Hunting The Muse

Debate Thread

We're live again... and also on the dailykos2 channel at irc.easynews.com .

Freudie says, "Holland says HI!"

And here we go. Charlie Gibson. Gallup identified these folks as neutral, which given their pro-gop bias, might actually mean these folks are leaning towards Kerry. Unless their pro-gop bias means they are crooked, in which case....

Wow, no citizen knows they will be called upon. I'm glad I'm not one of those citizens.

The moderator will intervene "forcefully, but politely." Heh.

I think Bush and Kerry are saying "Peas and carrots, peas and carrots, peas and carrots" to each other during the applause.

Okay, Kerry with a chance to knock down the wishy-washy stuff. So far so good. Isn't 1.6 million jobs the wrong number, though? Oh wait, I'm trusting Cheney. Sorry.

Bush still looks awful. Awww... Bush talking points. Boy. I think Bush is underestimating the American people thinking they will fall for just repeating former talking points without clarifying them.

Wow, he's sounding defensive against the second questioner.

ABC is doing the split screen more often when Kerry is talking than when Bush is talking. It reduces Kerry on the screen.

I wonder how Bush's laughing at Kerry will play.

"From tyranny to elections" sounds effective.

Kerry came up with a prepared response to Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time. It wasn't what I wanted, but it was passable.

Bush is saying that being popular is linked to doing the wrong thing.

Kerry had a very good response about how winning the war is different than winning the peace.

I am really torn on how important it is for Kerry to answer the questions directly, versus bringing it back to already-known campaign themes. I'd like to see more answers to questions.

The internets! Damn the internets! Bush finally comes out with a clear denial of the draft. But damn those pesky internets!

Okay, thirty minutes in, Bush freaks out on the moderator. That was weird.

Bush says that we aren't allowing Canadian drugs for safety issues. Someone's canadian girlfriend just said "Yeah, we use sticks and fire to make our medications."

Kerry had a great Canadian drug response. His counter-rebuttal was great as well. A very good moment in the debate.

Now Bush is just lying - "he's going to tax everyone here".

Bush is talking about tort reform - Kerry should smack this down and he hasn't yet. Point out how Bush's tort reform plan is a bad plan. The problem is how to reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits, not how to limit the damages against bad doctors.

Question about Bush not paying for his expenditures, even not counting the war. I actually couldn't really even follow Bush's answer.

After Kerry's pledge that he will not raise taxes on those under 200k, Bush says he will. And what are battling green eye shades...? What?

Bush is just denying reality. He just keeps on saying Kerry is saying stuff he isn't saying.

Bush is a great environmentalist. He's in favor of harvesting forests, three million new wetlands, and did you know that he's the one that proposed the hydrogen automobile? Plus, he's got more wood than he knows what to do with!

Kerry is really dominating on the domestic portion of the debate.

Bush is going to save money for people on health insurance by 0.5% by reforming frivolous medical lawsuits. Yay Bush. He's also going to announce a tax on green eye shades.

factcheck.org has evidently confirmed that Bush is part owner of a timber company.

Kerry does well to bring up the embryos created by fertility programs. But I don't think either candidate has really handled the stem cell answer very well. Overall, Bush might have handled this one a little better, but most citizens disagree with his stance.

Bush will not nominate a pro-slavery supreme court justice. That's enough for my vote! Game over, man!

Final two questions. Someone not wanting their tax dollars used for abortion. It was a good part of the answer to say he couldn't legislate an article of faith. Later... "It's never quite as simple as the president wants you to believe." Very good - it counteracted Bush's whole "certainty" (simplistic) angle, which may have played well with a lot of voters.

Name three instances where he has made a wrong decision. What a funny question. And he's not naming an example, other than implying blame towards some of his appointees.

Bush was simplistic once again. When challenged, he just repeated his original points, without responding to the challenges. Over and over again, he proves his lack of credibility. I think that's how Kerry is winning, is that his best quality is his credibility. It's a horrible matchup for Bush.

And, so that's what undecided voters look like. Huh.

Posted by Curt at October 8, 2004 06:30 PM