Friday, October 01, 2004
The Debates: Round 1 to Kerry
was my prediction to a colleague as we left a campaign fundraiser at 8:00 PM. Why? If the media gave Bush a win tonight, the Kerry campaign becomes as viable as one of Harold Stassen's nine presidential campaigns and the next 32 days become Dullsville.
After watching some of the debate on tape and listening to other parts on the car radio, I feel even more confident that the news for the next eight days will revolve around Kerry's "unexpectedly strong" showing tonight and new questions about Bush's reelection chances.
President Bush is not a classic debater. Rather, he is a "stay on message" speaker with an unfortunate inability to vary words of that message. Kerry is a classic debater who can take advantage of any opening.
In football terms, Bush is the Baltimore Ravens: impenetrable defense, barely adequate offense. Kerry is the Indianapolis Colts: vulnerable on defense but a good eye for the long pass.
A fair evaluation of tonight's debate would be a draw. I noticed no killer gaffes or objectionable body language. If you saw John Kerry debate in Iowa, you saw the same thing tonight.
From the post-debate commentary, Kerry backers thought their man won. Bush backers saw Kerry as a loser, by a margin either large or small. And the race continues.
|posted by Jim on 1:46 AM|
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