Kerry talked about the decision to go to war without exhausting all diplomatic channels first. Bush countered with "What kind of a message does that send our troops?" Having been one of those troops, the message it would have sent me is "This guy isn't going to get us killed because he refuses to see what's happening and just maybe realize we need to get the hell out. Just maybe Kerry can absorb a clue where Bush is incapable of it, if it means he has to change his mind and/or admit he was wrong about something. I wouldn't have wanted a Commander in Chief who singlemindedly followed one goal no matter what anybody else thought, or what happened as a result. These people are scary. The message would be "I am not perfect, and I made a mistake." This would not be a problem for a person who knows he's not perfect. Flexibility's more important than rigid belief in one's own agenda.
Kerry brought out more facts. Bush brought out more warm, fuzzy stuff. Patriotism, and "we are..., we WILL!" That whole thing with nuclear proliferation, and Kerry saying if we keep going at Bush's pace and according to his plan, we'll elimate nuclear weapons in other countries in 30 years while developing new ones (nuclear 'bunker-busters') of our own. There were facts. Bush countered with "We have..., we will." No facts, no disagreement with Kerry's time-line, and he didn't even discuss our own current development of new nuclear weapons.
Oh well... details. Bush paused for what seemed like long, painful-to-watch periods of time. At least a couple times during his responses, I had to think very hard to remember what the question had been. He got caught with some very exasperated expressions when Kerry was talking and the camera was aimed at Bush. Kerry maintained poise. One thing I'd tell Kerry (I'm expecting a personal phone call asking for advice...ha) would be to look at the camera once in a while. He's responding to the mediator's questions, but it's the people out in TV-land he's really talking TO.
Bush said, "You cannot lead if you send mixed messages . . . there must be certainty."
Kerry countered with: "It's one thing to have certainty. . . you can be certain and be wrong."
It took him forever to get to that. I was yelling "SAY it...Just SAY IT!!" at the TV. He could have drawn parallels to Vietnam, but he didn't. Nevertheless, I think maybe a few people watching got it anyway. I wonder if those who think Bush actually won that debate are of the same mindset, and think that things and people must be right simply because they've always believed them to be. Never mind any facts that might give them a clue that re-evaluation is needed.