Bush finally wins a debate

Squeaks out Kerry

Published on October 13, 2004 By Draginol In Politics

Kerry seemed a bit off his game today and Bush seemed very much on his game. This time I give Bush the edge. He seemed relaxed, strong on the issues, and got all his points out. Kerry wasn't that bad but he was a lot more defensive than I would have thought.

I don't think it will make much difference though. Bush blew the first debate so badly when the audience was so big. The audience here was much smaller than it was in the first debate. Kerry also played a bit of dirty pool with the lesbian issue and Bush got that key 1990 Kerry vote on the first Gulf War.

Here is a recap of the debate scoring:

Debate #1:
Kerry 5
Bush 2

Debate #2:
Cheney 2
Edwards 1

Debate #3:
Kerry 5
Bush 4

Debate #4:
Kerry 3
Bush 5

Final Score:
Kerry: 14
Bush: 13

Comments (Page 2)

Myrrander

on Oct 13, 2004

it was the same ole same ole.

strikes me as a liberal wanting to save what they can

sorry, this was Bush

charles poore

on Oct 13, 2004

A couple of times I nearly fell over in my reclainer.
#1 Kerry: We have to many people left out of the process in the country .Bush agreed. These two people agreed on the rules to the debates that bared any third parties that an estimated forty percent of the voters would like to have encluded
#2 Kerry on Economy; We need to raise the minimum wage. Why ? we have fifty million Illegals working below the minimum wage now, taking jobs from people that was making eight fifty an hour and erroding the tax base. What is needed is to enforce the laws we have on the books concerning hiring Illegals,that alone would turn the economy around.
I will vote for Bush but not because of the debates.

Deference

on Oct 13, 2004

What happened to the JU blogger elite? Did you guys get in to the cough syrup again?

Seriously, Bush relied upon education and pell grants as his crutch with the economy, jobs, french toast, etc. . I watched the debate in a crowd of republicans, democrats, and independents as part of Debate Watch which is a collegiate program encouraging civil debate amongst viewers without any pundit spin to get in the way. Most of the college republicans in the crowd left as soon as the debates ended as they were so embarressed they wouldn't stick around to defend anything that their candidate said, the guy did so poorly. I convened with some of the remnants of the college republicans after the crowd debate to find out what their thoughts were and they basically stated that they felt Bush was still a principled guy who felt as they did but that he didn't strike any extra points tonight.

I felt so bad for Bush, he strained to keep an insincere smile that came off looking more clownish than anything else and eventually seemed to kind of resign himself to being out of orbit....

Kerry sported two mighty self inflicted wounds tonight; 1.) His comment on Bush not meeting with the Black Caucus (kerry, wtf?) and 2.) Practically saying that judges gave rights to Americans such as abortion, bad stuff. Hey, Kerry, want to help the Rep.s paint you as someone who thinks judges should legislate?

Both candidates really got to me when they supported the temporary work permit, we're losing jobs, and you guys are pandering to what will eventually become the second largest minority in the U.S. ...*ack*

drmiler

on Oct 13, 2004

Reply #18 By: Deference - 10/13/2004 11:11:59 PM
Kerry sported two mighty self inflicted wounds tonight; 1.) His comment on Bush not meeting with the Black Caucus (kerry, wtf?) and 2.) Practically saying that judges gave rights to Americans such as abortion, bad stuff. Hey, Kerry, want to help the Rep.s paint you as someone who thinks judges should legislate?

Try 3 self-inflicted! If you think Kerry's comment about the VP's daughter is going to just disappear, think again!

Daiwa

on Oct 13, 2004

This is shaping up as an interesting campaign in regard to the relationship between the debates and how people vote. This may turn out to be the first time that the media's declared winner of all 3 debates loses the election. The polls about who won the debates seem completely disconnected from the polls about who is preferred for President. We'll see.

Sure sign that Kerry's is in trouble - Jesse Jackson on Fox trying to backfill for him. Talk about no credibility. Now he's spewing his racial hate speech about how the coming election is going to be less legitimate than the one in 2000 due to the process being rigged against the poor and minorities even more this time, laying the ground work for the post-election bitching.

Cheers,
Daiwa

Draginol

on Oct 13, 2004

Deference - the blogger "elite" has the ability to be a little less impassioned on our views. I think there is a tendancy on those who are somewhat liberal to be so tied to their passions that they cannot look at the debates objectdively as often.

Some may recall that Gore "won" the debates last time in terms of the polls even though, in hindsight, it was pretty obvious that Bush won. I think one reason for that is that Democratic voters tend to be more touchy feely -- more impassioned -- and hence tend to be more inclined to think their guy won no matter what.

That's not universally the case of course. But I think it fair to say that some of the "lefties" around here would think Kerry won even if he said that he supported eating babies.

Deference

on Oct 13, 2004

If you think Kerry's comment about the VP's daughter is going to just disappear, think again!

This was mentioned in our Debate Watch group, a member of the student democrats criticized him for this and many heads were bobbing up and down, so, yeah, I missed number 3, you're RIGHT!

CrispE

on Oct 13, 2004

Myrrander:

I didn't offer my opinion. That is because I want to watch the debate again. This type of debate like the first is something you should watch at least twice so that you don't miss anything.

Secondly, it doesn't matter what I, you, or anyone here thought anyway. I have had the feeling for the past month everyone had decided who and why. That doesn't mean I'm not interested but I'm not hearing anyone say "before tonite, I was going to vote for ________, but now I've changed my mind."

If you live in a swing state then I recommend you vote because you could be the tie breaker (it will be very close). If you are in one of the 37 states that are now solid one way or the other, then vote because it's your duty. But whatever, vote!

Grim Xiozan

on Oct 13, 2004

Before tonite, I was going to vote for Badnarik, but now I've changed my mind.

I am going to vote against Bush and Kerry by voting for Badnarik.

- Grim X
Go Badnarik Go!!

Deference

on Oct 13, 2004

You are over-generalizing, Draginol, and you know how smart that makes you sound...

Daiwa

on Oct 13, 2004

Def -

We'll see in a few days whether the tracking polls reflect any real movement based on the debate - the reaction of a small group in one location is tough to peg as a bellweather.

The whole jobs vs. minimum wage vs. immigration policy conundrum is problematic for both candidates, not to mention the rest of us. There are so many permutations & combinations, the issue does not lend itself well to a 2-minute debate question. You'd need a commission of experts and a few months to get a handle on all the possible root causes and potential solutions, if then. A free-market capitalist economy is chaotic almost by definition.

Cheers,
Daiwa

Deference

on Oct 13, 2004

True Daiwa, true. And I do believe this debate will actually have less impact then any of the others.

nmrhth

on Oct 14, 2004

I agree with Grim Xiozan.
GO BADNARIK!!

mgosh

on Oct 14, 2004

I'm voting for Alf. He can lead this country into a true future and a democracy. These two were like twins tonight, both carrying the same message and ideology, there were more simularities than differences. Bush makes a point, Kerry me toos the point and then explains how much different his plan is without enbelishing what it is, then Bush makes a counter about it and Kerry says how off base Bush is.

bakerstreet

on Oct 14, 2004

Wow. Granted I missed a lot of it, but the parts I saw leaned toward Kerry. I expected to look in here and see a dismal Kerry love-in, but it seems I missed Bush's high points. I missed the a bit of the first, and I was depressed enough that when Rescue Me came on I just opted out.

Glad to hear it wasn't as bad as the 30 minutes or so i watched looked...

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