For those who watched the debate, would John Kerry have gone to war with Iraq or not? I’m still confus-ed.
Anyway, I took tons of notes and will have a full analyzation of the debate tomorrow morning.
Be honorable, ronin.
UPDATE: I have a special exclusive on the debates. I’ll show you tomorrow.
First! Woohoo!
I thought I knew where he stood in critical issues, but now I’m just not sure. I used to be against him, but he kept saying Bush was wrong… and then saying he was right… and then saying…
[moonbat]Kerry in Oh-Four![/moonbat]
Kerry babbled inconsistently, at times even venturing to bring up Haliburton. It was ridiculous and so was his tan.
first the worst, second the best.
Yes kerry would have went to Iraq if we win and if we dont he wouldnt, but what does his opinion matter he’s a ornage commie
dammit(shakes fist)
I only watched the first 15 minutes until ADD kicked in. I think Dubya’s best moment so far was when he said Kerry would ask our allies to “join us in Iraq for a grand diversion”.
Something tells me Bush didn’t really practice too hard either. There was one point in the debate where it was Bush’s turn to respond, and he said two words, then went completely blank, mouth agape, for at least 3 whole seconds.
Bush needed to push the 87 billion issue more IMO… and let loose Rumsfeld and Chomps.
Take out the competition and get killer ratings to boot.
I would love to see Chomps at these debates.
I’m a Die-hard Bush supporter, but IMHO, I think he blew it tonight. He let Kerry get away with way too much, like the whole “Back door draft…” comment. Or the comment that our guys weren’t the folks fighting in Tora Bora and the Bush had “outsourced” that job too. My buddies in the Green Berets will be happy to know that, since they were there and Bush didn’t refute that fact, which lent credibility to Kerry.
I hope he pulls it out in the next 2. But I think the poll numbers will show Bush lose his lead over this debate. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.
I agree with Kane about Bush’s spluttering. the “and uh’s” were jaw clenchers. Kerry came across as more polished. Hucksters always do.
My verdict-no minds changed. it was a draw.
Barb
i liked how kerry went all over about the sanctions in libya. then after kerry’s tirade on that subject, bush just replies “uh, i didn’t put those sanctions. that was before i was even in washington.”
i bet kerry felt like a retard.
Rogue428, not to worry,
I think the swing-voters will need more info to decide, so far it is still Bush supporters are Bush supporters, & orange waffle-lovers will be who they are.
Sure Bush could have done better, but I think he did fine, all he needed to do was just give Kerry just enough rope to hang himself with. The little Flip-flopping Frou-Frou couldn’t resist being on both sides of the issue for one moment. Hell, I wasn’t paying that much attention, but even I caught the Saddam slip-up.
Seemed to me like Kerry was very fond of statements “I can do it better” and “He did it wrong”… Well.. He keeps saying those, but he doesn’t say HOW he can do it better… That’s the main thing his argument is really missing.
Kerry has no credibility when he says he supports the troops. He would not have gone to war and his fantasy administration would have been just as impotent as Clinton in dealing with Iraq and ignored resolutions. Can you believe the guy says diplomacy would have worked in Iraq or will work against North Korea? Kerry failed to mention that the 8th Army in South Korea is more than a little bit the deciding factor in wether or not North Korea acts agressively. The UN has no teeth, GW does. I hope the American electorate can see the simularity of Kerry “Peace in our time” ala Chamberlain re Hitler.
Kerry is too much of a pro at all this ^%&*#& and is comfortable throwing around his verbal weight–an area that Bush always struggles–and Bush will fumble too much if he tries to hammer him like the orange road-cone he is. Bush will do better in the “town hall” format but I hope the last few year’s worth of viewing trends hold–fewer and fewer people watch the debates as they progress. We had 8 years of a snake oil salesman. We don’t need to ditch W for another one.
It looked like Kerry supports multilateralism everywhere except in Afganistan and North Korea, where we would have been better off going in alone. Strange.
Nice point about trying to invite allies to “the wrong war at the wrong time” too.
Good luck with that, Mr. Kerry.
Frankly and much to my surprise I, and my guests all though Kerry really spanked Bush hard in the whole debate. I think it is an entirely new election now. We were split between Kerry and Bush prior to the debate, and all of us thought it was a clear and strong victory for the “tan like the little people” Kerry
A clip I made of the debate summarizes my opinion succinctly (warning, it’s a 13MB file; path is also case-sensitive)
Those who haven’t already seen through Kerry’s smokescreen still won’t after the debate. Those who thought Bush is inarticulate and stammering were given more material. I see it as a draw, but who knows. I was hoping that Bush would knock it out of the park, and he doesn’t seem to have done so this round.
So John Kerry criticizes Bush on the econemy and the cost of the Iraq war, then says he’ll raise taxes on the wealthy, thus hurting business and costing people their jobs, and he’ll win the Iraq war in 6 months? Even if he can do it, which I doubt, it’ll cost a hell of a lot more taxes than just what he’ll take from the rich. Enjoy your poverty for an unrealistic plan, courtesy of Kerry.
Did anyone catch the HUGE (WATCH OUT!!!!! ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM!) inconsitency of jfK? Lemme see, “I’d have invited more allies…..” He beat that drum til the skin broke, but when it came to North Korea…UNI-LATERAL TALKS!!!!! Abandon using an ally, like the big dog next door, China, to keep the little tin horn elvis impersonator in check…Yes, John, you do know how to do it, but the problem is you’re dead wrong about it all…..
I’d have liked to have seen the Prez be more commanding, also, and I think it was a draw, as far as getting votes. I unfortunatley feel the NEA has trashed so many mallable minds in the school system that people won’t understand the global warming Kyoto Treaty junk has nothing to do with fighting a war, let alone kowing the Dems are the ones sponsoring the bill for a draft, and “little” points like that.
I wish the media hadn’t done such a job of biasing the news that they both had to drag into the swamp and beat us over the head with a small set of points (as important as they are) over and over and over and….It would have been nice to get to some meaty issues. I did think the moderator did a decent job of not asking accusatory questions, and he probed their own statements….
“I’ve never wilted in my life!”- John F. Kerry.
The most resolute thing he said all bloody night long. AND IT WAS A BALD-FACED LIE!!! Well not quite, actaully it was more like his wrinkled up mutt face. Just look at his ugly mug, he’s wilting all over the bloody place!
JF’nK is like a wilted Ceasar Salad…
Like all Yucky & stuff… Ewww.!
Anyway,
FrankJ? SarahK needs your support to bring a Mountaineer Musings T-shirt to Life…
Oh wait, no she does not.. but it would be nice…
Look, I would like to bring said t-shirt to life, however I am an unoriginal person & do not have any witty slogans or whatever to bring her acerbic charm & sharp humour to light.. in fact I suck, I’m boring, I am still learing from the Fantabulous Blogmommy SarahK…
You must become the MM T-shirt Stud! for all the world to recognize SarahK as the splendid lady that she is…
Kerry says he doesn’t “say” things right in explaining the “I’m for 87B, then against it” … What a joke. The only thing that gas bag can do is talk.
as the debate ended, i wondered what i would be thinking if i were a swing voter. i think it would go something like this – “gosh, it’s so hard to decide who to vote for! if only one of the candidates had built his entire election campaign on one, clear, definitive issue – like whether or not he served in Vietnam. ‘cuz that would be the clincher, then i would know who to vote for for sure. as it is, i keep waffling back and forth between the two.” then i would think, “mmmm, waffles!” and head out for the nearest all-night waffle house
by the way, does anyone know if kerry ever served in the military? it’s so hard to tell since he’s so shy about talking about the apparent one and only thing he’s ever done in his life
Hmmmm. Most everybody here says it was a “draw.”
That’s kinda rough going, considering “foreign policy” is Bush’s strong suit and his “best issue.”
I think Rouge428 is the only honest Bush supporter on this blog.
hell, im a hardcore Bush supporter, but i’ve always said that bush really isn’t that good of a public speaker. i’ve always seen his best points as being his ability to make decisions and stick by them and the ability to relate to people. to me, he seems like an everyday guy, unlike the 6’4″ lurch wanna be who always seems to be talking down his nose AT people, not TO them.
i think the Bush camp will be scambling a bit after this debate, but its said that Al Gore wone the first debate of 2000, dont know for sure, didnt’ watch it. now that President Bush has his bearing, I think he’ll do much better on the upcoming debates.
maybe it was my tv, but I really didn’t notice lurches orange glow…prolly had a round of Botox and a chemical peel before the debate.
While I dont think Bush did that well, I think that Kerry did worse. He contracdicted himself so many times, and was shut down by Bush a couple of times.
He also got some facts wrong, according to the Drudgereport, that will be used for soundbytes and comments against him for a few weeks at least.
“FLASH: Kerry stated: ‘That’s why they had to close down the subway in New York when the Republican Convention was there.’ (Driving home point that Bush as not done enough to protect the country.)
The NYC subway did not close at all during the convention, according to a report on cable outlet NY1, even though Penn station was shut for several hours…
Kerry also misspoke when he referred to looking at KGB records in “Treblinka Square” in a visit to Russia. Treblinka was a Nazi death camp. He meant Lubyanka Square… ”
And even john kerry’s advisor thinks it was a draw.
“LOCKHART: DEBATE CONSENSUS A ‘DRAW’
Unbeknownst to Kerry adviser Mike McCurry, a C-SPAN camera quietly followed McCurry as he found Kerry adviser Joe Lockhart on Spin Alley floor and asked him his impression of the debate. Lockhart candidly said to McCurry , ‘The consensus is it was a draw.'”
Monkey find Kerry posters ook ook
http://countrystore.blogspot.com/
“I’ve only had one position on Iraq.” -Joh n Kerry
I exploded when I heard this. He changed positions in the middle of the debate, changed it from a week ago, changed it from a month ago, a year ago, two years ago….
When the moderator asked Bush something about if he thought Iraq was worth all of the lives lost, I said out loud, “Damn, that’s a loaded question!”
Bush started his responce: “Wow, that’s a loaded question.”
I thought he did a great job of answering “yes”, while showing remorse + appreciation for those lost.
Overall, Bush should have spent more time debunking Kerry’s BS claims with more specific facts instead of just mocking Kerry’s “wrong war, wrong place, wrong time” and “great diversion” over and over.
I want President Bush to remain as Commander in Chief, and I think he did pretty well in this debate. Especially for someone who has a bad rep in debating.
Reality Check: I can be an ‘honest’ Bush supporter, too. kerry appeared ‘smoother’, and President Bush seem to stumble at times. However, the last ‘smooth-talkin’ president we had (ala Clinton) got us into a lot of the North Korea and/or terrorist messes we have today. I don’t vote for someone if he can just ‘talk the talk’. They have to do some walkin’ too. And if we tried to follow where kerry has walked, we would fall down dizzy-headed from having to turn around so many times and still wind up where we started!!!!
Was it just me or did Kerry even change positions on the pronounciation of “nuclear” during the debate? After Bush said “nucular” about a dozen times during one of his responses, I swear I heard Kerry say “nucular” several times during his response. (During Bush’s response I was cringing, waiting for Kerry to poke fun at the President’s pronounciation. I was surprised when it didn’t happen.) Later, when the topic came up again, he clearly said “nuclear”.
Bottom line:
No matter how much more “polished” Jean (French pronunciation) Kerry was, and whether or not Bush came up with all the relevant points he could have (he didn’t), the fact is that Bush came off as sincere and Kerry as a “politician”…..eeeeeeewwwwwwww!!
People still don’t have a freakin’ clue what his position on or plan for Iraq is. I only hope that in the next debate Dubya finds a way to get Kerry to point out what major legislation he’s authored in 20 years.