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Bright and early Digby.
Let's do this thing.
I'm in a writin fightin mood so bring it on!
I'm on Digby.
Current CNN Quick poll 8:46PDT
Who won?
Bush: 18%
Kerry: 78%
Tie: 4%
N=82,678
NO WAY either side could have Freeped it that much.
How long before CNN resets it?
Regarding campaign commercials, I thought that one element of the debate agreement was that the campaigns couldn't use any of the footage in commercials. 527s and independent groups have GOT TO start make use of that video...those images of Kerry in command while Bush fidgets like a scared little kid will really resonate. The danger is, if the spin machine takes over, and the video fades in the collective consciousness, people will forget what really happened and start believing the spin.
We're on it Digby!
Everybody get ready to cowboy up tomorrow. Fight fire with fire.
The only thing I can remember about Kerry and Australia in the debate, was his simple omission of listing them when he talked about actual coalition partners.
But, Rove can spin anything!
Solid performance by my guy Kerry tonite.
Although, NYTimes' David Brooks thought it a tie!!
Philly.com: Kerry 87%, Bush 10%
MSNBC: Kerry 70%, Bush 30%
CBS News : Kerry 92%, Bush 8%
Houston Chronicle: Kerry 87%, Bush 11%
Wall Street Journal: Kerry 60%, Bush 33%
Florida Sun-Sentinel: Kerry 71%, Bush 16%
LA Times: Kerry:89% Kerry, Bush 8%
CNN: Kerry 79%, Bush 18%
Atlanta Journal Constitution: Kerry 62%, Bush 30%
Sure Digby. No problemo.
Gawd I can't wait for the 2nd debate.
They might have to put a new battery in Cheney after tonight.
David Brooks thought it a tie!!
Brooks pissed his pants over how well Kerry did. It was obvious by his 'body language' and the big wet stain creeping up his shirt.
Insta polls of course ;^)
We should drive home how Bush said enemy attacked us in discussing the Iraq war. Saddam did not attack us, Osama Bin Laden did.
Similarly, we should highlight Bush's comments about putting his daughters on leash.
We should do an add on his angry demeanor, we should say it was unpresidential, unbecoming.
And have bumper stickers made up-
DRUNK DRIVERS FOR BUSH/CHENEY 04
BUSH/666
REVELATIONS 13:16
(This came from a great website George Bush is the antichrist). It works, I used it on a born-once-too-often last week and it left them with real fear in their eyes having to consider Weasle in a new, truer light.
My class was working in the darkroom tonight with a radio on during debate. Nothing but derisive laughter during Bushspeak.
There's gotta be some good "President Hard Work" meme we can get going. I mean, he only talked about how this or that was "hard work" about 132 bazillion times in only 90 minutes. And we're talking about The Vacationing President here.
Barbie doll: "Math is hard."
Bush doll: "Prezdentin' is hard work. Watch this drive."
Vacation, all I ever wanted,
Vacation, time to get away...
I'm in.
Post up the email addys and the numbers...
Let's do it.
Bush was so anchored to his talking points that it really did begin to feel like a parody after the tenth or eleventh "mixed messages" jibe. And the technique backfired, because Kerry was ready, and nearly every time "steady-hand" Bush played the flip-flop card, Kerry responded with the same, very basic explanation: yes, I authorized it; yes, Saddam was a threat; no, Bush's response was not the right one. Repeat 3x. Simple. I think it got over on the American public.
I think Josh Mitchell has a good read on things, too: it's not that folks are enamored with Bush; it's that Kerry really was coming across as unlikeable. Down here in Brasil, the limited coverage I'd been exposed to had, frankly, given me the same bad taste in my mouth--who is this stiff, fake, ugly, etc politician? Tonight, Kerry rectified that in a major way. It wasn't a flawless performance--why not a rebuttal of the "mixed messages" barb with a little anecdote about attacking and withdrawing from Fallujah?--but he was strong. And yes, "presidential." Shit, he even rallied a cynical motherfucker like me. Tomorrow, we're taking it to 'em. Can I have the New York Times? Please? Pleeeease?
This is a fucking great night for America. It's the beginning of the end of George Bush. There are a lot of battles still to be fought, but the tide has turned and we we ain't going back. You rocked & rolled tonight, JFK. You made me proud again to be an American.
Anybody else notice that Kerry mentioned global warming twice tonight? NYTimes today covered new science, surely to be of interest in FL, that hurricanes may be more intense, if not more frequent, in a rapidly warming world.
Lead the way, Digby!
It's time to remind them what the five fingers said to the face!
I'm for John Kerry, bitch!
I love the proactive turn that the lefty blogs are taking in the last two weeks. Discussing polls and the horse race has its place of course, but blogging needs to be turned into activism. This is how we win.
I am off to donate to the DNC and ACT - Bush, as I predicted, would say that 9/11 changed everything - that was my donation cue.
Thank God for the split screen. We finally get to see, through the miracle of modern technology, what modern man and homo electus look like side-by-side.
What more evidence do we need that Evolution is more than an alternate theory?
Where was that tan Drudge kept going on about? Kerry looked normal to me.
And Bush looked like all those deer I almost hit on the highway in upstate New York!
E-mail addresses that you can write to & phone numbers that you can call...
CNN
(404) 827-1500
Larry King LIVE: comments form
American Morning: comments form
MSNBC
(212) 664-4444
Hardball with Chris Matthews: hardball@msnbc.com
FOX
(212) 301-3000; 1-888-TELL-FOX
Hannity and Colmes: colmes@foxnews.com
FOX Morning News: foxfeedback@foxnews.com
ABC
(212) 456-7777
Nightline: nightline@abcnews.com
Good Morning America: comments form
CBS
(212) 975-4321
CBS Evening News: evening@cbsnews.com
NBC
(212) 664-4444
Nightly News: Nightly@NBC.com
The Today Show: today@nbc.com
Interesting use of podium heights.
Oh, and anyone else notice they had Kerry drinking out of a goblet and Shrubby out of a whiskey glass? Subtle.
Sorry..Didn't realize there were hyperlinks in my earlier post.
Here's the same with hyperlinks expanded:
CNN
(404) 827-1500
Larry King LIVE: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/form...s/form4.html?
73
American Morning: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/form...ms/form5.html?
2
MSNBC
(212) 664-4444
Hardball with Chris Matthews: hardball@msnbc.com
FOX
(212) 301-3000; 1-888-TELL-FOX
Hannity and Colmes: colmes@foxnews.com
FOX Morning News: foxfeedback@foxnews.com
ABC
(212) 456-7777
Nightline: nightline@abcnews.com
Good Morning America: http://www.abcnews.go.com/
sectio...email_form.html
CBS
(212) 975-4321
CBS Evening News: evening@cbsnews.com
NBC
(212) 664-4444
Nightly News: Nightly@NBC.com
The Today Show: today@nbc.com
Nah Jack, not "angry," as displays of anger under pressure, while shabby and uncool, are common enough.
Being a whiner, however, is a "character" flaw.
Bush is a whiner (rinse, repeat).
And I loved the way that Kerry, blood-in-the-water former prosecuter that he is, pressed the advantage when Dubya started fucking up about 15 minutes in, gaining in momentum as Dubya faded, keeping the punk on the defensive all the freaking way home.
Read Somerby
My god ... the pundits have found their theme now and all the right wingers are admitting Bush lost big time. The spin now is that "it didn't change any votes, it just energized the Democrats". Bullcrap, of course.
But, hey, THE difference between the two candidates, in a capsule, was in this exchange:
BUSH: Sometimes I'd like to keep them [his daughters] on a leash.
KERRY: I've learned that doesn't work.
That's their parenting and managerial styles in a nutshell. And, judging by their children, you can see how well the styles work.
Beware the Gallup poll manana in the USA today, Despite header saying Kerry won, the poll still seems to exhibit a +4% republican identifier(ship).
http://www.usatoday.com/news/pol...debate-
poll.htm
What this says to me is that Gallup is trying to solidify the notion that the 4% R advantage in 'random' samples is status quo. Beware that shit.
I'm still trying to figure out what A.Q. Khan is. Bush mentioned it/him twice during the debate. Unless I misheard, or maybe this is a new way to identify or mispronounce Al Qaeda. You got me.
I don't get Mathews, one minute he goes on real time talking like a democrat the next minute he gets a constipated look on his face when Kerry takes down the stooge on national tv.
Two words Digby - Split Screen. That's the winner. Push it their asses.
Mary: A.Q. Khan was the Pakistani scientist who was proliferating their nuke technology to "rogue nations." (He even had a brochure printed up with a big mushroom cloud on it.) I think the Q stands for Qadeer, but I forget what A is for.
And I didn't think that the US actually had anything to do with breaking up the network -- I thought that Pakistan revealed it. But I could be wrong on that.
I lurked in some Republican blogs (eeewww) - there is a distinct scent of despair. Buya!
Oh, and anyone else notice they had Kerry drinking out of a goblet and Shrubby out of a whiskey glass? Subtle.
Yes, I definitely noticed that, but who, in this case, is "they"? Who was in charge of minutiae like glass selection?
President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland: "They deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride."
Yeah AQ Khan and Libya get their own special footnote in W's checkbook of 'checking off evil conquests" around the world. Meanwhile, the post-Soviet states (and where's the improvement on the Nunn Lugar deal?) are fine. No reason to worry, no such thing as a loose nuke, because, heck, we haven't been attacked since 9/11.
Take us there, Digby. You are the man.
Khan is Pakistan's nukular technology seller to the world. Obviously, Smirks didn't read the Chicago Tribune editorial page before the debate.
...when Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf met with President Bush at the White House...apparently one thing that failed to rank high on the agenda was the threat of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons.
...Bush reportedly didn't even try to persuade Musharraf to allow U.S. or International Atomic Energy Agency officials a crack at interviewing Abdul Qadeer Khan, the former head of Pakistan's nuclear program and one of the world's most brazen nuclear profiteers. - Chicago Tribune Sep 30, 2004
The Trib
Or via login-free Daily Times of Pakistan
I'm stoned, but I'm not a slacker.
The article Scarborough was talking about was quoting Kerry's SISTER, NOT Kerry!!!
Spread the word before they make it an issue!!!
This from the ABC News Website is why we still have a lot of work to do ... no celebrating:
"More Viewers Say Kerry Won Debate, But Voter Preferences Remain the Same"
Kerry ripped 20 new Bush assholes. No way around it. DON'T let the sold-out media spin this into some kind of a "prez resolute on message blah lie etc." The alledged prez looked like a monkey on Zoloft and made NO sense. He repeated the same lies and non sequiters (sp) from his stump scripts, ad nauseum, really pathetic. I felt sorry for him, and our country. It is so sad for the greatest country to be mis-lead by such a feeble-minded moron.
Kerry was good, at times really good, almost great. He has VISION, a clue how to lead, rather than mouthing talking points from corporate lobbyists. The guy has heart.
Bush is a zombie vampire from hell, no soul.
God Bless and save us all.
Mark Conrad | Email | Homepage | 10.01.04 - 12:55 am |
I've watched it twice now, sorta more satisfying the second time around when you know what's coming -- I noticed again that Dumbya seemed to clink his glass down onto the podium numerous times when JFK (oh, I love those initials!) was saying something, especially something good -- was this a cheap debater's distraction trick? If so, didn't work!!!!!!!
She DID change the story. Our letters make a difference.
Dear Rich,
Thanks for your note. I decided not to report who...of the 79 people...were leaning towards Bush or Kerry, because according to Survey USA, the sample is too small at this point for an accurate indication. Perhaps I should include this information, with this qualification. I will consider this. Thanks.
Paola Farer
Web Producer
http://www.9news.com/
KUSA-TV Channel 9
The best thing about the debate is that it revealed the flaw in the Bush campaign - it's all about how terrible his opponent is.
But if Kerry can stake his claim as having the stuff to be President...
Actually, Kerry needs to take a campaign stop opportunity to tell the real AQ Khan story, because in fact he was the one who uncovered the network financing the Pakistani Bomb efforts back in the late 1980's -- and pointed directly to how BCCI was skimming from its bank funds to finance the equiptment Pakistan had to import for the project.
The story was then further elaborated by Jonathan Beaty and SC Gwynne in "The Outlaw Bank" (1993) and in their original reporting for TIME on the BCCI matter -- which reporting Time has nicely put on line. The point is, Kerry chaired the committee that outed BCCI -- and the Khan Nuck Program it financed. It also outed the fact that the Bush Family is very very well connected with the BCCI folk, to the tune of millions. That's where Bush got the financing for his little oil companies. (more)
(more)
I have long suspected that last year's little show of Khan confessing his Nuclear sales activities, and his forgivness by Mushariff was an effort to defuse this campaign issue if Kerry got the nomination. The evidence isn't like national guard records -- it is Senate Investigative Records, trial transcripts in New York courts, the books about BCCI, the Price Waterhouse audits, the Bank of England and US Banking Regulators files -- and it has all long been public. My own thinking is that Bush is mentioning the man, Khan, as a means of taking credit for something where the credit is really due Kerry's own Senate Investigative efforts. (more)
(some more)
Of interest, when Kerry's committee unearthed all this, Bush I was in office, and the Justice Department turned down the case. When Clinton's DOJ got in, they found all the BCCI investigative files missing, and the computer hard drives had been taken away. Anyhow, it takes more than 2 minutes to tell the story, so Kerry should set it up during a campaign event.
AQ Khan, is Pakistani's father of nuclear bomb. Once the Pakistani govn collapsed he started selling nuclear secrets to N.Korea and Libya.
I'm sure someone above has already noticed this, but the editors/t-heads/p'dits tonight seem gobsmacked; I don't think they expected Kerry to do so well, Bush to look so bad. They're waiting for the old CW confirmation from...some-fucking-where!
Like our host here says - DON'T LET 'EM HAVE IT!
Next 48 Hours, folks!! Time to bear down!!
Cheers to JK!!
YEAH!
I just sent out a flurry of emails to the news sites. Just some jocosity. I copied a line from a post here:
How many times did Bush mention "hard work"?
Barbie doll: "Math is hard."
Bush doll: "Prezdentin' is hard work. Watch this drive."
Haha!
But this one didn't work:
foxfeedback@foxnews.com
Guess FOXNEWS doesn't want any feedback.
I'm in, Digby! Onward, troops! Into the breach!
Thanks. I love you!
Split screens.
Anyone know which networks showed the split screens and which followed the rules? Cleary those that saw the split screens saw Kerry winning by a much wider margin than those who just saw the single screen.
I saw C. Boyden Gray say last night that Bush was "more articulate" than Kerry. Man, these guys take the obvious truth & turn it inside out!
check out this poll. you get to compare yourself to a bunch of pundits... and laugh at the idiocy of Novak.
Too little too late....W- 4 MO YEARS!
I'm with Jack and anyone else above who says the Bush pull-out comment of the night is how he said Iraq attacked us on 9/11.
Either he is trying to purposefully confuse the issue, or he is simply confused himself.
An American leader who can't keep the enemy straight is a danger to the entire world.
Bush's flip-flop carnival should be made to look like petty political hi-jinx. To do this, first they must be immediately countered as out-of-context distortions or purposeful misrepresentations (which they will be).
Then the debate should switch to who is the more serious and informed candidate on Foreign policy, the subject of last nights "debate". Who has a better grasp of the reality of the situation, the first and pre-requisite step to solving the problems in Iraq.
The campaign spin: Kerry boldly turned to meet his challenger head-on on a subject considered Bush's strongest, and came out on top. Disciplined, forceful and calm in the face of Bush's impatience, he honorably fulfilled his duty for the evening, which was to present himself as a credible Commander-in-Chief, while Bush, with his short repettive answers, appeared to be looking for an excuse to duck out of the whole affair.
The Senator was presidential last night, in possession of the facts, and relevant when asked a question.
Bush was all script, and apparently he can't memorize much script.
"It's hard work. A lot of us are working hard."
"You can't keep sending mexed messages."
It sure would be nice if Bush could maybe get an intelligent message worth hearing.
Kerry looked like he was born to be President and the Coward looked like a retail clerk. As much of a media whore as Andrea Mitchell is, she even admitted that Bush lost the debate with the split screen. The next two "debates" will even work more to Kerry's advantage. Now there is all the more reason that Dems in the swing states have to do some serious poll watching on Nov 2. The only way the GOP wins this is if they steal it again.
There will no tape of Kerry on Australia - it was his sister. I was watch Hardball and could believe that none of the four dopes could swat Scarborough down on such obvious B.S.
could NOT believe, duh
I'd like to see one of the major blogs or the DNC re-align the split screen view of the candidates to put the podiums in register. This will highlight Kerry's stature over Bush.
The feed had the tops of their heads aligned.
Kerry's performance combined with the left blogosphere's pressure on the media is very heartening so far. Of course it's not over. Now the expectations for Bush in the 2d debate are very low. If he does just a hair better, the media will be quick to hail his tremendous "comeback" performance. I think the Democrats need to be ready to do what was done to Gore in 2000. The slightest change Bush makes in style next time must be ruthlessly criticized as proof the guy who suddenly "doesn't know who he is", though a new phrase has to be used.
"AQ Khan" sounds like some kind of fancy upscale Islamabad boutique (if it weren't for the fact that Bush pronounced it like ague). In actual fact, Abdul Qadeer is one name - it means "Servant of the Potent." If Abdul Qadeer is too long for Mr. Bush, he could have abbreviated it by simply saying A. Khan or Qadeer Khan.
Top hit on GOogle News right now-
My sentiments exactly
http://tinyurl.com/59thw
New Ad I would love to see
BUSH: Sometimes I'd like to keep them on a leash.
cut to a series of Abu Ghraib leash pics.
Caption: It starts at the at top.
Digby is 100% correct - there is still a lot of work to be done.
I woke up this morning and looked through my local paper and they had a small focus group watching the debate - five Repubs, one Democrat. One man called it even, four called it for Bush and only one, the Democrat, said Kerry won. I nearly threw up my breakfast.
We have a lot of work to do. We can't let them "Gore" Kerry. I'll do my part - I already fired off an e-mail to my paper asking them why they surveyed five Repubs and only one Democrat: talk about a stacked group.
boy do you take yourself a bit too fucking seriously.
Kerry's performance combined with the left blogosphere's pressure on the media is very heartening so far. Of course it's not over. Now the expectations for Bush in the 2d debate are very low. If he does just a hair better, the media will be quick to hail his tremendous "comeback" performance.
This is precisely what happened in the Reagan/Mondale debates in 1984. Reagan was showing clear signs of Alzheimer's in the first debate, and Mondale beat him handily. The pundits were depressed and panicked. In the second debate, Reagan wasn't much better, but he got off a good one-liner at the beginning("I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience.") and that was all she wrote. The pundits perked up, announced that "Ronnie's back", and went back to sleep.
Someone needs to jump all over this, be it the Kerry campaign, MoveOn.org or some other 527, or the blogs.
"It's hard work"
"It's hard work"
"It's hard work"
"It's hard work"
"It's hard work"
Bush is reframing his war presidency with a new ad:
Bushes real war: the War against Truth! And reality!
I am resolute that America will be defended from this ruthless enemy. I will do everything in my power to ensure we defeat this 'Truth'. Economy, environment, terror, war, torture, domestic policy, and everything else will not be defeated by this horrible enemy. Truth shall not prevail.
And after Truth, we will bring down Reality as well. Truth and Reality will destroy America, I will protect you.
I am GW Bush, the unreal and untruthful, and I support this ad.
Finally-no you dumb americans, Saddam Hussein did not attack us on 9-11. Yes, we finally had the issue of separating the warrior from the war clarified for us-that only took 25 years! Yes- certainty when wrong is just stupidity.
and did anyone else laugh when Bushie said" I know the way the world works"? I don't think the guy even had a passport until he became prez.
I'm perplexed by the Australia claim too. I found this on the Republican website, but it doesn't seem to include any direct quotes: In a statement that virtually parroted the threats of Islamist leaders, he [Kerry] warned Australia that its cooperation with the United States could only make it more of a target of terrorists who are waging war against Western Civilization.
http://www.gopusa.com/commentary.../
cga_0928.shtml
pgh above is right, it was Kerry's sister who made the remark. The right has noticed, since it was in the Weekly Standard dated 9/20/04.
I'm pretty certain that some Bush admin. officials have similarly said that allies could be targets because of the "progress" in Iraq.
Dean said that if Kerry is a flip-flopper, then Bush is a flim-flam man.
Thank you, Digby. Getting people to make their comments to the MW's along with getting out the vote is the way to go.
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