Your Reactions to the Second Presidential Debate

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Sava
because he's been so successful so far! We have Osama bin... oh wait a minute... and Iraq is free from terrorists!!!! oh wait a minute...

wait Iknow... Bush has stood up to the shipping companies and demanded MORE THAN 6% OF CARGO CONTAINERS ARE CHECKED... OH WAIT A MINUTE...

Exactly what has Bush done to fight terror? At the height of the Afghan campaign, 11,000 troops were in Afghanistan. There are more police officers on Manhattan island. And Bush allowed OBL to escape at Tora Bora when he used the Afghan warlords instead of US troops.

Bush is weak on terrorism... and smart Americans know this.

Now, now . . . . . . .


need we be so cruel as to crush every fantasy of our fellow deluded conservatives?

[Drachasor]

Originally posted by MrFun
Now, now . . . . . . .


need we be so cruel as to crush every fantasy of our fellow deluded conservatives?

When they are always talking about how integrity is important, and the Bush Campaign has NONE.....I think some fantasy-crushing is in order.

-Drachasor

[MrFun]

ok -- that sounds good

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by 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."

I agree with this analysis.

[Ted Striker]

That INTERNETS Ebay auction is still going on!!!!

[DinoDoc]

It's been interesting watching the analysis on the news. I can't help but laugh everytime they play Kerry's no new taxes pledge. It's also interesting see all the posters proclaiming a Kerry win when the polls show a tie.

[Ted Striker]

[alva]

Regardless of everything, Kerry and Bush need to come up with some new answers for next week. They've run the course on the stock answers and tend to just repeat their stump speeches. Kerry is a little better than Bush in this regard, but not much. Last night was, after the fireworks of the first half died down, fundamentally boring and predictable.

Hmm, you know, these guys HAVE to repeat thing endlessly, even mindnumblingy to have a chance at driving one small issue home.
I very much doubt you people even know or even suspect how ***** up American politics are, not even British politics come anywhere close.

The debates will have a big impact, but their biggest impact is how they are spun after each debate.

This proves my point I believe, exactly when did we start listening to pundits , who to **** cares what they have to say...
They know bugger all and are all working with a very large personal agenda.
--
Good article btw.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
It's been interesting watching the analysis on the news. I can't help but laugh everytime they play Kerry's no new taxes pledge. It's also interesting see all the posters proclaiming a Kerry win when the polls show a tie.

All the polls I've seen have shown a Kerry win, if slight. But so what? The initial polls in 2000 after every debate showed a Gore win or a tie. It's the 72 hours of news afterward that frames the debate. And the post-debate stories this time around don't help Bush ("Furious George," the wood remark, "internets," etc.)

Face it, Bush lost. But not as badly as before, so you can comfort yourself with that.

[Boris Godunov]

Oops, Bush has been caught in another howler, but this time he's caught by...the Cato Institute?

BUSH:

Non-homeland, non-defense discretionary spending was raising at 15 percent a year when I got into office. And today it's less than 1 percent, because we're working together to try to bring this deficit under control.

First,

http://www.cato.org/research/articles/dehaven-030728.html

Now, actual numbers:

Nixon/Ford: 6.8% per year

Carter: 2.0% per year

Reagan: -1.3% per year

Bush I: 4.0% per year

Clinton: 2.5% per year

Bush II: 8.2% per year

All percentages are adjusted for inflation. The chart shows raw figures for the past three administrations

[Dis]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov


All the polls I've seen have shown a Kerry win, if slight. But so what? The initial polls in 2000 after every debate showed a Gore win or a tie. It's the 72 hours of news afterward that frames the debate. And the post-debate stories this time around don't help Bush ("Furious George," the wood remark, "internets," etc.)

Face it, Bush lost. But not as badly as before, so you can comfort yourself with that.

doesn't matter. Bush is still going to win the election. He's still ahead in the polls.

[alva]

Originally posted by Dissident


doesn't matter. Bush is still going to win the election. He's still ahead in the polls.

Ok Diss, tell us right now, whom will you be voting for and no more changing

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Dissident
doesn't matter. Bush is still going to win the election. He's still ahead in the polls.

Not quite. The latest polls show a tie race, and some (like the AP, Zogby) give Kerry a slight lead. What's more, Kerry picked up even more strength in the battleground states. Latest polls have Kerry with solid leads in NJ, PA, MI, and OR, as well as small leads in FL, OH and WI. It's tied in IA, MO, NM and NV. What's most troubling for Bush is that Kerry is now in a statistical tie with him in CO.

Zogby's latest electoral analysis gives Kerry an edge in the EC, so this race is still very much on.

[Edan]

Originally posted by Dissident


doesn't matter. Bush is still going to win the election. He's still ahead in the polls.

Why that does not guarantee that Bush will win

[Jon Shafer]