First, Kerry DIDN’T win this one. I think the national consensus will show that in the resulting polls. Again ----- IF you wanted Kerry to win this BEFORE the debate than guess what - Kerry won. If you wanted Bush to win — yep, Bush won. Very few people are HONESTLY sitting on the fence on this one. Hence the 2 or 3 percent undecided in the polls.
Oh boy - I am gonna be so shitfaced. I hope I’ve come down enough by morning to call in sick because I will be so hammered! “<groan>Hello boss, I’m calling in <burp> shitfa… ummm sick <urp>. See you tomorrow if I’m not dead” 
See?
Yeah…I was expecting Kerry to jump on that one too. I hope that comes out in the post-debate discussion…I did hear it brought up in a sort of understated way on NPR when the guy who was supposed to be the “1 man truth squad” talked about distortions that each candidate had made.
Did Bush prepare at all for this debate, other than to write his closing statement? I think I nearly suffered contact embarassment watching him.
I was kind of disappointed that none of the questions ventured into the “law enforcement powers versus civil liberties” area. Other than Bush slipping in some cheerleading for the Patriot Act, it wasn’t even mentioned.
Yeah…The friend I was watching the debate with also said she was starting to feel sorry for him. I told her that I feel even sorrier for us.
For the rest of the debates can they have a little line of text under the podium that says " Question actually posed to_____"? Kerry went off on tangents for about 1/2 of the questions the first half hour, then Bush did as well. Were they competing for the evasive answer prize?
The Quick Poll on AOL about “who won the debate” is currently 50-50%. 72% said that the debate doesn’t change their opinion of who they’ll vote for, 17% say they’ll now vote for Kerry and 10% said they’ll now vote for Bush. I don’t think you can link to things on the aol page, but if you have AOL it’s one of the front screens. It’ll be interesting to see what that poll says tomorrow, once more people have gotten the chance to vote. (I believe it’s open for 24 hours).
I can see why Bush originally insisted that the cameras not cover the candidate not answering the question. Bush was constantly making monkey faces at the camera while Kerry was speaking-- not very Presidential.
I am biased obviously, but Kerry was clearly more articulate, spoke with more confidence and clarity, and answered with fewer “canned” responses. No knockout, but even Bush’s spinmeisters are not going get away with maintaining that Bush even held his own.
BTW What was that on John Edwards upper lip? Lousy time to get a pimple, five days before the big Vice-Presidential debate.
Take this for what it’s worth. I was/am extremely biased in favor of Kerry. I think Kerry came off better. But, he missed some opportunities to get ruthless and go for the kill. But, I am waiting to see what the spin doctors do with it, and how Joe Sixpack responds to the spin, since Joe Sixpack don’t listen to Commie girly man debates. Other than that, the podiums and blinky lights were too much like a game show. All they needed was the Jeopardy theme song. That, and the British lady who proclaims “You are the weakest link. Goodbye”.
I decided to do with my hands whatever Kerry did.
But after I found myself waving at him(he was waving) I quit.
I was surprised Bush looked miffed.
I say Lehrer won the debate.
Lacking a major gaffe on either side, I don’t see a big difference in the polls. (Hi Bricker!) I do think Kerry showed that he carries a presidential gravitas, and as a Kerry supporter, I would settle for his having made more people think “Y’know, he could probably be an OK president”, then depend on the next two debates to nail down the fact that he would be a better president. I would also hope that some of Bush’s stumbling tonight would serve to instill some wavering in his weaker supporters.
As an aside, I believe I remember that English is not your native language. You wanted the word “affect”. It confuses even native speakers.
Will the debate affect the polls?
Will the debate have an effect on the polls?
It’s tricky, and I hope I’m not insulting you.
I think that Kerry basically did the equivalent of converting a fourth down in the last two minutes of a football game. If he had failed, the game would have been over. He stayed in the game and got a fresh set of downs.
My daughter kept giggling at Dubya, every time he spoke. She’s 8 months old.
I’d call it a marginal victory for Kerry but no knock out. If both Fox and CNN are claiming that (I read hear that Fox said that and the first consensus on CNN was that way) then the spin tomorrow (barring good work from the President’s media relations folks tonight) will present it as a Kerry win.
How much that appears in the polls is another issue. Ask me on Monday when some 3 days are completed. The polls have been drop dead crazy for the last three months.
Specifics…
Kerry should learn to address a camera and stop looking down at his lectern.
The President shouldn’t get visibly irritated when the camera is on him. I know the ground rules said ‘no cutaways’ but for a politician cameras and microphones should have the same assumption as firearms…ALWAYS assume they’re loaded.
For myself I thought the presidents continual return to his core message got somewhat repetitive but I’m sure that was the goal. Perhaps he could have had a few different ways to say the same thing so they could resonate more. But that’s stylistic.
I also think Kerry could have been more agressive in his positions. He still seems a little cautious to me. Maybe if there’s some good spin out of this he’ll be encouraged to be more assertive in debate 2.
In all, one of the more entertaining debates of the last few cycles.
This is the result of staged “Ask the President” forums Bush has done on the campaign trail. When a candidate spends day-after-day-after-day facing nothing but soft tosses, even prepared-for, straightforward questions seem like high hard ones.
I hate to break the bad news to you, but Iraq is not free. They are currently occupied by a foreign army that has set up a puppet government to do its wishes.
Oh my, yes. I can’t wait for the town-hall-format debate. Bush may just blow a vein or two…
The NBC truth squad said it was only 50,000 police. Brokaw responded that that’s because about 40,000 were recentlt fired because of total incompetence or they were suspected infiltrators.
Tag this thread! I’ll refer back to it once Straightdope posters talk about how biased FOX is when referring to Bush. Never seen FOX used so much in support of a position a poster wants to make.
I got the idea that the President was tiring in the last 10 minutes or so. He seemed to lose focus. Like a prize fighter who has to go 15 rounds in a fight he expected to be over in 12.
Since when does an American President go before the country and call the President of Russia by his first name? Repeatedly. Maybe he could not remember his last name. Does he talk about his good buddy Tony, too? The interim president of Iraq gets the full title but this Russian KBG thug gets first name hugs and kisses?
Kerry’s number one job was to stay alive. He certainly did that. Despite my prejudice I can’t help but think he made some hay, too.