Ok, Who’s Surprised?

10/1/04

It has been 24 hours since the much-ballyhooed debate. Who won? Well, if you listen to the pundits and the campaign people for the Democrats, they did. If you listen to the pundits and the campaign people for the Republicans, they did. Surprise, Surprise.
The general consensus is that Kerry won the Style battle and Bush won the Substance battle. Kerry sounded like an attorney or a college debater and Bush sounded like someone you might run into at the local grocery store. Kerry was glib and displayed a passion I had not heard from him before. Bush displayed the careful, resolved determination most of us have come to expect. Kerry was smooth and easy going, Bush was believable and likeable.
After the words of the two men were given time to sink in, I really didn’t hear anything new from Bush. Kerry, however, showed a little of his true colors in a few of his comments. When speaking of preemptive war, Kerry said “But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.”
Bush’s reply? “I'm not exactly sure what you mean, "passes the global test," you take preemptive action if you pass a global test. My attitude is you take preemptive action in order to protect the American people, that you act in order to make this country secure. “
Bush did a lot of ah… and umm… Oh well, I don’t think I will vote based on how smooth someone sounds. I think I think after all that, I am still where I was. Fortunately, I think most of us are in the same place. My mind is made up. There is only one issue of importance in this election. Who will best protect this country against the militant Islamic Fundamentalists? There is only one answer to that question.