Friday, 1 October 2004
Bush Kerry Debate Round 1
« Scoring Football | Main | Question for Kerry »As I sat to watch the debate last night, I could feel the excitementan nervousness normally reserved for big sporting events. I was hoping thatBush would do well, and more importantly not make any mistakes. Of coursethere was nothing I could do about it, but it doesn't change the tensenessof the situation. This nervousness was evident among both candidates in theopening minutes of the debate. But they calmed down and were very articulatethe rest of the evening. So let's score this debate.
I thought Kerry came off as an academic. He reminded me of a professor whowas lecturing those in the audience. The thing that struck me was his lackof themes in the debate. He was all over the place on issues, trying to soundmore intelligent than coherent. As a result, I doubt anyone will rememberanything he said from the debate. The only themes I could deduce werethe following
- The US rushed to war without a plan
- We can do better
- We must build multi-national relationships
On the other hand, Bush was always on message and drove his themes homeearly and often.
- Can't lead when sending mixed messages
- Must go on the offensive to defeat terrorists
- Iraq was a vital mission to spread democracy and make the world safer
Leading up to the debate, I was scared that Bush wouldsound inarticulate next to Kerry's silver tuonge. During the debate,Bush not only sounded articulate, but seemed to have a good grasp of theissues facing this country.
Bottom line, Kerry needed to do something spectacular to change the momentumof the campaign, and he failed. Bush hit home with the themes of his campaign while Kerry was all over the place. I suspect the trends in the polls will not change after this debate.
