September 30, 2004
Saddam Bin Laden and Osama Hussein
Kerry's been in the makeup chair a long time today. But all the pancake in the world isn't keeping that orange from peeking through. Kabuki theater the debates are NOT.
Dumbest thing Kerry said at the outset: "which the president has almost not done."
ALMOST NOT DONE?
Explain that one to me, please.
Funniest thing Kerry's said at 12 minutes in: see title of post.
Bush has made some very salient points. They may not have been the most eloquently made points, but he's hitting all the big ones.
"if you believe there's only one focus....you don't understand the war on terror"
"If you say wrong war, wrong time, wrong place........what kind of message is that?"
"We have to be right 100% of the time...in the end the enemy has to be right only once to hurt us."
Kerry: "Halliburton!"
Bush: The only thing consistent about my opponent's position is he's inconsistent.
Kerry's 4 point plan: 1 Halliburton and 3 Vietnams as of 18:44
Is it just me or does it look like Kerry is a schoolboy writing a (love) note (to Lehrer)?
Sports analogies, John? C'mon. We know you know sports like a duck knows algebra. AFLAC!
Mr. Kerry, regarding your points about us being overextended due to the War on Terror: I'd rather be overextended in Iraq and Afghanistan than to be overWHELMED and underground in America. Fighting terror on its doorstep is far better than fighting it on ours.
Kerry: It was a threat............that's not the issue! It's what we did with the threat. Um, no. I think a threat (and you just acknowledged that there was one) is a very significant issue, John Boy. What we do after that threat is realized is just as important.
At one point, Kerry seemed to be on very shaky ground. He wasn't making his point clear, even though he'd tried several times. Standing there, behind his podium, the camera caught him from the side. He looked out of sorts. And his right arm was shaking. A lot. Was it fear? Was it anger? Whatever it was, it wasn't pretty.
Final impressions:
Bush: Focused. Maybe a little too focused for MSM...but he was very clear on what we need to do about the War on Terror. He looked relaxed and confident. Not the polished speaker, prepared to the hilt, as some expected, Bush responded directly to Kerry's comments, with sincerity.
Kerry: Contradicted himself several times. Unclear about his plans. Prepared sound bytes to the nth degree. Taking notes, not listening, and not honest. Pale at the onset, Oompa Loompa-ish toward the end. Nice hair.
Overall, my feeling is this, I don't want Kerry standing before the world speaking on my behalf. I want Bush up there. He'll listen, weigh the choices, make a decision, and he'll mean what he says.
Hard to believe that I was so very much not a fan of Bush four years ago, isn't it? And here I am now, madly, wildly in love with the President! (Not literally - you know what I mean!) I trust and respect this man. He earned that. EARNED it.
Thanks to tonight's participants: PCDWhoopAss, DakRoland, SWWBO, and The Donovan.
Posted by DaGoddess at September 30, 2004 06:23 PMBush's low point - repeating "It's hard work" sixty million times to prove to Karl Rove that he can stay on message REALLY REALLY well.
Kerry's low point - his summit idea. "If we all just come together and hold hands, then everybody will send troops and money to Iraq!" Uh huh...
Posted by: Ontario Emperor at September 30, 2004 09:10 PMKerry thinks that money not spent in Iraq and be spent at home and reduce the deficit at the same time. Doofus!
Posted by: PCD at October 1, 2004 05:27 AMMy favorite Kerry line was "I do not wilt, I have never wilted in my life."
Yeah right, like 'I don't fall, that SOB knocked me down'.
Posted by: rita at October 1, 2004 06:01 AMFor the next debate, I hope they tell GWB not to pound the podium so much. The microphone just echoed with it. Otherwise, I thought it was a good debate & I'm interested in seeing the other two now. But if I have to see that stupid fake smile plastered across Kerry's face like last night, I might lose it!
Posted by: yayaempress at October 1, 2004 06:15 AMThanks again for the invite last night, Goddess, it was a blast.
My thoughts on the debate: Disappointing.
Kerry seemed much stronger in presence than I think Bush would have liked. He wasn't any clearer than he's been all year, but he was better on delivery. Too bad he was still delivering more of the same confusion.
Bush was good. Felt more relaxed when he spoke, though he was visibly annoyed at certain points, and usually when I was going "What!?" when Kerry was off on another of his diatribes, so I can understand why Bush was annoyed. Plus, I think he was frustrated with Kerry mangling the facts and conveniently forgetting his own words, I think anyone would be put out by that. I dreaded what the hacks would be saying about his facial expressions today. True to form, within minutes of the Debate ending, it was announced that the Dems were going to release a tape of Bush's "annoyed expressions" as proof of.... something... Seems like petty nitpicking to me, that or they feel to need to get some shots in as revenge for the Orange Alert Pumpkin Kerry pictures. I dunno. Just seems petty to me.
After thinking this one over a bit, I can't say that either candidate came out on top. Bush was better in the first half by far, but Kerry was better in the second half. Kerry had better delivery, but Bush just felt like someone I could trust. His style spoke volumes when his vocabulary didn't. Kerry had moments of verbal trip-ups and Bush had those godawful blank stares, and I just knew that the Late Shows were going to have a field day with that.
In the long run, this debate will be a non-issue. It didn't help or hurt either candidate. For Kerry however, this is bad. He needed to deliver a knockout blow, and didn't get one. Bush had several opportunities to nail Kerry, and missed each one. (Kerry's senate record should have been elaborated on, Kerry's slam of Prime Minister Allawi as a 'puppet', etc...) I was hoping for more from our President, and it just didn't happen.
I'll be watching the next debate with rabid anticipation however. I think the town meeting format works more into Bush's favor than Kerry's. I could be wrong, but we'll have to see. I really do hope that Bush does more to hammer on Kerry's Senate Record though. That's Kerry's biggest weakness, and like Zell Miller said, "Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside".
Posted by: DakRoland at October 1, 2004 08:44 AMI'm beginning to think Kerry is a racist. He doesn't give a rat's rear anatomy about the mass graves and hundreds of thousands of victims of Hussein becaust they are Iraqi.
Posted by: PCD at October 1, 2004 11:37 AMI suspect that if you read the transcript rather than watch the debate Bush would come across completely different. Kerry was as slick and slippery as Willie Boy, maybe more so, but there was nothing of substance. Unless you consider insulting the members of the coalition who are trying to rebuild Iraq substance.
Kerry spouts the same treasonous crap he spouted about our Vietnam vets in the 1970’s. Anyone who cares to listen closely can see that he really hates our military and doesn’t care what he has to say or who it might hurt when he says it. It’s too bad that Bush couldn’t just walk across the stage and punch this ass in the nose in front of 55 million people. Or maybe he could just toss Kerry another football and let him wince and fumble around with it on live TV. Maybe that’s why Bush appeared to be irritated last night. Either way Kerry will never get my vote. To clarify, I am voting for Bush not voting against Kerry.
Posted by: Azygos at October 1, 2004 03:20 PMYeah, aside from W repeating the "... it's hard work." he did an excellent job of making his case for the war, as well as his other points. He really did need to address more of Kerry's record failures on military issues.
As for Kerry's "Oompa Loompa-ish" looks... he must be trying to shore-up the Oompa Loompa votes in Hershey. PA is one of those key, swing states.