Hieronymus Blogsch

Some Afterthoughts

Randy J. Ray — 2004-10-01T06:58-07:00

Getting to cap off the day with the Daily Show debate coverage is wonderful. My thoughts were pretty clear from the previous entries (if I finish this within 10 minutes, I'll have made 10 entries in just this day alone), so I'll instead link to some various opinions from other blogs I read...

From Josh Marshall

Every president gets tucked away into a cocoon to some degree. But President Bush does notoriously few press conferences or serious interviews. His townhall meetings are screened so that only supporters show up. And, of course, he hasn't debated anyone since almost exactly four years ago.

From Chris Bowers

Unlike a lot of pundits, I don't think this debate was anymore "substantive" than debates in other cycles. However, I was surprised by how heated it was. Bush actually was annoyed enough to frequently step away from his talking points. This was usually to his detriment, as his looked angrier and less focused than usual.

That's all for now. Want to have a double-digit-post day for once.

The Eyes Have It

Randy J. Ray — 2004-10-01T02:45-07:00

Four years ago, everyone was up in mock indignation at Gore's audible sighing.

This time around, Bush was rolling his eyes as often or more so. Will we hear about this? Or will the "liberal media" overlook it?

Fact Check: No. 4 in a Series

Randy J. Ray — 2004-10-01T02:39-07:00

Another one I missed, found this at http://www.oliverwillis.com/:

Bush just said there are 100K trained Iraqis. Really?

The Pentagon says that there are 39,000 trained Iraqi national-guard members and about 4,800 trained Iraqi army soldiers.

The Real Way of Measuring Score on the Debate

Randy J. Ray — 2004-10-01T02:38-07:00

A caller to C-SPAN after the debate:

"The final score was three glasses of water for President Bush, one drink of water for Mr. Kerry."

Some Quotes I Missed

Randy J. Ray — 2004-10-01T02:28-07:00

Because of my spotty stream at first, I missed these gems from Kerry:

"We didn't need that tax cut. America needed to be safe."

"I made a mistake in how I talked about the war. The President made a mistake in how he conducted the war. Which is worse?"

(Found at http://demwatch.blogspot.com/)

Fact Check, No. 3 in a Series

Randy J. Ray — 2004-10-01T02:17-07:00

BUSH: "You cannot lead if you send mixed messages."

Remember Bush's flip-flop over whether the war on terror can be won? Within a few days' time?

Fact Check, No. 2 in a Series

Randy J. Ray — 2004-10-01T02:00-07:00

President: "We won't succeed if we send mixed signals"

Bush sent mixed signals through his ambivalent approach to Fallujah. Marine Commander Lt. Gen. James T. Conway said, "When you order elements of a Marine division to attack a city, you really need to...not vacillate in the middle of something like that. Once you commit, you have to stay committed."

Fact Check, No. 1 of a Series

Randy J. Ray — 2004-10-01T01:58-07:00

President: "My administration worked to create the department of Homeland Security."

"Bush initially resisted the idea of a new department, which had been championed primarily by Democrats in the wake of the attacks." (CNN, 11/26/02)

Access Restored: Thank You C-SPAN

Randy J. Ray — 2004-10-01T01:50-07:00

Thanks to C-SPAN, I've got a good feed that is both audio and video. And this has led me to two interesting observations:

C-SPAN is showing both candidates in a split-screen format. I suppose it's because of the stringent rules of the "debate", but they're showing Kerry's podium clearly 6-8 inches lower than Bushes. God forbid anyone should see that Kerry is taller than Bush.
When Bush is speaking, Kerry looks forward, or looks down and writes notes. Occassionally looks to his left (probably looking at Bush). When Kerry is speaking, Bush is fidgeting looking all over the place like a bored, schoolkid waiting for the bell to ring.

Currently, Bush is waxing nostalgic about a specific widow he can mention by name. But then, Kerry's is making oblique Vietnam references in his response, so that point has got be called a draw.

I thought Bush would be more eloquent. Debating is supposedly his strong suit. This is looking a lot more like Kennedy-Nixon '60 than Bush-Gore '00.

First Debate Nugget

Randy J. Ray — 2004-10-01T01:29-07:00

I'm not going to be able to get the whole of the debate, because I'm at my office. The demand for streaming audio seems to be high, because my RealPlayer client keeps losing its place in the stream. So I'll have to rely on what bits I both get and get clearly-enough to reliably repeat.

Here's the first:

BUSH: "If you harbor a terrorist, you're as guilty as a terrorist."

15 of 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi Arabians. This must be bad news for them, no?