Presidential Debate #1: First Thoughts

I set up a VCR to tape the debate from PBS tonight. I watched a bit of it on CNN, but then started jonesin' for an Internet fix, and decided to listen to it on the radio (on NPR) while surfing the net.

I'm glad I did. NPR made a point today that whoever won the debate on television with the sound turned off, won the debate in the minds of the viewers. (Historians tell us that while Kennedy killed Nixon in the country's first television debate, on paper and on the radio Nixon was the winner. We're such a visually-oriented species.) I saw more than I wanted to in the few minutes I saw of it on television: George Bush looked like he was sucking a bitter lemon during John Kerry's remarks, and Kerry looked amused during Bush's remarks. (I thought reaction shots were not to be allowed, but maybe having both speakers onscreen at the same time got around that rule.)

So how did it sound? Kerry sounded smooth and assured, and Bush sounded like he was blibbering and blubbering half the time. I swear I could see him turning green at some times, and purple at others. Kerry misspoke a few times, and got skewered with the "are our soldiers now 'dying for a mistake'?" question. (He said "no" - and based on where he had just taken himself, he had to.)

Bush told one joke that couldn't get a laugh because of the rule of silence for the spectators ("I won't hold it against (Kerry) that he went to Yale" - Bush, of course, is also a Yale man) and one self-referential joke that did get a nervous laugh from everybody ("I'm a pretty calm guy" - after showing signs that his not-very-well-known temper was about to display itself.) He pronounced "mullah" as "moola" (slang for "money"), though I'm not sure that was even wrong. And he did a lot of podium-thumping - something that always annoyed me with Clinton.

Kerry sounded good. He got in a few decent jabs, and landed some solid punches where it seemed that Bush's only response was to sputter a bit and then fall back on talking points.

So what about substance? To be honest, I was listening for tone and style, not substance. Substance I can get from the transcripts.

So who won? Naturally, each side will claim victory for their man. It seems that Bush's "lowball expectations" strategy may have backfired - that is, play dumb for four years, then come out with the debating brilliance which he showed in debates against Ann Richards during the Texas gubernatorial campaign. Kerry's supporters were being so overwhelmed by these reports that, as NPR reported, they approached this debate in a state of depression.

And then what happened? Bush didn't shine. Kerry didn't fold. They performed exactly as someone might have expected if the buzz around this debates had never been there.

Tomorrow we will see what the spin doctors have to say, how the post-game analysis plays, and which sound bites get presented to the public that didn't have time to watch, or listen. I hope I can find a transcript without too much hunting. Now I'm actually looking forward to the next debate!