Friday, October 01, 2004

Politics: Afterglow

Do you think there are a few less "undecided voters" out there today? I do.

The debate was a pleasant surprise in many ways: There was a lot more engagement between candidates than I thought the format would allow (good for Kerry, bad for Bush), Fox actually employed a split screen for an astounding amount of time (okay for Kerry, awful for Bush), and Lehrer did a good job as moderator. I was worried Kerry would be long-winded or less-than-clear (he wasn't) and I was worried about him competing with the more charismatic Bush (Bush wasn't).

Most importantly, however, I was worried about the post-debate. What would the polls say, and even more importantly how would the analysis go? Well, the two polls I saw (ABC and CBS) showed Kerry clearly the winner, and the pundits seemed to echo that (unlike Gore/Bush in 2000).

I think Kerry missed some opportunities, and actually took it too easy on Bush on occasion, but it didn't matter. He won handily without getting to aggressive, and Bush just looked overmatched.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

See my comment under Mitch Albom piece. I wrote it before you posted your Debate reaction. It belongs here more than there. I agree--Kerry clearly outperformed Dumbass. Though I would have never (Ever) said Bush is more charismatic. He is, indeed, the least impressive speaker I can think of. I guess he impresses some--but I truly cannot see how or why. I can't wait to see him try to talk about domestic issues. Will he still throw "Saddam Hussein was a threat" in when he's asked about his Medicare bill?! --Yo' Sista

Mr Furious said...

"This is hard work!"

Anonymous said...

That's right!

"This is hard work. Very hard work. But it's important work. I wake up every morning and think about how hard this is. But that's my job. I understand that I have committed our troops into harm's way. And I believe that the Iraqui people want freedom. "