 2004 Presidential Election
Here's the debate coverage from the Denver Post [October 9, 2004, "Testy tussle in St. Louis"]. From the article, "In a heated debate rematch, Sen. John Kerry accused President Bush on Friday night of transforming huge budget surpluses into massive deficits with tax cuts for the rich during wartime. Bush said Kerry would have to raise taxes on middle-class Americans to pay for $2.2 trillion in new spending programs."
The Rocky Mountain News is running a short article about Senator Kerry and his visit to Colorado [October 9. 2004, "Kerry thinks state will swing his way"]. From the article, "Republicans, relax: John Kerry says you'll see him and Ken Salazar together soon. He also says President Bush's failures on education, health care and the environment have helped make Colorado competitive this election. And he's bummed he couldn't fit a bike ride into his three-day trip to the state."
Mike Littwin analyzes last night's debate in his column in today's Rocky Mountain News [October 9, 2004, "Littwin: Bush comes out fighting - or just 'frightening'"]. He writes, "In the first debate, John Kerry needed to make the case, before 60 million viewers, that he wasn't the caricature the Republicans had tried to make of him. In the second debate, George W. Bush had to make the case that he was ready to fight to keep his job. Whoever you think won this one - and the winning and losing of these things always take days to determine - it's hard to see how you wouldn't want to watch the third and final presidential debate this Wednesday."
The Denver Post fact checks the candidates in last night's debate [October 9, 2004, "New format plays loose with facts"].
The Rocky Mountain News editorial staff reviews last night's debate [October 9, 2004, "Bush regains ground in 2nd round"]. They write, "Friday's presidential town hall debate gave the candidates a last shot at tackling national security and the war in Iraq (since the next forum in Tempe, Arizona, focuses entirely on domestic policy). After a feeble performance last week, President Bush regained some lost ground by effectively drawing a sharp contrast between his record, vision and skills and those of his opponent. Though sometimes way too testy, in overall style and substance Bush still dominated the evening, most notably on the issue of Iraq and the war against terrorism. Unlike like last week's match, this time the president succeeded in putting the ongoing war in a broader context: Iraq, he said, is part of a global security strategy that, beyond pre-empting terror at its source, envisions the spread of freedom as an antidote to hatred and tyranny...To be sure, Kerry had his moments, but none were convincing enough to keep the president down. Which is why the third round promises to be all the more important."
Electoral-vote.com: "The first poll on the second debate shows the results much closer than debate #1. According to a Gallup poll of 515 registered voters, Kerry won by 47% to 45%. When asked if they felt more favorable about the candidates after the debate, 38% were more favorable to Kerry and 20% were less favorable. For Bush the figures were 31% and 20%. For a challenger, these are good numbers. Historically, when an incumbent is running for reelection, the undecideds typically don't like the incumbent but are not sure if the new guy on the block is up to the job. His task is to convince them he can do it. In the past, the undecideds have ultimately broken 2 to 1 for the challenger."
"Although there are several state polls, many are older than the current poll so they are added to the allpolls.csv list but do not change the spreadsheet or the map. The only change to the map today is in Colorado, which goes from a tie to Bush, 52% to 44%, according to Survey USA. Kerry remains above the magic 270 votes in the electoral college for the moment."
Denver Post: "President Bush leads Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry in Colorado with the support of 50 percent of the state's likely voters to Kerry's 41 percent, according to a new Denver Post poll."
More debate coverage from the Denver Post [October 9, 2004, "'Same old back-and-forth meanness'"].
TalkLeft: "Debate: Blogger Reaction."
12:46:48 PM 
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