Posted on 09/30/2004 10:04:13 PM PDT by 11th_VA
John Kerry, his support in key states sagging and his time to shore it up fading, needed a knock-out punch Thursday night in his first debate with George Bush. It never came.
But neither did it come for the president.
Indeed, Sen. Kerry landed some blows. His point on this nation's failure to secure our ports and safeguard our chemical and nuclear facilities was stated well. They are weak spots for the Bush administration that have left us vulnerable.
(snip)
But Kerry, whose handlers-come-lately have decided to make the Iraqi war their backstretch centerpiece, did not make a convincing case that the war has been a "colossal mistake." Had he, Kerry would have been forced to admit he is part of that mistake. He accepted the same intelligence as the president, later proven to be faulty, and he also authorized the use of force.
Bush, however, failed to press Kerry for the details of his "plan" for Iraq. And then the president failed to enunciate his plan.
Simply chilling was Kerry's talk of the United States needing to pass some kind of "global test" before defending itself preemptively.
So, let's score this first debate a tie. And now it's on to St. Louis.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
I'm reposting, from the post-debate thread below, some links to on-line polls; many of them are STILL UNDERWAY so please GO VOTE!
American Research Group: http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/debatei
AOL News: http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/elections/article.adp?id=200...
Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com (Look for "SURVEY: Who did better in the debate?")
CNBC: http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/Promos/P9595...
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004
Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/28241...
Kansas City Channel: http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/index.html (Look for "Survey: Who Won The Debate?")
KOTV Tulsa: http://www.kotv.com/main/home/main.asp (Right column "Hotbutton")
KSDK St. Louis: http://www.ksdk.com/includes/poll.aspx
LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-na-debate1...
Minnesota Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5008889.html
MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6123733
MSNBC Horserace: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6028629
Ms. Magazine: http://www.msmagazine.com/debate_poll.asp
NBC25 Hagerstown MD: http://nbc25.com/webpoll.asp
NBC4 Washington DC: http://www.nbc4.com/index.html (Look for "Survey: Who won the Debate?")
NBC5 Cincinnati: http://www.channelcincinnati.com/index.html (Look for "Survey: Who Won The Debate?")
NBC6 South Florida: http://www.nbc6.net/index.html (Look for "Survey: Who Won The Debate?")
New Orleans Channel: http://www.theneworleanschannel.com/index.html (Look for "Survey: Who Won The Debate?")
News Central: http://www.newscentral.tv
Newsday: http://www.newsday.com (Look for "Poll: Rate the candidates")
NewsNet5 Cleveland: http://www.newsnet5.com/index.html (Look for "Survey: Who Won The Debate?")
Sun-Sentinel: http://www.sun-sentinel.com (right column)
Tampa Bay 10 News: http://www.tampabays10.com
Time: http://www.time.com/time (Right side)
Wall St. Journal: http://discussions.wsj.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=wsjv...
WESH2 Orlando: http://www.wesh.com/index.html (Look for "Survey: Who Won The Debate?")
WFTV9 Orlando: http://www.wftv.com/index.html (Look for "Survey: Who Won The Debate?")
WHOTV Des Moines: http://whotv.com
BTTT
"John Kerry, his support in key states sagging and his time to shore it up fading, needed a knock-out punch Thursday night in his first debate with George Bush. It never came. "
Says it all.
Rope-a-dope?
"Simply chilling was Kerry's talk of the United States needing to pass some kind of "global test" before defending itself preemptively."
Yup. Kerry was as slick as a snakeoil salesman but this was a BIG mistake. I think voters don't want their President to ask the UN whether they would be allowed to preempt terrorist attacks on their own country.
Exactly how I felt. Stylistically, both men expressed their positions well. Either you agree with the President or you agree with the "we have to change our opinions and policy every five minutes" guy. I doubt many minds were changed.
See - www.pittsburgHlive.com"
Sheesh.
"Simply chilling was Kerry's talk of the United States needing to pass some kind of "global test" before defending itself preemptively."
I'm beginning to think this one statement by Kerry is going to be the emerging issue that arises out of this debate. I've gone from one end of the news to the other and this one thing is the only thing I see brought up everywhere, by everyone.
That will be trouble for Kerry.
Interesting how this statement is consistently being brought up by nearly all punditry, across the board. Kerry will be sorry he made it.
-Dan
-Dan
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