John Kerry has convinced me!
And thats no small achievement. I am a committed supporter now, I was always going to vote for him, but there were times when I felt like I'd have to pinch my nose to do it. If Kerry keeps this going we're gonna win no problemo. I'm still gonna criticize him because its good for the campaign to hear where they fall short, but I feel like he's my guy now.
The Predebate approach worked well, talking about the obvious attempt to lower expectation resulted in fairly high expectations. Once people were told Bush is playing dumb they automatically assumed he wasn't really dumb. And then he showed up acting dumb.
Kerry did very well in laying out his campaign platform in his response to the very first question of the debate he did it in a very easy to follow manner. And it really laid the ground work for the rest of the evening because it outlined the differences between the candidates.
Bush pulled the "9/11 changed the world" crap in his very first response. It wasn't effective though because as I've predicted in the past people are sick of hearing that. It's become cliche it's over used it's meaningless. Up is still up, down is still down. We still breathe air not dirt. Not that much changed and the idea that somehow we went through a worm hole is absurd.
It would have been great if Kerry had taken that talking point turned it on Bush and used it to his advantage sorta of saying "9/11 made it more important to have allies in the world."
Bush avoided the questions alot. I was hoping Kerry would point it out, and he sort of did in a past tense type way toward the end but Kerry could have made a good impact if he said "With all due respect we're here to address the questions not avoid them!" But he kept it as civil as Bush did. The way I saw it if Bush hit Kerry, Kerry hit back twice! It was a very good strategy and apparently Bush was smart enough not to make things get too ugly.
Kerry used Humor well, he didn't go over the top like he was stuffed to the brim with jokes. His humor came easy and seemed very natural. Good job there. Kerry handled the flipflop charge very well when he there was a right way and a wrong way and Bush chose the wrong way. Very clear and concise a very WELCOMED change of pace from Kerry. That was my biggest beef with him, he didn't do enough editing in his comments. Like he knew what he wanted to say but not how to say it. He did excellent!
Bush's charge that diplomacy failed, was answered very well. Though not as clearly or concising as I would have liked it wasn't nearly as muddled as some of his past attempts had been. A clear and easy "No you failed!" Or "Diplomacy didn't fail, you jumped the gun." would have been more effective but heck he got the job done.
When Kerry pointed out that Bush was confusing Saddam and Osama yet again I was estatic. I mean for SO VERY LONG I have wanted SOMEONE, ANYONE to say that in front of George W. Bush so I can see the look on his face. And it was priceless. Bush turned red. He turned red. He is probably a horrible poker player. His tell is he glares at people. Bush's anger was on display tonight and it was ugly!
Bush made a comment about how Kerry can't afford to pay for his War on Terror plans and his infrastructor redevelopment plans. Bush claimed there wasn't enough money. Since when is Bush concerned about deficiet spending and why is it when it comes to tax cuts it doesn't matter if there is enough money but when it comes to the war on terror you have to pinch pennies? Kerry should have said something about that but he'll get his chance to in the debate on domestic issues because thats always where spending comes in.
As far as tactics go, Bush used far more scare tactics than strawmen this time around. Last time, in 2000 it was all strawmen. He wasn't interested in scarying people he just wanted to lie to them and get elected on promises. This time fear was the number one objective. And he did it in an almost backhanded way. We have to win the war, we have to win the war, we have to win the war! As if to suggest changing Presidents will result in us losing the war.
I was a little upset to see Kerry take the "Saddam was a Threat" position. He probably did so due to previous statements he has made, and that sucks. Because truth be told he wasn't a threat. Saddam was a pathetic old man. Kerry knows that but his statements made in the primaries, directed at Dean have come to bite him in the ass. So I understand why he's taken the stance he has and stuck with it, I just wish that wasn't the situation! Oh well.
Bush complained alot about how "hard" the job of President is. He must have used the phrase "It's hard work" like 50 times! I hope SNL uses that, and the glaring and the anger in their debate sketch. Kerry should have said something along the lines of "If you cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen!"
And last but not least Kerry should have hammered in the "You've had four years" talking point! He still has a chance, the domestic policy debate will be a good chance to hammer that in. It is the main objective, convince the voters Bush has failed.
Also if push comes to shove just come out and call Bush a Liar. In fact that would be a good climatic ending in the 3rd debate. Kerry get so sick of the BS that he just says "You know, I respect the office of the Presidency more than anyone can possibly imagine, and I hate to say it but what you just said is a filthy lie and I will not stand by and let that go unchallenged!"
Bush is either going to bow out of the last two debates or he is going to train like there is no tomorrow. Karl Rove has probably already watched the debate tape 5 times this evening and he probably will not sleep at all tonight. So be prepared for Bush to come out swinging in the next one!
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