SwiftVets.com

[Whacker77]

I may be in the minority, but I thought Bush did very last night. He was clear, consistent, and good with the facts. As the debate ended, I thought he had won. If I thought he had stuck up the joint, I would have said so. Turning a blind eye to the facts will only lead to disaster.

Having said that, the pro-Bush spinners didn't help his cause. Regardless of the performance, they should have been out touting the positives and proclaimimg a Bush win. In many respects, the post-debate is just as or more important than the actual debate. They failed him and allowed people like Chris Matthews to set the tone.

Four years ago, talking heads said that Gore won because he had the substance down. Now, they claim Kerry won because of style points. Let's be honest, Kerry is much slicker and far more well spoken than Bush. This will probably be the problem as these boring debates continue and we will hear much of the same from the talking heads.

Fortunately, Bush excels on the stump and in the sound bite game. He's just far more genuine. Kerry's more polished, but he doesn't have the same flare that Bush does. In fact, the sound bite game in the end help Bush in the debates. While he wasn't as smooth as Kerry, his sound bite were just as equal as Kerry's were.

Thankfully, debates aren't the be all and end all. The networks only pump these events to help their own ratings. That and they also want a horse race and a Kerry win.

[neverforget]

Karen Hughes and Rudy Guiliani did well last night. I didn't stick around for any of the others; requires me to mute too often when the Kerry sycophants come on. Getting old and don't want to wear out my fingers.
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US Army Security Agency
1965-1971

[Kimmymac]

I agree, Whacker77. I believe very firmly that you never let your opponent see you sweat. Never let them see you down, never concede an inch, never agree to even partial defeat.

I loathed Clinton, but he had that concept down cold. The Bush campaign folks need to study on that.

[shadowy]

If I were spinning for Bush, I'd have said he's a working man, early to bed and early to rise. He spent his day supporting hurricane victims, not regaling the gals in the nail salon with heroic tales. He has a stressful full time job along with the campaigning (unlike Kerry, who doesn't show up to work). He was tired.
And, I'd have said he's a man of action, not words.
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It's downright brilliant the way he's reserving his devastating intellect to spring it on us at exactly the right moment.

[msindependent]

They all saw this as the last chance for Kerry. I believe that they jumped on it as soon as the debate ended. I agree that some Bush supporters may have been caught sleeping. It's not too late to voice your opinions to all the media, we can make a difference. You are not alone, I thought that Bush was good too.

[RogerRabbit]

All the spin does not seem to help Kerry - usually the truth wins out in the end
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"Si vis pacem, para bellum"

[Whacker77]

I would like to think that the truth wins out in the end, but I am very worried about what took place last night. As I said, I thought Bush did well. Unfortunately, the MSM pundits didn't share my opinion. Brokaw and Jennings were so excited they couldn't contain themselves.

Normally, that wouldn't bother me but I sense that something different is going on here. The MSM desperately wants to defeat Bush and elect Kerry. So much so, that they have gone with Kerry's line that he's had only one position on Iraq. The common refrain is that he has found his voice on Iraq.

Regardless of the power of blogs and cable news, the big three (NBC, CBS, ABC) have a great amount of power this close to an election. Most of the late deciders and numbsculls will tune into the nightly newscasts rather than the blogs. The true believers like me roam the web, but stupid independents trust the untrustable.

[jimlarsen]

Whacker77 said: "Four years ago, talking heads said that Gore won because he had the substance down."

That should tell you something. The talk doesn't walk, the candidate does. In fact, it's possible that Bush's canpaign will work harder now, because the "heads" said that they didn't "win", and that Kerry's campaign will disintegrate now that they see how easy it was to "win".

I don't know if that's true about Bush, but I think there's a good change that it will go to Kerry's enough to be percieved by his campaign workers that it's going to be easier than they expected.

[rb325th]

The DNC was spinning this debate before the debate began, evidenced by their e-mail campaign with Post Debate summaries for the people to send out to the News Papers etc... They are going to fight this game by claiming victory before it has even happened.
I watched last night, and while I agree the President did a good job, there were areas he could have done better. Kerry has left himself wide open to even more Flip Flop Criticisms as well as many of his conflicting comments in the debate.
I would look for someone in the RNC to be using clips from that debate to their advantage. It was not the resounding Win the MSM and DNC would have everyone believe.
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U.S. Army 1983-1995, 11C1P/11H2P NBTDT

[Guest]

Let the spin go on and just watch them spin jk right out there where he will not be able to lie about those flip flops anymore. Bush will win.