bobble-head doll and the other said he seemed like a phony.
Some of us who actually judge real debates (high school forensics) are routinely faced with intros like Kerry made (sympathy for blah, blah, thanks to blah, blah, etc.) and with us that style (slightly) negatively impacts the scoring. But this was not a real debate, and there was no true scoring.
My perception is - if one had been carefully following the campaign, Bush won (McCurry to Lockhart 'it was a draw'), but if the debate was all one knew about the issues, Kerry won - he was smoother, and his inconsistencies and previously-disproved statements of fact went unnoticed (and unchallenged).
Posted by: Glenmore at October 3, 2004 03:28 PMThis is a soldier's response to the debate.
http://jb-williams.com/soldier-debate1.htm
Posted by: Moor at October 3, 2004 07:12 PMI have seen many mentions of the President's hesitations, pauses, and troubled looks. What I have not seen is any mention that many/most/all of them came after some particularly fairy-dust pronouncement by the Junior Senator.
Every time, I could almost hear the President thinking "How can I respond to someone who claims to believe such rot?"
I am half expecting an announcement by the Junior Senator that he has received the official support of the Flat Earth Society.