Debate Thread

So, what did you think? Post your comments. My thoughts:

I saw the debate in a gay bar, with a completely partisan crowd. It was loud, I had to readjust constantly to see the television screen between the heads of people, and was repeatedly grateful for the closed captions (obviously done in real-time, which is amazing). So there was a lot distorting my view of the situation, both literally and figuratively. Having said that, I am sure it will shock all of you to find out that I think overall Kerry did better than Bush.

The pre-debate meme was that Kerry had the most work to do. As the meme goes, he's behind in the polls, President Bush has painted him as an unviable alternative, and people aren't convinced he has the stature to be President (I don't agree with some of the premises behind the meme, but that's the gist of it).

The corollary that got less attention but I think became evident midway during the debate is that Kerry also had the most to gain. Everyone knows Bush is presidential. As he would say, "I'm the President. I preside. That's what I do."

But people have had far less time to know Kerry, and what they do know about him is as likely to come from the Bush campaign or a Swift Boat Veterans-type group than his own campaign. This was his chance to strengthen parts of his image and redefine other parts to a public that, once you consider political nerds only make up 2.3% of the population (it's a fact), may be hearing him at length for the first time.

That's why I think he did better than Bush--because he had more to gain, and did so with a generally good performance. By speaking directly (for him), and being forceful but not overly aggressive, I think Kerry took a giant step forward into getting undecided voters to look at him as having the temperament to be the next President of the United States.

On individual questions, there were some that Kerry won, and others that Bush did. But that's almost irrelevant. Perhaps I'm being too cynical, but do you know what I think people will remember from this debate a few weeks from now?

Thirty seconds. I think people are going to assemble their own debate highlight commercial in their heads, reinforced by whatever clips get a lot of media attention, and play that commercial in their heads when they are deciding who to vote for. And my instinct, which I hope is based in more than wishful thinking, says that many of the snippets in that commercial will reflect favorably on John Kerry.

(Quickly, on another note: the post-debate spin, and which side is more effective in getting the media to buy it, is more important than the debate themselves. Republicans are still the masters at media manipulations, but I'm hopeful because Democrats have finally recognized the importance of the post-debate game and are at least going to do a better job at shaping it than they were in past elections. In other words, thank God for The Daily Show.)