John Kerry won last night’s first Presidential debate, for a few reasons:
(1) He was confident, forthright, articulate, with moments of humility. He spoke with a wonderful gravitas that reminded me more than once of his stirring convention speech. By contrast, George W. Bush looked annoyed, flustered, whiney and shrill. He tried for the good-ol’-boy, relaxed style he is known for…but it didn’t translate well on screen. He looked like a jerky, wind-up Ken doll.
(2) John Kerry took a page from Ronald Reagan’s playbook. He came up with a few key phrases that he used to hammer home key points, yet held them back enough to avoid crossing over the line into slogan and cliche. His trademark “help is on the way” made a few appearances, but my favourites were “not good enough” and “I can do better”. Judging from the annoyed, constipated looks Bush gave him during these moments (thank you, networks, for reaction shots!), they were very effective.
I also appreciated how John Kerry would start silently writing out his responses the moment Bush began to answer a question. It’s clear from those reaction shots that Kerry is someone who can think on his feet in a moment of tension. Bush flubbed his script (and I do mean SCRIPT…go back and watch those reaction shots!) far too many times. No one does moments of dead air like Bushie Junior.
(3) George W. Bush seemed to be on the defensive the entire time. His entire debate seemed to consist of phrases that began with sentences such as “Of course I did…” or “Of course I know…”. Every time he tried to attack Kerry, he came off sounding like a petulant child, ticked off that his opponent was pointing out mistakes and omissions he would have preferred to ignore. Another foible that didn’t help Bush was his ability to state the bloody obvious. During an exchange about North Korea, after Kerry had stated he would prefer bilateral talks to the current 6-nation talks, Bush responded by saying that if they switched to bilateral discussions, then the 6-nation talks would unravel.
Umm…isn’t that the point of switching to one-on-one talks?
Kerry was forceful, concise, and — at times — thunderous. Bush elevated whinging to a fine art. The ridiculous prevent-a-debate rules for this debate avoided anyone scoring a knockout punch, but it’s clear that John Kerry emerged as the clear winner.
Next time, Bush should face an opponent more worthy of his mettle. I suggest a talking dog.
