Having just finished watching the first presidential debate between President Bush and John Kerry, all I can think of is that I cannot wait for the next one! I love football but I have got to say that this is better than the Super Bowl!
I was talking with some of my co-workers earlier today about how to judge a debate. We were asking questions such as 'does one debater really win' and 'will a debate actually change people's minds.'
Our consensus was that you can't really win a debate. Of course the Republicans will say their guy won and the Democrats likewise. But now that I have seen our two candidates in action, in terms of poise, eloquence, and clarity Kerry clearly comes out the winner.
Kerry was very precise about the points he wanted to get across. Bush, on the other hand sounded much like a broken record. He relentlessly repeated Kerry's statement about Iraq being the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, time and again.
I understood the point Bush was trying to make the first, second, and even the third time he said this. But as he kept coming back to this point I began to feel as if Bush did not trust the 55 million observers of the debate to have more than a short term memory. I felt as if Bush was going to fill in his extra time by repeating qualifiers such as "A Bush presidency is very, very, very, very, very, good. And a Kerry presidency would be really, really, really, really, really, really bad." Bush definitely was the winner in the redundancy category.
During the opening minutes of the debate Kerry expressed his sorrow for the people of the host state of Florida and the tragedies they have recently endured. Bush summed it up that Floridians have "suffered a lot." As the debate continued, I was impressed by the strength of Kerry's conviction and confidence that he is the better candidate for the job.
I think that Bush was impressed by these qualities of Kerry as well. The President seemed chagrined by Kerry and almost seemed to be pleading for his job. All politics aside, if you had just interviewed these two candidates for a job where you work, who would you hire?
Both of these men are smart. Both have excellent educations as both pointed out. But Kerry was simply more believable in his presence. I felt that I could clearly see which answers Bush had rehearsed and when he was winging it. Kerry, on the other hand, had a much smoother delivery. Of course, despite public speaking ability we are going to vote for the candidate with whom we agree.
In the end I don't feel anyone who has made up their mind about who they will vote for is going to change their vote based on the debates. However, the undecided voters still are a large enough group to make or break either candidate. The debate was for them.
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