Rick's Cafe Americain

It will be blogged to death within moments, but I wanted to say that I thought it went very well.  Kerry was vastly better than Bush in terms of debating—his answers were substantive, clear and concise, and Bush spent pretty much the whole night on the defensive, often falling back on talking points that were at best irrelevant and made him look defensive.  I expected Bush to win this one, and I think it was a clear victory for Kerry.  Some CBS commentator opined at the end that Bush’s best moment came when he said he would fight the terrorists abroad so we didn’t have to fight them at home.  While that will probably resonate with a lot of people, to me it underscores the foolishness of Bush’s approach to the “war on terror”: the apparent assumption that there is a finite number of terrorists, and that they are somehow all being magically drawn to Iraq like moths to a flame.

Postscript: John McCain, who is on CBS now, appears as if he is being physically torn apart by the strain of having to support the president.

It will be blogged to death within moments, but I wanted to say that I thought it went very well.  Kerry was vastly better than Bush in terms of debating—his answers were substantive, clear and concise, and Bush spent pretty much the whole night on the defensive, often falling back on talking points that were at best irrelevant and made him look defensive.  I expected Bush to win this one, and I think it was a clear victory for Kerry.  Some CBS commentator opined at the end that Bush’s best moment came when he said he would fight the terrorists abroad so we didn’t have to fight them at home.  While that will probably resonate with a lot of people, to me it underscores the foolishness of Bush’s approach to the “war on terror”: the apparent assumption that there is a finite number of terrorists, and that they are somehow all being magically drawn to Iraq like moths to a flame.

Postscript: John McCain, who is on CBS now, appears as if he is being physically torn apart by the strain of having to support the president.

I agree.  I am not sure if Kerry won what will be a decisive victory, but I can’t see how anyone with an open mind could have watched that debate and come away encouraged by Bush.  Kerry (for once) kept to a clear and consistent message.  Bush never really defended his decisions and instead simply attacked Kerry for taking multiple positions.

It is telling, when a sitting president, rather than explain why he has made America better or stronger for four years, rather than explain why his opponents policy positions are in error, instead mostly does little more than say “I did the right thing” (with little to no explanation) and Kerry contradicts himself.  Bush got in a couple of good jabs on Kerry being contradictory, but for the most part the attacks were ringing hollow with Kerry explaining that he was for disarming Iraq, but against the rush to war—which is consistent, no matter what right winger bloggers say.

I am curious to see the post debate fallout, but I think Kerry could get a good bounce from this.

Bush did spend the entire debate on the defensive. He was trying desperately to convince people that things are going well in Iraq but couldn’t actually refer to the events in Iraq. His answer on North Korea varied between an incomprehensible plan for diplomacy and a noticeable unwillingness to address the facts of NK’s current possession of nuclear weapons. Bush looked nervous and couldn’t remember how to answer specific questions. As a result, he was forced to retreat into platitudes and poll-tested - but by now horribly stale - sound bites. He looked awful on almost every question. The only one that he almost got right was the “character” question. He started off strong, personable and magnanimous, but quickly devolved into a tired attack on Kerry’s alleged flip-floppery.

Kerry started poorly himself. I didn’t see the opening statements, but I was stunned at how awkwardly Kerry spent the first 20 minutes. He was passive, halting and seemed almost afraid to fight. That changed when Bush said “the enemy attacked us” - it woke Kerry up. Kerry’s response was strong, direct and factually powerful. It set the tone for the rest of the debate and began a pummeling that I don’t think Bush recovered from at all. His only major misstep, in my mind, was on the question of nuclear prolif when he stated that he would cease US military research into nuclear bunker busters - a step farther than he needed to go (even if he wants to do it). The Bushies will use in the days ahead to show that Kerry isn’t willing to do what is necessary to fully protect our country. As for the tired refrain of “flip-flop,” Kerry took it head on and said that changing opinions in response to new facts isn’t flip-flopping, it is intelligence.

Perhaps I have Blue-colored glasses on, but I think Kerry won this debate handily. The only way Bush won on points is if the North Korean judge was doing the scoring.

Postscript to the postscript:  did anybody else catch Giuliani on the Daily Show?  Talk about sounding insincere and hollow while supporting the President… Stewart even played a little tough with good ol’ Mr. Mayor.  Twas fun to watch.

Ugarte, there were no opening statements.  I caught the first twenty minutes on the radio, and was actually cheering Kerry.  Granted, I had low expectations, but maybe the visual wasn’t as good.  Speaking of visuals, did anyone else think that Bush looked kinda hunched?  Every time they did a rear shot of, him, he looked like an old man clinging to the podium for support.

Also, Ugarte, I agree with your comment about the bunker busters—although I agree wholeheartedly with Kerry’s position on those, it took him out onto thinner ice than he needed to tread.

Although I think Kerry did a pretty good job of acquitting himself of the “flip-flopper” tag, I think that will be lost on most of America.  Sadly, I think that Fox News viewers and Rush Limbaugh-listeners will continue to believe that he keeps “changing his core values as politics change”, because they are getting bombarded with that crap day in and day out.

I heard on the radio that 20% of voters polled said the debates might change their view on whom to vote for.  If Kerry can keep this up, he’s got the swing vote locked up.

Finally, has anyone else seen the RNC commercial I just saw in which “congressional liberals” are accused of decreasing funding to intelligence, voting against “weapons”, and depriving our troops of needed equipment?

The daily show was great...especially the Polish points.  I actually called a Polish friend of mine during the debate to tell her how much George Bush loves her, so I was rolling when Jon Stewart gave the one-two Polish punch.

Once upon a time, I respected Giuliani, even though I did not agree with much of his politics.  His conversion to hatchet man at the convention and post debate (can you say “I want to be President in 2008") really evaporated that respect.  There is a line between supporting your party/candidate and simply blowing smoke out your ass and misrepresenting reality.  Giuliani has crossed that line.

And I agree with Rick, I did not notice any vast difference between first 20 minutes Kerry and the rest.  I think he missed an opportunity and lost some points (even though also getting in his best sound bite) on the $87 billion vote, but Bush failed to capitalize and there were a couple of other instances where he could have better clarified his prior statements positions.  But, overall, the contrast between Kerry pointedly saying to Bush over and over again “hey, you fucked up big time” and Bush (1) not defending his decisions, except superficially ("I was right, next question"), and (2) pretty much just attacking Kerry as a flip-flopper was stark and astonishing.  Like Rick, I thought Kerry was going to get bombed last night.

This guy pegs Kerry’s awakening at exactly the same time I did.  A pretty good article even if I am tired of the “looks Presidential” tack that everyone seems to be taking on this story.

Whoops. Here is the link I meant to post: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/01/debates/.

My 2 cents… It’s the fourth quarter of the super bowl and Team Bush is up by three scores. Kerry just got a TD. He’s still way behind with time ticking down.

Pauly, I think you’re right, but for the first three quarters Kerry had his hands tied behind his back.  The debates are the first time in 3 1/2 years that Americans have a chance to see George Bush in an environment that is not completely controlled and scripted.  I think Kerry has a real shot.