George&cheryl

Who do you think won the first U.S. presidential debate?

President George W. Bush 22% 166028 votes

Sen. John Kerry 71% 543768 votes

Evenly matched 8% 60154 votes


which debate were you cowboys watching?

herb

no doubt Kerry won. I felt embaressed for Prez Bush

tankeryanker

A speaker he may not be. But at least he's not ready to sell us out to United nations. If Kerry gets in we will probably be apologizing to the French for hurting their feelings for it's the politicaly correct thing to do.

RDLeader

Yeeehaaawwww, let's vote for Kerry, then we can burn the flag. He says it's ok.



Roman

Hannibal

I'll have to give the nod to Kerry. But I respect both for not resorting to childish name calling. They both remained composed and professional.
Two more debates to go...

Mostwanted

I really need to watch these debates, as I don't have time to keep up with it all. My wife likes Kerry, but I am not sure. Even if I did watch I would wounder if the answers would be completely true anyway.

jthorpe

I'm curious to see what happens in the town hall format on the next one. Bush does pretty well in that format, so we will just have to wait.

In terms of the poll, yes, in presentation, Kerry won and I will concede to that. However, in addition to that one question you've posted the results to, in which you try and skew the results to your candidate, you must also keep in mind that according to the following CNN article, Bush still came out on top in every category except presentation.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/...oll/index.html

In addition, the polls in terms of who would win the election have not changed. So at the end of the day, this really means nothing for either candidate.

In most debates as they continue into the second and third rounds, audiences drop off. Bush had a chance to put Kerry away two or three times but didn't capitalize. The town hall format will tell more than this debate.

Keep in mind Kerry followers, Reagan was behind Mondale after his first debate, then put him away in the second one.

So at the end of the day, the poll about who won the presentation means nothing at this point in time.

"Gallup has asked the question about who did a better job in the debate in five previous elections, and in four of them the candidate who "won" the first debate did not win the election in November."

Jeff in TD

Good post, Jack.

These debates aren't really an opportunity to make major gains, but there is a risk to make a real blunder.

Both candidates could have done a little better job, but neither blew it, and few people changed their minds.

jrs_dodge_diesel

Please excuse my ignorance but what is "town hall" format?

Lary Ellis (Top)

Kerry didn't disappoint me in his "plans" he outlined last night

This guy must live in a fantasy world, he says he would build two new Army Divisions just for Homeland Security, but then he votes against every military spending bill that comes before him

Is this guy really so naive as to not realize that this stuff takes money? He speaks with forked tongue

Haulin_in_Dixie

Kerry plans to add two complete divisions, and who is going to reinstate the draft?

Oh yeah, and do away with another defense equipment program. The real sKerry...

Tommy93w350

We must vote for Bush. America's morals and values will go down the drain if Kerry is elected. Bush does stand up about issues that's immoral like gay marriages. Kerry will approve this if he is elected and we will lose our Christainity rights. Bush will stand up and say, "I am a Christian, I believe in the Bible and the scriptures that Christians must obey." He isn't ashamed to admit he's a Christian and I'm not either.

I don't want gays marrying, Kerry does, he wants their vote. This just one of many of my view.

Thanks and God Bless you

Pray for our country, government, leaders, and our future generation

jthorpe

Well, the town hall format effectively got its start in 1992 between Ross Perot, Bill Clinton and Bush 41.

Gallup and the Commission on Presidential Debates took the candidates to Richmond to meet with a group of undecided voters. It was a chance for regular voters to have a connection witht he candidates, and ask them what was on their mind. Unfortunately, Clinton blew Bush away, and Ross Perot came off looking stranger and stranger.

Bush 43 has a way of connecting with citizens unlike Kerry from what I've seen, and hes' done well in this format before.

George&cheryl

This was only a debate and it has little or nothing to do with the election this is true, however I think enough people in America have woken up after the last election, you guys remember that one don't you? The election that Bush never won in the first place, the election where all those defective voting machines was sent to Florida, in the neighborhoods that were pro Gore, where Bush's brother just happened to be the govenor. Then when the recount wasn't working lets let the superme court decide, the same superme court full of daddy Bush's buddies and gee what a surprise how that vote came out. The whole thing stunk and is still stinking. One thing the American people learned from that experience is that every vote does indeed count and there will be a lot more young people voting and making a difference in Nov. oh btw I don't believe Bush does so poorly just because he is a poor public speaker, I think Bush does so poorly because he is simply a dork and didn't have anyone telling him what to say

PistolWhipt

I really liked when the moderator asked Sen. Kerry ... "If you were president what will you do to get our military home as soon as possible ?"

He says "Well, I'll tell you EXACTLY what I will do .... " and then he rambled on and on about what President Bush did over the past 4 years that he didn't like. He never actually told us WHAT HE WOULD DO. He totally avoided the question in typical Kerry fashion.

Did anyone see Sen. Kerry's party after the debate ?? His wife was introducing him and telling everyone to "shoosh". She wasn't being light hearted about it either ... she wanted them to be quiet instead of celebrating for her husband. Thanks for the help, honey .... now sit down before you hurt yourself.

I have never seen this woman speak before ... and don't take this like I am trying to stir the political pot or anything, but does she always look like she is drunk or was this a special occasion for her ??
I hope that she is always like that ... not good ju-ju to show up ripped to the gills on national TV.

PISTOL