Replying to Third Presidential Debate

Well, and this might seem like a shock, I again thought Kerry won this one. I thought Bush was less energetic and less endearing than he was in the second debate, which came to a result within the margin of error in Kerry's favour according to Gallup polls. He was unsuccessful in painting Kerry as a fiscal liberal, as the Senator responded to the charge of 98 votes to raise taxes with some 600+ votes in the opposite direction, as well as splitting with his party to deal with budget issues. That's pretty decisive; he's not a tax&spend politician, and as much as Bush would like to contend otherwise, his rhetoric DOES match his record, just as he said tonight. That line was what Bush people were hoping he'd get across, and to be honest, I didn't come out of that with the impression that Kerry planned to overspend beyond reason.

As for Kerry, he attacked quite effectively. i thought he gave one of his better performances, even better than the first debate (though the President was so bad that night, there's no way he could win that decisively again). He wasn't all that good at communicating anything personal (except for that comment on their wives, where both candidates did extremely well), but he did bring faith into the issue, and came across with that quite well.

Bush did likewise; I was very impressed with his ability to talk straight to the people as one of them, and that's what he's SUPPOSED to do. He's billed as being able to do that, and it was a good thing to fall back on when accusations against Kerry's record fell flat. Because of this, he didn't lose this badly. However, I still think he failed to accomplish what he set out to do, and because of that, finished a close second (though not as close as debate 2).

I know everyone's going to support their candidate no matter WHAT happens, because that's partisan America for you... but other thoughts? I'd like to hear why Bush won.

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In a haze
A stormy haze
I’ll be around
I’ll be loving you
Always
Always

Here I am
And I’ll take my time
Here I am
And I’ll wait in line
Always
Always...