President Bush made some points by correcting Kerry on several issues and in my opinion calling him on the “getting permission from other countries” argument. I thought the President lost some points because he appeared to slump over at times – 90 minutes is a long time to talk but he should not have to slump.
Kerry scored points by not being Kerry. Kerry was not condescending and did a much better job then I expected. This may be the biggest point getter in my eyes because he surprised me. Kerry lost points by getting several points wrong in his criticism of the President.
I do not agree with some of the talking heads that President Bush’s annoyed look is bad, I really do not recall the President’s visage, but if he did appear annoyed I would believe it was a sign of strength. To the contrary, Kerry would start nodding his head when Bush scored points, go figure, what does that demonstrate (for the talking head)!
Overall, I did not hear anything that I had not heard before. The polls should not see much movement based on this debate in my humble opinion.
UPDATE: Have gotten some comments from friends and family - mainly by phone (not technical yet) that Bush appeared tired. I agree with this assessment and my main point/concern is that these debates are for the undecided or "fence sitting" voters and I believe with this in mind President Bush cannot show tiredness. Don't get me wrong I fully understand how he could be tired since he does have very important things on his agenda and I understand that Kerry has not worked on anything but the campaign since what March and should be refreshed.
UPDATE2: Michelle Malkin has posted her debate thoughts (worth reading) and I found that one paragraph stated with more eloquence what I meant by "Kerry scored points by not being Kerry". I quote:
Stylistically, Kerry kept a lid on his superior self (remarkable for the candidate for whom "self-effacing" means microdermabrasion). We'll see if this new facade fades faster than that tan.
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