Some Thoughts on the "Debate"
I managed to catch the first presidential debate at the gym--watching half of it on the TV from the treadmill and listening to half it on the weight machines.
I thought that maybe I'd get a different opinion after watching it and only listening to it.
I thought wrong.

At this point we all know that Kerry was declared the winner and Bush was declared incapable of keeping a civil look on his face. Despite all thoughts to the contrary Bush, the man who had been touted as never having lost a debate in his life, lost. And the Kerry camp rejoiced.

Problem is, what does that mean?

This is not the only debate, there are 2 more, lest the Democrats start thinking of ways to change the White House decor. Issues of domestic policy have not even been touched.
Then again, neither have issues of foreign policy, though, have they?

Last week's debate was full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Overall the two candidates differed on only a few points, the biggest of which being bilateral talks with North Korea. I hardly imagine that an undecided voter will make up their minds on North Korea. Kerry did the best he could to shed the "flip-flopper" image the Bush camp has branded on his forehead. Bush did his best to make a coherent point that didn't seem to come from a photocopied list handed to him right before the debate.

With all of the rule imposed on this debate, it really wasn't a debate at all. How can you have a debate when the people involved are not allowed to address each other? Why was the Bush camp so afraid of this? Did they think that by talking to Bush directly, Kerry could use some of his voodoo magic? Even more ridiculous was the 10 foot distance between the candidate's podiums. Perhaps Al Gore's wanderings during the debates in 2000 made Bush feel the need to control his personal space and have a discussion with the Dems about boundaries. All the restrictions and time limits sucked any and all spontaneity out of the event. Overall, the 90 minutes felt like I was listening to 2 people giving stump speeches and they just happened to be in the same room.