[ohio]

both come from rich families (not upper middle class. RICH).

I thought Kerry did NOT come from a rich background. He was at prep school on scholarship (exeter, andover... whichever one Bush didn't go to). He wasn't rich but pretended to be, while Bush was rich and pretended not to be. Whatever that says respectively about the two of them

I can't believe I missed the debate. Stupid business dinners. Even worse I can't believe my first source for news on the debates is RM...

 

[Toshi]

I thought Kerry did NOT come from a rich background. He was at prep school on scholarship (exeter, andover... whichever one Bush didn't go to). He wasn't rich but pretended to be, while Bush was rich and pretended not to be. Whatever that says respectively about the two of them

I can't believe I missed the debate. Stupid business dinners. Even worse I can't believe my first source for news on the debates is RM...

hmm, interesting. i didn't realize he wasn't rich from the start (only now ). thanks for the correction

 

[ohio]

"Of course we're after Saddam Hussein -- I mean bin Laden." - Bush
Priceless.

I know it's just because he's nervous and a bad speaker, but how can I not interpret that as a Freudian slip?

 

[jdcamb]

G-Dub = Stammering fool

Johny K = Needling prick

But all in all Kerry won because G-Dub was on the defensive. I don't think G-Dub was as prepared for this as Kerry was. Kerry knows his **** wheresas G-Dub seems to be recalling everything......jdcamb

 

[douglas]

was it just me or did it look like george did a pub crawl the night before?

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

Nice, a canadian and a new zealander debating US political issues.

Kerry on multiple occasions seemed to try and justify an answer, but changing the subject. This is how is seemed to me, anyways. The very first question he seemed to avoid. (i cannot recall what it was now, unfortunately)

yo! wait, the peruvian is coming too.

i saw a good chunk of the debate on cnn finantial and bbc.
it was live like on 30 channels. german DW, spaniard TVE, italian rai, and lots of other big foreign networks.
probably more people watced the debate outside the US, than inside the US.

kerry is pretty good at debatting, answered or dodged questions soundly. bush on the other hand seemed a bit uneasy, and was very repetitive in his words and tried to fed his image of firmness. looks he was trying to dig into his niche, by asserting his "firmness", and his wording was to appeal the US hard right wing side, rather than being aggressive and try to fetch the undecided.

what i find interesting, is that usually in politics the winner is in the middle. and no candidates want to identify themselves with far extremes, so to not loose potential voters.
but with bush, seems in this debate he was actually trying to portrait himself further to the right than what he may actually be. un-orthodox tactics, but seems very effective in the US.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I kept hoping GW would walk over and thourghly beat the sh!t out of Kerry cuz he sure looked like he wanted to...

 

[fluff]

I kept hoping GW would walk over and thourghly beat the sh!t out of Kerry cuz he sure looked like he wanted to...

D'ya think he actually could though?

I taped the debate as it was 02:00 this morning in the Uk and although I watched the first 10 minutes or so this morning I'll reserve judgement until later. The mediator had already missed one question I'd have liked to ask but maybe he'll come back to it. What was it? - The lack of WMD...

 

[I Are Baboon]

It's pretty pathetic how most Republicans think Bush won the debate, while most Democrats think Kerry won. You think these folks watch the debates with an open mind? Me neither. It's nice to be an independent 'cause you can see that they both suck.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I'd go along with analysis.... neither canidate out shown the other and I really doubt any minds were changed.



LOCKHART: DEBATE CONSENSUS A 'DRAW'

Unbeknownst to Kerry adviser Mike McCurry, a C-SPAN camera quietly followed McCurry as he found Kerry adviser Joe Lockhart on Spin Alley floor and asked him his impression of the debate. Lockhart candidly said to McCurry , “The consensus is it was a draw.”

 

[fluff]

It's pretty pathetic how most Republicans think Bush won the debate, while most Democrats think Kerry won. You think these folks watch the debates with an open mind? Me neither. It's nice to be an independent 'cause you can see that they both suck.

Well from the comments here and elsewhere plus the little bit I've seen so far it would appear that Bush simply kept repeating 'I was right' and 'He'd be worse' and Kerry came back with 'He was wrong' and 'I'd be better'. Not that much difference so far. (Of course there might be something substantial in the bits I've not seen but no-one's reported anything so I doubt it.)

Wouldn't convince me to vote for either of them. I think Bush has screwed up several times but I have no idea if Kerry would have been better or worse to be honest - his policies seem to be very loose concepts at this time.

I think you guys are screwed either way.

 

[syadasti]

I kept hoping GW would walk over and thourghly beat the sh!t out of Kerry cuz he sure looked like he wanted to...

He's too small/short. Did you notice how much they had to raise his frame up on CNN so he was even with Kerry in the split screen view? That was courtesy of Fox News (they controlled the feeds) to prevent Kerry from looking dominant without even talking Some visual propaganda if you will

 

[Westy]

I kept hoping GW would walk over and thourghly beat the sh!t out of Kerry cuz he sure looked like he wanted to...

That would put Kerry in the Whitehouse faster than anything else. That is of course if Cheney didn't start the apocolypse during his month in the Oval Office.

 

[jmvar]

Flip Flop.....The flip that made the loudest flop of the two candidates was when Kerry pointed out that Bush said, "They atacked us." in the context of Iraq. Kerry pointed out that the group that attacked the US was AL-Queada, not Iraq.

I know Bush meant to say "We were attacked, and we have to be on the offensive". However, that did not come across. It has stuck in my mind all last night and this morning.

I think Kerry did a good job dispelling the flip flopper image, and explained his position regarding his statements "wrong war at the wrong place" and now supporting the troops and getting the job done. However, I came away with no information about his plan, everything he said was very eloquent but had absolutely no substance. "I can do better."

He did a good job of picking apart Bush's history in office, foreign policy, and stubborness. There is no doubt that there were people in the Bush cabinet that said don't go to war, what will you do when it's over, no exit strategy.

Bush made some good points regarding Kerry's comments about allies and how there were not enough, he spouted off numbers and suggested they were insignificant. Then he wants to go and be diplomatic and gain more allies, while belittling the ones the US has now during the debates. Other countries have lost soliders also in Iraq and Kerry's comments seemed inappropriate. Bush made these points but they just didn't come out convincing.....

As far as who won, I don't see the point in a blanket statement saying Bush or Kerry won this one, because one candidate can be getting pumbled the whole time and make one statement that really touches a voter's values. That didn't happen for me in this debate, I was waiting for Kerry to spell something out about his plan.

Now if I were only a citizen and able to vote..........

 

[SuspectDevice]

Listening to the debate on NPR (TV IS FOR FOOLS) was awesome. Bush rapping on the table with his fist was actually louder than his words most of the time, like in high school english class when they teach you how to read iambic pentameter.

you rocks-- you stones-- you worse-than sense-less things.

As a registered Libertarian I look at both of these ass-clowns with contempt, contempt of Kerry's horrible record on civil liberties (principle architect of the "war-on-drugs"), and suprise, Bush's horribly Keynsenian economics and his horrible record on human rights and civil liberties. Kerry clearly has more wherewithal and gravitas as a public speaker, but it seems the anti-intellectualism and religous fervor of this country is probally to great of a barrier for him to overcome.
Bush is a rather wily chimera, able to change his public persona to what i playing in the polls. In the south he plays to god, slurs his speach, and is sure to fumble, they love that ****!! In more civilized regions of the country he plays up his "businessman" background, cut down on the drawl and appeals to to the country club set.

 

[jmvar]

Hey suspect, I listened to the debates on the radio and I have to say it was an experience.....I think I will try and catch the next debate on TV at my girlfriend's house to see the difference.

With radio I felt like I focused completely on what was being said. However, I want to see the reactions of the candidates to each other's responces....

 

[narlus]

speaking of flip-flops...on the iran/nuke thing, bush claimed that all sanctions available had been put into place. then the next response, when the winds were shifting, he changed his tact and said that all those sanctions weren't his doing, clinton's administation had them in place before dubya got to the white house.

nice.

if GWB had said "it's hard work" one more time, i might have believed him. usually on the 86th repetition i'm converted.

 

[syadasti]

Odd - Thursday's worst weather feature from accuweather.com - keep in mind the photo will probably change since its already past Thursday:

http://wwwa.accuweather.com/adcbin/public/news_index.asp?type=worstwx

 

[ohio]

okay... this is an online first for me, but it has never felt more appropiate

OWN3D!1!!11

 

[Tenchiro]

No matter who "won" the debate, be assured that America lost.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

I kept hoping GW would walk over and thourghly beat the sh!t out of Kerry cuz he sure looked like he wanted to...

it was obvious the impotence on the face of bush.
how would you feel if you get ripped appart in pieces in national tv in a debate for the presidency??