Been away a few days so I missed out on part of this....

Why Bush has come out of the Debates leading Gore:

Gore has misread the mood of the electorate and he has made the same tactical error that the Republicans made in 95. After they won Congress the GOP figured the electorate was ready for ideological wars....they were wrong. Folks didn't like Hillary's Health Care initiative, they didn't like Clinton playing with the military, and they were pretty pissed off about getting a tax increase when they had been promised a tax cut.

The Republicans thought they had a mandate to begin dismantling parts of the government, but people just wanted a brake on far-left Bill....they like centrist-Bill. When the GOP tried to explain their proposals they got tangled up in 15% here times 2% added to the 43% return off of this minus 12% for that....people's eyes glazed over. Clinton fought back with 'SCHOOL LUNCH CUTS!!!! KIDS GOING HUNGRY!!! OLD PEOPLE IN THE STREETS!!!' and kicked their asses!

The voters are still in the same mood. They want a centrist, efficient, and above all quiet government. Bush has managed to beat Gore to the center on nearly every issue. Gore tries to defend himself and his policies and he starts sounding like one of those nasty '95 Republicans....he starts talking percentages and people go to sleep. He then says he is going to FIGHT!! and FIGHT!!, and maybe even FIGHT!! some more. Sounds very noisy.

Bush beat Gore to the center and he is promising a quiet administration. One that will seek bi-partisan support on major issues. He doesn't allow himself to get bogged down in details. He has Clinton's knack for throwing mud and not getting himself dirty.

Does Bush have a two or three point message that he sticks to? You betcha! So does Gore...how many times did he say tax cuts for the rich? or Dingle-Norwood?

That's my 2 cents anyway.