The Final Presidential Debate

I just finished watching the face-off. I thought I'd share my thoughts on the night's show, for those of you who didn't have the time (or the inclination) for viewing the festivities.

Keep in mind while reading my analysis that I'm not a supporter of either candidate (Bill, reholster your sidearm).

I'll focus on their demeanors, first. The President had an upbeat, chipper attitude, with a pervasive and pleasant smile on his face. By contrast, Kerry seemed very sour--in expression and tone. He smiled little, rather choosing the "constipated Frankenstein's monster" look. He seemed far less pleased at being present in this debate than he did the first one.

Kerry chose repetition as his primary tactic, rehashing all the catch-phrases and criticisms of the first debate. Bush came off as markedly different, though, with an aggressive--yet positive--outlook and a solid command of facts and information.

Both men had their witty moments, but the President commanded more levity than Kerry. Kerry once compared Bush to Tony Soprano, and Bush said Kerry is on the far left bank of the mainstream, in America.

Bush came across as more honest and sincere in his beliefs than Kerry. He also made a rather impressive statement, early on, saying that he will not take a flu shot, due to the medicine's scarcity.

Kerry hammered home the point that he would provide all Americans with health care, though he never laid out his plan for funding such a venture.

Kerry harbored a very negative persona, finding reason for blaming Bush for just about every conceivable problem in our country. I realize negativity is partly the nature of challenging a sitting president; but he went to ridiculous extremes in this regard. For example, he claimed that the health care problem amongst the populace exclusively is Bush's fault.

Bush said he wanted health care decisions in the hands of patients and their doctors, not the government. Kerry is a socialist, in my view. He bluntly assured the camera that he would not privatize social security. His assurances to the contrary aside, his medical coverage "plan" is one that probably made Hillary Clinton leap out of her coffin and cheer.

Bush stated that he's against amnesty for illegals, but then he went on to talk about "worker cards" for aliens. So in truth, they would no longer be illegal aliens, because he'd make them legal. Without strong crackdowns on the border, and strong deportation policies, I'd reject such a program. This was one of his weakest points.

Kerry lied through his teeth on the "assault weapons ban." He equated the ban with keeping automatic machine guns out of criminal hands, yet it did no such thing. The weapons labeled "assault weapons" in the ban merely were semi-automatic weapons. This was a terror tactic that he used, for scaring people about gun crimes. Forgive my momentary digression, but this ban died a much-deserved death. Now someone just drive a stake into its heart, and I'll be happy.

Kerry made a good crack at the end about how he "married up"--funny, and oh so true, at least monetarily speaking. But he spent the rest of his time spitting out one negative comment after another. Bush remained positive throughout the debate, talking about the future and the good days ahead. Of course, I think both of them are wrong. One thing's for sure: Bush is much more likeable than Kerry.

Bush's worst moments came in the debate's middle, when he was asked point-blank by Bob Schieffer: "Will you try to overturn Roe v. Wade?" Bush became evasive, assuring the audience that he'd require no litmus test for judges, but that he'd promote ways of supporting a pro-life agenda. He never directly answered the question.

I missed the second presidential debate, so I can't comment on its details or Bush's performance. But all in all, this one was vastly more interesting than the first. If it's not readily obvious from the commentary above, I'll say it now:

Bush won. Won? Heck, he mopped the floor with Kerry.