Tonight's the night!!!

[Gooch]

Observations on the debate:


Bush:

well, he was very repetitive, sputtering or rambling...constantly overused his time and then asked for 30sec responses, and then didn't have anything to say. He basically looked lost at times, very uncomfortable, and those faces were made when Kerry was hammering him or made points, made look Bush look bad. First 30min, Bush looked fine, but once Kerry started hammering and really making points, Bush seemed to lose it. Some might not totally agree with Kerry's content, but he was in command, owned Bush on this debate, and took him very to task over Iraq. MSNBC did a great job covering. CNN too.






VIEW FROM THE RIGHT:

Some felt (Dick Morris of the Post) that this was the debate on Kerry's weakest point (foreign policy), and Bush had an opportunity to "put him away" but failed miserably. Soon we have a debate on Bush's weakest point, economy and domestic issues.

my father and my roommate Tom, both republicans, thought Bush looked awful. Tom thinks it's over.




OVERALL:

i just thought kerry gave an A+ presentation and overall debate based on questions asked and making points. did his content equal A+? No. things still remained unanswered in some areas. I'd give him a B there. As for swing voters...I will refer to NBC, who had an interview with a room of swing voters...every one of them gave the debate to Kerry. Several had their vote swayed, the rest would wait till the next debates. Thats a big win. And thats why Tom fears it's over...that the staunch left and right's decisions are aleady set...but its the swing voters that will make this election...and last night was a big influential test, and Kerry shone.



SUMMATION:

Will that remain, will things change...who is to say? But for now, Kerry, in mind, will get a bump and cements a possible push to grab swing voters in this. I still view the election as a tossup. Who grabs the swing voters wins this election. In my mind, Kerry won the first skirmish.