Presidential debate number 2 notes

Bush came to play. That is, of course, the first thing you notice over the last debate. Bush was largely on his game, but the debate was very combative on both sides.

Going forward, the good news for Bush is that it is fairly clear that Kerry is vulnerable on several fronts in the upcoming domestic issues debate. Kerry didn't steamroll Bush on domestic issues as some led us to believe. Bill Kristol mentioned on Fox News that Bush did a good job in the last debate of lowering expectations for tonight. That was funny, and true.

The last question of the debate was horrible. What 3 mistakes have you made? That's a loaded piece of crap, and shouldn't have made it in the debate. Imagine this question for Kerry: "Tell us 3 of your flip-flops, Sen. Kerry, and where you have finally landed on the issue." Would have been inappropriate and absurd, as was the question for Mr. Bush. Bush was exactly right that the lady wanted him to admit Iraq was a mistake. I would stop short of saying it shows clear bias from whomever chose the questions, but it surely shows bad judgment.

Kerry could be a victim of his hyped success in the first debate. After the first debate, the consensus was that Kerry better presented his debate points, and therefore won the debate. Weak if your points weren't actually better on their own merit, as we saw tonight.

"You can run, but you can't hide..." funny stuff.

Republicans should feel buoyed by the President's performance tonight. He can hang with Kerry on domestic issues.