Posted on 10/01/2004 8:51:49 PM PDT by Pikamax
The Democrat 527s have spent millions of dollars running indefensible attack ads against the President.
John Kerry then stands up at the debate and lies through his teeth for 90 minutes. I think in the face of all that, President Bush has shown remarkable restraint.
It's possible you and I didn't watch the same debate, because the "scowls" and "squints" and "disgust" that this "reporter" mentions did not translate into the President's speech patterns. Ergo, he is misreading GWB's expressions in my opinion - I believe wishfully so.
This debate was a success for Bush based not so much on what he said, but on what Kerry said. Lurch will rue the day he ever spoke about a "global test", because Rove and the Bush team will never let him forget it.
There are two more debates, in formats more friendly to the President. And Cheney gets to sink his teeth into the Breck Girl next Tuesday. Miles to go before we sleep, good sir.
I saw the all the Bush-Gore debates 4 years ago.
None of them compared with this one.
Bush came into this with not only a general advantage in the polls, but a HUGE advantage on the war in Iraq and on terrorism.
He had several golden opportunities to nail Kerry, the double-talking flip-flopper on his BS rhetoric...yet Bush didn't take advantage of them.
Not only didn't he nail Kerry, but he acted nervous, frustrated lacking in confidence and at a lose for words during the last half of the debate. It was pathetic.
Other Republicans I've talked to today believe this performance may have given Kerry the comeback opportunity he needs and Bush could be finished as a result. I pray this is not true but have to admit I am not looking forward to the remaining debates.
We were wondering the same thing when we saw them both showed at the same time.
Good point. Next time a lib says that Fox isn't fair and balanced I will bring that up.
"Bush came into this with not only a general advantage in the polls, but a HUGE advantage on the war in Iraq and on terrorism."
And he still has a HUGE advantage on these issues.
Bush solicits us for hundreds of millions of dollars for commercials then vitiates their effect because he could not control his facial expressions and body language and tone of voice as any high school drama coach could have taught him.
Bush bears consideral personal responsibility for this needless set back.
Of course they didn't, they were much more articulate than the "President's speech patterns."
Instead of nailing Kerry the flip-flopping fraud on his BS, Bush chose to look frustrated and angry in the debate.
I'm sorry to sound so critical but I can't believe he was so unprepared to deal with Kerry and his weazel-like debate tactics. This is inexcusable.
This debate was a success for Bush based not so much on what he said, but on what Kerry said. Lurch will rue the day he ever spoke about a "global test", because Rove and the Bush team will never let him forget it.
I hope they are as successful in getting this point across to the huge majority who thought Kerry won the debate.
There are two more debates, in formats more friendly to the President.
I don't know. Bush looked like he could not handle Kerry in ANY debate format. And I thought the Iraq war was supposed to be Bush's strong suit.
And Cheney gets to sink his teeth into the Breck Girl next Tuesday.
That I want to see.
We'll have to give it a few days to see if those images catch fire and becoming a "Gore" fiasco for W. because let's face it--these things can take on a life of their own, just because we don't want it to and hope it doesn't, won't make it happen. I'm sure when the buzz in 2000 started about Gore's sighing and eye-rolling, the dems thought it was insignificant and would die down, but it turned out dismally for them. Same as with W's DUI, a lot of folks thought it would be (or were hoping it would be) no big deal, but it did a lot of harm.
This is still W's race to lose, but it is an undeniable fact that Kerry has a viable shot now. This election could have been a done deal last night for W. If he loses, I think we can look back and safely say that this was one, if not the, factor.
I am not being demoralizing, but realistic here.
Why wouldn't I like this?
Absolutely.
Well said.
How can anyone criticize Bush for the obvious disgust? I showed obvious disgust on my face while watching Kerry flip-flop and lie. I can only imagine how Bush felt--since he was the guy getting attacked. And the moderator was VERY unfriendly to Bush too.
They all know that Bush is strong on protecting the country (that means them and their children) but they all thought he doesn't worry much about protecting himself and that Kerry was nasty.
I spoke to approximately 23 women today, and the all mentioned he looked "adorable" or "sweet" when he was "holding his temper". Several of them thought he was probably a GREAT father. Only two of them even mentioned what was said in the debates and they both were negative about Kerry.
If you checked your internals at ABC and CBS you might think twice about that. I'm rather happy about the internals.
Can any of these reporters bother to point out that Joe Lockhart told Mike McCurry that the consensus was that the debate was a draw? If Karen Hughes said that to Karl Rove on tape, you'd better believe the media would run with it.
Do you really think there was any chance Bush was going to "win" this debate, as far as the media was concerned? Kerry could have vomited on Laura Bush, and the media was still going to call him the comeback kid.
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