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I watched the debate on C-SPAN because it will provide an unfiltered view. It simply showed both candidates in spit screen THE ENTIRE TIME. See, the rules said no cut aways. That hurt Bush's father against Clinton, because Bush pere was shown looking at his watch. The rules here tried to prevent that sort of problem. But C-SPAN did not do a cut away. it did a split screen and simply showed both candidates all the time.
The effect was devastating. When Kerry talked, Bush leaned on the podium, smirked, rolled his eyes and looked peeved that he was there. When Bush spook, Kerry stood there, back straight, listening intently to what Bush said, writing notes for rebuttals.
Kerry did not allow Bush to control much of the debate. Bush was constantly responding to Kerry;s remarks, even holding onto some of kerry's time. Instead of leaving North Korea alone, Bush ket coming back to it in ways that were severely off-message.
In a 90 minute debate, no man can escape without a flub or two. But Bush's manner was not strong, decisive nor even coherent at some points. When Bush answered a question about Saddam by refering to our enemies attacking us on 9-11, Kerry made a great rhetorical point. He made clear the technique this Adminsitration often does of conflating Saddam with 9-11 and al Queda. Kerry quickly hammered this point home, seeming to fluster Bush.
The best Bush looked was toward the end when he commented on Kerry's daughters. But he forgot to mention Kerry's wife. When Kerry had a chance, he was very personable about Bush's family, smilng and making a point to mention Laura. SO he even one-upped Bush on down-home personality.
Bush will have to work a lot for the second debate next week. I think it will fit his style better. I think his guys made a mistake in the format for this debate. It was too stiff and too much like a press conference, where Bush never does well. He is better in a relaxed setting, with a little more rough and tumble interactions. You could see that both guys wanted to do that tonight. Maybe it will happen next week. 10:29:40 PM 
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