Friday, October 01, 2004



AP had already put out a report about the debate....in the PAST TENSE (and the debate was due to start in an hour ...)
Slate screams Don't Vote: It makes more sense to play the lottery
CBS News captures the pre-Florida atmosphere rather well Spin has already begun: The Backstory
Jim Wallis editor-in-chief of Sojourners: Tells why the best contribution of religion is precisely not to be a loyal partisan; Brian McLaren argues that You don't need to be partisan to be prophetic

Eye on Florida and More of the Same: Fiction V Reality: Heavens to Bessie, Breca and Beowulf
Google has over 2004 links to the debate and the biggest policy differences of all
For the first time in the television age, the candidates' opening and historically most influential debate was devoted to foreign policy and national security — subjects that have overshadowed the traditional pocketbook issues in this campaign...
Whether John Kerry won the debate with President Bush Thursday night is an open question question that voters will decide, but he almost certainly won a chance for a second look.
And that he quite clearly needed. Some Republicans had said the Bush campaign wanted to switch the issue of foreign affairs from the third debate to the first one to give the president the chance to effectively close out the race by undercutting Kerry on shifting positions on the war in Iraq.
Instead, Kerry painted a contrast with the president over the war and challenged an aspect of Bush's character--a sense of moral certitude--that could be the president's greatest electoral liability, especially among women and independent voters.
It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong. It's another to be certain and be right, or to be certain and be moving in the right direction, or be certain about a principle and then learn new facts and take those new facts and put them to use in order to change and get your policy right...And certainty sometimes can get you in trouble.

Bush, Kerry debate who can best lead in times of uncertainty: Wartime [Al Gore, The NY Times scoop: How to Debate George Bush; Getting Medieval with the Presidential Debates: Claims and counterclaims: the preliminary exchanges of noble warriors, bent on augmenting their own reputations by stressing the worthiness of their opponent - like Breca and Beowulf]
• · After a deluge of campaign speeches and hostile television ads, President Bush and challenger John Kerry got their chance to face each other directly Thursday night before an audience of over 60 million Americans voters Analysis by ABCNews.Go.Com; [Connie Rice: Top 10 Secrets They Don't Want You to Know About the Debates Letting Amerika squabble over who gets to be the next bad guy; Networks balk at Bush-Kerry debate agreement ]
• · · Florida Betting Factor Kerry using boots as political tool ; [Kerry on orange alert: skin transition on eve of debate]
• · · · Florida O’Reilly Factor Bush Talks to O'Reilly ; [Bush's Top Ten Flip-Flops]
• · · · · UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed grave concern at the escalation of the violence, adding he particularly mourned the death and injuries of children. Kofi sounds like the broken record on Google. Kofi Do Something Constructive! Iraq’s Beslan ; Gaza Strip
• · · · · · Joe Lives McCarythyist paranoid impulse The myth — oft-repeated by politicians and journalists; [Bill Hobbs is following vote fraud allegations closely ; The blogosphere is abuzz that there might be an authoritative expert by the name of David E. Hailey, Jr., Ph.D. who might have proven the CBS documents are legit ... Death to all who oppose the blogosphere. You will be assimilated...]