The debate itself

I understood why Bush decided to put on the "What Me Worry" smile tonight - because apparently polls showed that he was scaring off women with that snipey attack dog mode from last time - but it still looked damn silly when he was grinning vapidly during extremely serious issues that were being discussed. I was more than happy to watch him grinning his credibility with undecideds out the window, but still, it got painful to watch after a while even for me. Kerry meanwhile was his cool, calm, absolutely collected self.

On health, Kerry nailed it. A number of things happened here. First, he nailed Bush again on a fact to which Bush simply doesn't have a response, the five million individuals losing coverage over the past four years. Second, he provided a plan. As questionably feasible as it might be in its entirety, its a deeply considered national health care plan, and it's certainly far more substantial than anything Bush offered on the issue. Again, Kerry drove home the point about the illegalization of drug purchases from outside the country and how the only people helped by this are drug companies, the Bush Administration's best friends. The one thing I wish he would bury into the ground is this non-issue about trial lawyers. Just point out that it's just another example of the Bush campaign engaging in meaningless fright tactics and move on.


On fiscal responsibility and the handling of the nation's finances, it all boiled down to the Tony Soprano line which was dead on. "Hearing President Bush chide me about fiscal responsibility is like having Tony Soprano lecture me about law and order." A real "hel-lo!" moment. And how can Bush possibly respond, with the deficit he's got going on? He simply can't.

Jobs, the same. Kerry buried Bush, not just on the lost jobs figure, which is enough in itself, but on the fact that new jobs make less than the jobs they are replacing. He finally brought up the fact that the the average middle class income is dropping, while that of the wealthiest is going up. Bush could respond to NONE of these facts, because they are, in fact, facts. And anyone listening should have been appalled. Instead, he moved the discussion - as he did all night long - to education. It was the mattress he hid under the whole night long.

Pundits afterwards kept talking about how strong Bush was on education. What they failed to point out was that IT WAS THE ONLY THING HE TALKED ABOUT THE ENTIRE NIGHT. Every time the discussion veered toward jobs, Bush would direct it to education. Every time the discussion veered toward the deficit, Bush would direct it to education. Why was there not one pundit who would point out that this was for the simple reason that BUSH HAD NOTHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT. He's had absolutely no noticeable domestic successes beyond the No Child Left Behind act (which as we are reminded again and again that he "underfunded") - at least no successes that he would want to bring up during an election year, because they would all drive home Kerry's central point, which is that this administration has done nothing but feed the coffers of the wealthy at the taxpayer's expense.

And this was a point that Kerry drove home, again and again, and while it usually drives me nuts when a politician repeats himself over and over again (as Kerry was doing previously but not thankfully tonight with his military service), it was really well done and extremely effective. And no point needs to get made more strongly in relationship to this administration than this one - a point that Bush really doesn't have a response to, nor could he - and if it's a point that Kerry can drive home successfully with the "undecideds" then he walks away with this election. Probably Kerry's most memorable "zinger" was that he was sick of hearing politicians who talk about "family values" and then don't value families. Because of the force with which he hit on this, this is going to stick.

There were groaners of course - I wish Kerry and Edwards wouldn't bring up Mary Cheney - but then, as my brother explained, it does the right thing because it makes questions about homosexuality and this administration moot, because Dick Cheney loves his daughter and embraces her and has never said anything in the least offensive about her or her sexual preference - which is exactly as it should be, and it casts the social conservative's perception of this administration's stand on social issues and this administration's actual stand on social issues stand out in stark relief. Final point to Kerry - this is a non-issue, and Bush can't possibly say anything differently on the issue. But the other groaner - major major groaner - any chance he had of getting my parent's vote (okay there was none anyway) - evaporated when he brought up gay men and women who get married and then realize - or at least finally admit - that they're gay. Huh? And you're bringing this up, why? Fortunately, I think the main fall out was that everyone was just scratching their heads as to his intent...

Let me just say that I was very thankful Kerry didn't have to list the list of generals that think he should be commander-in-chief, as much as I might agree with them. He almost made up for this by pointing out how butch and manly he is with a gun and has been since he was 12 or 13 (14 maybe, somewhere back there), but I understand why he has to do this. And his point about the AK47s was another complete slamdunk, and once again, as he did throughout the debate - and this is phenomenal debating skill - made about four dead-on points all at the same time: 1)Bush is the flip-flopper who mouthed opposition to letting the assault weapons ban lapse, but never-the-less caved to the NRA and let it lapse, 2)Kerry is the strong one who will stand up to the gun lobby no matter what it takes, 3)security is actually worse under Bush because terrorists know that, once they make their way in through those unprotected borders, America's the easiest place on the planet for purchasing lethal firearms, 4)security in terms of everday crime goes through the floor - going right for the security mom. And Bush could answer none of this.

All in all, a great way to leave the debates. More later on the latest disheartening reports about early voter fraud...