# Bush v. Kerry, Round Three **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 13, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997 "2004-10-13T13:53:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/481 "2004-10-14T02:46:03Z")
> [@chula](#): > > Yup, I heard that too. And I saw a film of him at Yale when he was young, and he had that pretentious Ivy-League accent big-time. My mom’s from rural Vermont. Grew up dirt poor. She says “idear.” I love it. You can take your pretentious bigotry and stuff it. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/482 "2004-10-14T02:46:41Z")
ABC results of the poll Kerry 42% Bush 41% Tie 14% based on about +5000 asked 38 -Republicans 30-Democrats 28-Independents ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/483 "2004-10-14T02:47:00Z")
ABC sez 42% Kerry, 41% Bush, 14% Tie. Sample affiliation: 38% Republican, 30% Democrat, 28% Indy ---
**Author:** ![singersargent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/edb3f5/32.png) [@singersargent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singersargent)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/484 "2004-10-14T02:47:04Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > So, since Kerry won this so decisively, I’m sure the polls will swing his way now, right? Only if you’re assuming that some voters can be swayed by reason. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/485 "2004-10-14T02:47:12Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > So what was up with the right side of W’s face? Does it always droop like that? I’ve never notice before, but I couldn’t stop looking at his mouth. Has he had a stroke or something? When he smiled, only half of his face moved. > > Seriously. Did anybody else notice that? While neither Marlowe nor Goethe picked up on this, it is a proven scientific fact that selling your soul to the Devil has certain detrimental effects on neural function. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/486 "2004-10-14T02:47:18Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > How many votes does God _get_, anyway? 144,000. > [@Brutus](#): > > ABout 5-10% are undecided, and it would be quite a dramitic shift if even 3/4 of them went for Kerry. Certainly if the oft-quoted (by some folks) but useless internet polls were accurate, we would see those undecideds going in clearly disproportionate numbers to Kerry. So let’s get this straight. The media, the universities, and now the internet shows a liberal bias? How many Americans have to support the left before it isn’t a bias, it is this mythical “mainstream” that Bush suggests _he_ supports? Who won the popular vote in 2000, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/487 "2004-10-14T02:47:30Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Yes, it would usually be taken that way. And maybe it’s meant to be taken that way. I just didn’t see any “zinger” in Kerry’s comment. I gave him more credit than that. > [@](#): > > But I think you missed the audience gooing “oooooohhhh” right after Kerry said it. Laura was rich (not in the range of THK, but wealthy) when Bush married her. Eh. They both married rich women, and both seem devoted to them. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/488 "2004-10-14T02:48:07Z")
> [@UrbanChic](#): > > So is the Truth Squad going to use its mighty Fact-o-Meter on Bush denying he said he wasn’t worried about ObL? CNN already showed the clip. Too bad The Daily Show’s in reruns this week. I think Wolf Blitzer is going to kill his producers for sending him out four times to sit for hours in front of dumb screaming college kids with signs. This Tempe bunch is particularly obnoxious and have taken to chanting slogans to try to drown out the pundits. _Roll up the ribbons, pack up the presents, put all those things awaaaaay, this day is done and tomorrow is on its way…_ ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/489 "2004-10-14T02:48:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > If your labor is worth ten cents an hour - a proposition I have no trouble accepting, by the way - then yes, you should be paid ten cents per hour. I mean employers in a totally free market would value just about all work at equal to 10 cents an hour, no matter the job and quality. This is almost Communistic. ---
**Author:** ![Spree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Spree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spree)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/490 "2004-10-14T02:48:53Z")
> [@UrbanChic](#): > > So is the Truth Squad going to use its mighty Fact-o-Meter on Bush denying he said he wasn’t worried about ObL? I just saw the clip from March 2002 on CNN. Kerry nailed it on the quote and I’ll be surprised if this doesn’t come back and bite Bush on the ass. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/491 "2004-10-14T02:48:54Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > I really don’t understand why you keep saying this. Clearly it continues to be the case. Look at where the polls were prior to the first debate and now. Kerry’s exceptionally strong performances have moved the polls markedly, swinging them in some cases by 15 points. > > What are you going for here? How’s that working for you? Yet Bush is still leading. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/492 "2004-10-14T02:49:00Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > ABout 5-10% are undecided, and it would be quite a dramitic shift if even 3/4 of them went for Kerry. Certainly if the oft-quoted (by some folks) but useless internet polls were accurate, we would see those undecideds going in clearly disproportionate numbers to Kerry. Historically, undecideds break two to one for the challenger. I expect that to be even higher this time around. Even so, your only talking about two or three percentage points in the overe all polls. If \*_Bricker_ wants to call a 3 percent change a “dramatic swing” then sure, we’ll see a dramatic swing. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/493 "2004-10-14T02:49:51Z")
Tavis Smiley just said that he doesn’t believe there are really any undecided voters - they’re just attention whores. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/494 "2004-10-14T02:49:59Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > So let’s get this straight. The media, the universities, and now the internet shows a liberal bias? It depends on which of the Internets you speak of. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/495 "2004-10-14T02:49:58Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > 144,000. Is that in a swing state? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/496 "2004-10-14T02:50:07Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Yet Bush is still leading. No he isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/497 "2004-10-14T02:50:32Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > There have been so goddammed many of them, I can’t recall the specific focus of the commercial but I am sure I heard the “global test” sound bite followed by the “I’m GWB and I approve…” > > And I KNOW that I have seen commercials from the DNC using images of Bush grimaces right after Debate 1. I just noticed: you and I live about 30 miles apart. I guess I’m just doing a good job of watching the channels that aren’t running campaign ads, because I’ve seen practically no presidential ads. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/498 "2004-10-14T02:50:37Z")
3 percent may not be a dramatic shift, but it might be a _decisive_ shift. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/499 "2004-10-14T02:50:38Z")
> [@capacitor](#): > > I mean employers in a totally free market would value just about all work at equal to 10 cents an hour, no matter the job and quality. This is almost Communistic. I don’t agree. In a free market, skilled labor would cost more than unskilled labor. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997/500 "2004-10-14T02:51:19Z")
Was it just me, or did Bush basically whiff on the religion question? He just kinda wandered with vague generalities about the faith that’s supposedly at the heart of his life. Finally at the end, he connected it with “freedom on the march”, after 1:50 of aimless wandering in verbal circles. Also, his claim that most of his tax cut went to the middle class - I’m surprised his pants didn’t immolate on the spot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-v-kerry-round-three/268997.md?page=26)