With the 2000 "town hall" debate, George Bush was able to turn the audience over to his side, and had them laughing at Al Gore's idiocy along with himself. if anything, Lurch is even worse at connecting with an audience than Gore was, and he's certainly no Bill Clinton. I think the president will do just fine, despite all the Code Pinko types the audience will certainly be packed with.
Who would most people prefer to be with at a barbeque? All President Bush needs to do is turn it into that type of "atmosphere" and it's done. Kerry would be like the guy who knows how to do the driveway better, build a better deck, advice and condescension for an hour and a half. People aren't going to want that for 4 years.