Official Presidential Debate Reaction Thread

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2004-10-01 12:23am

Hmmm, make that a *6 point lead* instead of a *point lead*

desertjedi · Post by **desertjedi** » 2004-10-01 12:30am

In style... Kerry definitely won, but as was said earlier.. he didn't say anything.

Overall... draw. The whole debate was scripted for the most part. Each candidate had their talking points and there was no real suprises.

As a friend of mine eloquently stated... as long as neither one steps on their crank, there'll be no winner or loser.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-10-01 12:34am

Iceberg wrote:Sen. Kerry didn't say bin Laden IS in Afghanistan now, he said bin Laden WAS in Afghanistan during Operation: Enduring Freedom.

Kerry wrote: The president moved the troops, so he's got 10 times the number of troops in Iraq than he has in Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2004-10-01 12:36am

The Kerry campaign will be releasing a video with the clips of Bush's facial expressions during the debate tomorrow morning. I can see why they wanted that No camera on the other side's face provision.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-10-01 01:35am

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2004-10-01 02:33am

Kerry did very well; but he didn't really hammer the guy. He knew this was Bush's strong suit, and he should have stepped on that stage and gone for the throat.

I'm sorry, but if I were in his shoes, my response to the very first question would have included the phrase "I wouldn't have wasted away 7 minutes while my people were dying".

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2004-10-01 02:55am

Stravo wrote:Peggy Noonan: "[Bush] Less verbally agile, but winning your sympathy"

No he didn't bitch

It's only because of George "Triumph of the" Will that Noonan isn't hands-down the most pretentious twit on planet Earth.

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2004-10-01 03:22am

Damn, missed all of this because of work. Can't wait to see the freepers' reaction.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2004-10-01 03:25am

Hamel wrote:Damn, missed all of this because of work. Can't wait to see the freepers' reaction.

They know their boy got whipped. You can tell because they're already making excuses.

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2004-10-01 04:26am

Conservative bloggers say Bush sucked

Ripped straight off front page of DailyKos.com wrote: Conservative bloggers say Bush sucked
by kaelamantis
Fri Oct 1st, 2004 at 06:28:44 GMT

Wes Clark on the Daily Show says conservative bloggers are disappointed. I found some quotes:

PoliPundit says:

"I think most people's first impression, is that Kerry was strong and forceful, while Bush was less effective, more hesitant."

"I've been watching the debate for five minutes now. Despite my partisan inclinations, I have to admit that Kerry has won this debate. And not just in the high-school debate-coach sense of the word.Kerry comes off as the prosecutor accusing Bush of incompetence. Bush comes off as his Meet-The-Press, press-conference version - dogged, arrogant and unlikable. Kerry will get a significant bounce in the head-to-head poll numbers from this debate."

Powerline Blog says:

"But, candidly, I don't think it went that well for the President. I think Kerry helped himself tonight. He came across as a credible candidate, and he was usually on the offensive...I think Kerry made headway, and there is plenty of material there for the mainstream media to proclaim the beginning of Kerry's comeback...On the whole, though, I think Kerry helped himself tonight."

Freepers say:

"While we were all hoping that Bush would defeat Kerry handidly tonight and put the election out of reach, we can't be that upset with tonight. Kerry may have even had a slight win..."

Post more hysterical wingnut freakouts as you find them. This is fun!

Update [2004-10-1 0:22:2 by kaelamantis]: More:

Oxblog:

"ONE LINE ON THE DEBATE: Kerry won. Hands down. By a lot. That's all for now."

Winds of Change:

"Kerry did well in terms of his persona; I went in expecting a pompous windbag and he wasn't one. Bush did less well in persona; fragmented, repetitive..."

New Republicans:

"Well, if I'm generous, then Bush stuck to his talking points. As a former debater, however, I am tempted to say that Bush missed many, many, many chances to really make key points against Kerry...I'm not certain that Kerry won more than a few swing votes in this, but I don't know if Bush can win those votes back. He simply didn't deliver as well as Kerry."

Update [2004-10-1 0:54:10 by kaelamantis]: And more:

More Powerline:

"I've taken more than an hour to try to talk myself out of concluding that John Kerry won tonight's debate. I haven't succeeded. Senator Kerry, I think, edged President Bush on substance and, surprisingly, looked better throughout."

VodkaPundit:

"Kerry won on points, which probably was enough to shore up his weakened support in New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania."

Dean's World

"My gut's telling me it's a win for Kerry because, frankly, he scared me less than I expected him to."

Whee!

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-10-01 06:15am

I would say that on actual content this was probably a draw but Kerry's delivery was better, Bush's frequent annoying pauses not only cut his reply time but also looked bad. Combined with Bush's rather poor preformance Kerry did better on the war and security issues than whay I have seen earlier. That he still didn't win big should concern his campaign greatly.

The "Kerry plan" seems to be essentialy the "Bush plan" with hopes that Kerry will be able to bribe the French and Germans to bail him out in 6 months. Saying "close the borders" is easy, actually doing it is hard and Kerry should know - that is why he was in his boat in Vietnam

On NK Kerry came of very badly, IMPO his worst moments in the debate, suddenly the US SHOULD go without allies after an hour of preaching the blessings of "the more the better". I think it would be a huge error to ditch China on this, if China isn't at the table then they will back little Kim under the table.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2004-10-01 06:50am

Question, This is the MP in me, looking for sublte clues and such;

Did anyone notice the gross body language of both debaters? When they show a split-screen of the candidate (They did on NBC) watch Bush during Kerry's answers/rebuttals...Bush looks like a Child getting scolded by his father. A petulant child at that. Rolling his eyes, looking away, fixing his hair; he was on the ropes the entire fucking debate. Not once did you see him lean forward to an appreciable degree, strongly asserting his points.

The one good thing I did notice about Shrubby is that he spoke TO THE CAMERA, making it appear as if he was addressing the american people watching. Too bad he sounded like a blithering idiot while addressing us.

Kerry, on the other hand, came across like a father figure (With the exception of the "I see we have a few more moments" Gaffe, which pissed me right off. he was obviously the more proficient debater (Debator?) (Anyway, don't write Bush off as a debating slouch, though, Yesterday on NPR they had interviews with several people who debated shrubby in the past, and they got curbstomped by his simplistic answers, and that's what bush plays off on.) But Kerry was composed, calm, comfortable with answering most of the questions, soundly rebutted all of Bush's points, it was a massacre as I see it, and I look forward to November 2nd more than ever now, because after these three debates, Kerry is for SURE going to snag the swing-voters.

Sorry, Bushies, you guys got stompified. I was really, REALLY hoping that these debates would help to seal the image for the american people of Bush as a mindless, sound biting Puppet Of The Man™. And he did exactly that. Anyone but his most rabid, drooling, knuckle-dragging, brainless, pinheaded cultist-minded devotees could see Shrubby got pwned.

Goobye Georgie-porgie, puddin' -n- pie.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-10-01 09:13am

I watched the debate on C-SPAN so as to form an impression free from any spin by commentators. Who's got a line on how the network presstitutes "scored" the evening?

irishmick79 · Post by **irishmick79** » 2004-10-01 09:23am

This debate was a clear victory for Kerry - Bush needed to look strong on security, and he came off as an arrogant, stammering idiot. Kerry looked strong, knowledgable, and in command. One of the things the Republicans have been running on is Bush's strong decisive leadership during the war on terror. They took a hit on this point last night, big time.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-10-01 09:26am

On CNN.com:

Paul Begala:

Bush: B- on content, C- on presentation;
Kerry: A+ on content, A on presentation

Bush didn't face reality and accept that we're in a mess in Iraq. You can't fix the problem until you acknowledge there is a problem. He was defensive through almost the entire debate. He seemed a little befuddled, and often seemed to be grasping.

Kerry had a remarkable command of policy. He knew how many hours of terrorist tapes the FBI has not translated. He quoted from the president's father. He has clearly mastered the material. And he was on offense the whole night -- forcing Bush back onto his heels. What happened to the windy, verbose senator we thought we knew?

Kerry was strong, certain and in command. He was more presidential than the president himself was. If a Martian were watching this debate, he'd think Kerry was the president, not Mr. Bush.

Bob Novak:

Bush: B content, B- presentation
Kerry: D content, A presentation

No comments

Carlos Watson:

Bush: B+ content, B presentation
Kerry: B content, B+ presentation

The debate was solid for both sides, but not spectacular. I think Kerry did well enough to pique voters' interests, so that more people will end up watching the second debate than the first one.

CNN users:

Bush: C content, C presentation
Kerry: B content, A- presentation

BoredShirtless · Post by **BoredShirtless** » 2004-10-01 10:15am

link dressed by Olrik, who I think is the best mod ever

I'm not surprised. The fact of the matter is, Bush is genuinely a very stupid man. Maybe not Forrest Gump stupid, but very close. All that binge drinking really did fuck his brain up, and no matter how hard he works on being a born again Christian, he'll never make up for all those lost neurons.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-10-01 10:31am

OK, I've just been catching The Daily Show's coverage of "the Squabble in Coral Gables".

BWAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-10-01 10:37am

Where can I watch the debate? Was at work while it was on.

Post by **Kuja** » 2004-10-01 10:38am

Patrick Degan wrote:OK, I've just been catching The Daily Show's coverage of "the Squabble in Coral Gables".

"Here you see Bush speaking...and here is Kerry...writing furiously.

What do you think he's writing?"

*cut to shot of the words "I'm so crushing him."*

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-10-01 10:41am

Vympel wrote:Where can I watch the debate? Was at work while it was on.

The C-SPAN website should have the debate in RealVideo.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2004-10-01 10:45am

My favorite moment was Stewart goosing Rudy who has regretably turned into a Republican robot. Sorry Rudy, kiss all the Republican ass you want, they won't let you become president.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-10-01 10:48am

The SB'ers are spinning like a pulsar trying to form a Bush win out of this debate. I don't think they can wrap their mind around their hero getting p0wn3d like that.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-10-01 10:49am

Stravo wrote:My favorite moment was Stewart goosing Rudy who has regretably turned into a Republican robot. Sorry Rudy, kiss all the Republican ass you want, they won't let you become president.

Mine was Bush's deer-caught-in-the-headlights moment (which should have been the Moment of Zen). I had not actually seen that during the actual broadcast.

irishmick79 · Post by **irishmick79** » 2004-10-01 10:52am

This debate has re-engergized the democrats....I was starting to think that this election was over and Kerry was done. I think a lot of democrats were starting to lose faith that Kerry could win, and Kerry's performance has given them hope again. Last night Kerry gave himself a great shot to win this thing, when the door seemed like it was closing on him. This election is back to being a damn streetfight!

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2004-10-01 10:54am

As I suspected I had to work I didn't miss shit...