Thursday, October 14, 2004
Blogger Scorecard
What some real bloggers have to say about the final debate:
From the Right:
Instapundit: Bush Wins
Again, not bad for Kerry, but Bush is at the top of his game here at the end. He's still no Ronald Reagan, but he's good -- much better than at the beginning or in the earlier debates. If he'd been like this in the first debate he'd be up by 10.
http://www.instapundit.com
Daniel Drezner: Bush Kinda Wins
My quick take- is that Bush won a debate where both of them missed a lot of opportunities. The key difference between this debate and the last two was that Bush physically seemed more comfortable this time around, seemed to remember his talking points on the questions that had appeared in previous debates, and was better able to project passion on the answers he really cared about (education, immigration, faith). Kerry didn't quite marry style to substance in the same way. However, I certainly don't think Bush won it going away -- and if I were the Kerry team, I'd play Bush's bad memory about what he said about bin Laden for all it's worth.
http://www.danieldrezner.com/blog/
Andrew Sullivan: Conflicted (As usual)
Taken as a whole, the debate both melted some of Bush's hard edges, while keeping Kerry as the man with more presidential manner. Indeed, over the three debates, Kerry has seemed the most even-keeled emotionally, the most constant, the least prone to turning up in a different guise each time. But, after a disastrous start and a middling second debate, last night Bush pulled out his frat president persona and charmed people again.
http://www.andrewsullivan.com
From the Right:
Instapundit: Bush Wins
Again, not bad for Kerry, but Bush is at the top of his game here at the end. He's still no Ronald Reagan, but he's good -- much better than at the beginning or in the earlier debates. If he'd been like this in the first debate he'd be up by 10.
http://www.instapundit.com
Daniel Drezner: Bush Kinda Wins
My quick take- is that Bush won a debate where both of them missed a lot of opportunities. The key difference between this debate and the last two was that Bush physically seemed more comfortable this time around, seemed to remember his talking points on the questions that had appeared in previous debates, and was better able to project passion on the answers he really cared about (education, immigration, faith). Kerry didn't quite marry style to substance in the same way. However, I certainly don't think Bush won it going away -- and if I were the Kerry team, I'd play Bush's bad memory about what he said about bin Laden for all it's worth.
http://www.danieldrezner.com/blog/
Andrew Sullivan: Conflicted (As usual)
Taken as a whole, the debate both melted some of Bush's hard edges, while keeping Kerry as the man with more presidential manner. Indeed, over the three debates, Kerry has seemed the most even-keeled emotionally, the most constant, the least prone to turning up in a different guise each time. But, after a disastrous start and a middling second debate, last night Bush pulled out his frat president persona and charmed people again.
http://www.andrewsullivan.com
