Your Reactions to the Second Presidential Debate

[DinoDoc]

You made the mistake of expecting people to answer questions at a Presidential debate. It's a common mistake so you shouldn't feel bad.

[Ned]

Gibsie, what is the current European opinion of the once-reviled Reagan?

[Gibsie]

It's not a mistake if my response is to stop watching the debate.

[Pekka]

There is no unified European opinion.

[Ned]

I think Bush's piont is that success forces people to reconsider their prior negative opinions.

[Gibsie]

Well if you have to guess what his actual point was then it wasn't a very good response then, was it?

I can't answer your question any more than Pekka.

[Ned]

I have no argument that Bush is not articulate.

[Gibsie]

And my post's point was that neither Kerry nor Bush were being articulate enough for my liking. Not really something for you to take issue with then

[mrmitchell]

Coulter says the democrats would not have faught in WW2.

Jesus Christ she's even dumber than Bush

Maybe she can get a history lesson from him

[Ned]

Coulter draws certain conclusions from Kerry's opposition to the first Gulf war.

[Boris Godunov]

Bill O'Reilly stated that if Bush didn't win this debate, he'd lose the election. Well, there's no way the CW is going to be that Bush won the debate. At the very best, it can be spun into a draw for the president, and that's not a win.

The key news items and memorable moments coming out of the debate all reflect badly on Bush:

1. Angry yelling at the audience (the pundits are jumping on this)
2. His "internets" gaffe, which made him look out of touch with popular culture
3. The bizarre "NEED SOME WOOD?" moment, which showed both him losing his cool and his not knowing his own finances, as what Kerry said was 100% accurate.

Bush's advantage in this debate was supposedly its format, which he is allegedly more comfortable in than Kerry. He also was supposed to relate to the audience better than Kerry. Neither advantage materialized, as Bush came in second on both counts.

In many ways, this reminded me of Debate 3 from 2000, this time with Bush being like the hyperactive, desperate-sounding Gore. Bush's angry interruption of Charles Goodwin will be played up a lot, too.

Kerry wasn't great, mind you, but he made no big mistakes that will repeat in the press. He dodged too many questions for my taste (but no more than Bush did, for sure), but he remained cool, calm and confident while still going after Bush's record aggressively. He still looked more presidential than the president.

I expect that, coming out of the weekend, the story will be that Bush failed to slow Kerry's momentum, whether the debate is viewed as a draw or modest Kerry win. The worst-case scenario for the Bushies is that the label for debate 3 becomes "Bush's Last Chance."

[Ned]

Boris, I agree in part. Bush was at times woefully inarticulate. But he was passionate. I think this "passion" contrasted remarkably well with his father's lack of passion in his debates with Clinton et al. in '92. That cost Bush I the election IMHO.

I also agree that Kerry did very well and was articulate.

So, I predict that the polls will still be close next week for the final debate.

[Boris Godunov]

Bush was passionate, but so was Kerry, and Bush's passion boiled over into Dean-esque irateness at times. That makes for very spinnable moments for the Democrats.

Speaking of Bush Sr., I think the "NEED SOME WOOD?" moment was about as awkward as Bush Sr.'s little stunt with his wallet suring the '92 debates. Whoever thought it was a good idea for a multi-millionaire Republican to brandish his expensive-looking leather wallet on stage as a means of relating to everyday people was pretty stupid.

The polls could remain close, but I think it's just as likely that Kerry will continue to make gains. Bush needed to stop his momentum, and he failed to do that. The third debate is going to be the least-watched, so Bush's chances to redeem himself (should the spin as I described truly go awry for the GOP) will be very limited.

[Ned]

Boris, you could be right. I saw the Dems spinning Bush's passion as angry and out-of-control on the post-debate talk shows. We shall see if the public views it that way as well.

But, I doubt if they start accusing Bush of being a spoilt rich boy given who their own candidate is.

[Boris Godunov]

I wasn't saying there would be any connotation of Bush being a spoiled rich boy out of this debate, I just thought that it was a similarly miscalculated moment.

The pundits seem to playing it as Bush being angry and frustrated again. The clip of Bush shouting down Goodwin does not look good at all for Bush (not to mention his calling the Italian PM by the wrong name!).