On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart interviewed Gen. Wesley Clark, who said that conservative blogs were bemoaning President Bush's performance in the debate; a sampling of those comments follow. Some blog commentary was more predictable than the mainstream media that bloggers often put-down.
From PoliPundit blog: Who “won” the debate? I think most people’s first impression, is that Kerry was strong and forceful, while Bush was less effective, more hesitant. Kerry was aggressive, and that leaves an impression... Bush was not as strong as he should have been on his policies.
From PoliPundit blog: I’ve been watching the debate for five minutes now. Despite my partisan inclinations, I have to admit that Kerry has won this debate. And not just in the high-school debate-coach sense of the word. Kerry comes off as the prosecutor accusing Bush of incompetence. Bush comes off as his Meet-The-Press, press-conference version - dogged, arrogant and unlikable.
Glenn Reynolds: Bush started off weak, got better as it went on, and finished well... I don't think it'll change a lot of minds. But I have a very consistent track record of getting this stuff wrong...
From The Corner blog: The biggest mistake made by the Bush campaign: agreeing to three debates. Doesn't look so smart now -- Bush gets tired and might be seen as saying the same things over and over again. Now hoping that everyone tunes out of the next two.
From The Corner blog: I suspect Kerry supporters are happier than Bush ones about how the debate went. I have no idea how swing voters will react. But let's remember that the stakes were higher for Kerry. He had to win this debate decisively, I think, and he didn't.
From The Corner blog: Kerry is right that nuclear proliferation is the most serious threat to the US (and he’s right, incidentally, about the bunker busters). He’s also right that the administration has not done enough about this threat. I’m at a loss to understand, however, what he would propose to do with North Korea...
From PrestoPundit: YOU KNOW the debate didn't go well for George Bush when you get a post-debate phone call from your lefty Yalie sister-in-law.
From National Review - Jim Geraghty: The Bushies will be a little down. Every time Kerry opened his mouth, conservatives thought of the eight different responses and attacks that they wanted to see, and Bush mostly didn't use them. Bush focused almost entirely on principles tonight, not policies.
From PoliPundit blog: Who “won” the debate? I think most people’s first impression, is that Kerry was strong and forceful, while Bush was less effective, more hesitant. Kerry was aggressive, and that leaves an impression... Bush was not as strong as he should have been on his policies.
From PoliPundit blog: I’ve been watching the debate for five minutes now. Despite my partisan inclinations, I have to admit that Kerry has won this debate. And not just in the high-school debate-coach sense of the word. Kerry comes off as the prosecutor accusing Bush of incompetence. Bush comes off as his Meet-The-Press, press-conference version - dogged, arrogant and unlikable.
Glenn Reynolds: Bush started off weak, got better as it went on, and finished well... I don't think it'll change a lot of minds. But I have a very consistent track record of getting this stuff wrong...
From The Corner blog: The biggest mistake made by the Bush campaign: agreeing to three debates. Doesn't look so smart now -- Bush gets tired and might be seen as saying the same things over and over again. Now hoping that everyone tunes out of the next two.
From The Corner blog: I suspect Kerry supporters are happier than Bush ones about how the debate went. I have no idea how swing voters will react. But let's remember that the stakes were higher for Kerry. He had to win this debate decisively, I think, and he didn't.
From The Corner blog: Kerry is right that nuclear proliferation is the most serious threat to the US (and he’s right, incidentally, about the bunker busters). He’s also right that the administration has not done enough about this threat. I’m at a loss to understand, however, what he would propose to do with North Korea...
From PrestoPundit: YOU KNOW the debate didn't go well for George Bush when you get a post-debate phone call from your lefty Yalie sister-in-law.
From National Review - Jim Geraghty: The Bushies will be a little down. Every time Kerry opened his mouth, conservatives thought of the eight different responses and attacks that they wanted to see, and Bush mostly didn't use them. Bush focused almost entirely on principles tonight, not policies.
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