So claims William Saletan of Slate in his recent article. His article is largely an attempt to do what many of us would like to do--offer what "better" answers to debate questions on behalf of our respective candidates. In his case, the candidate of choice is Mr. Kerry. It is nonetheless interesting to note his belief that Bush won the debate--a sentiment with which I agree. We will see if the over-the-weekend polls reflect this belief as well.
I think it’s mistaken to accuse Kerry of "blowing" the debate. It fact, Kerry’s performance seemed at least on a par, if not better, than his first debate performance. I believe he showed poorly because Bush displayed a considerably improved ability to contrast and compare Kerry’s garbled policy positions, and Bush recovered the sincerity and ’flair’ which contrasts so well with Kerry’s more stilted style.
I suspect Saletan is a member of the "Bush is a moron" school, and wants to believe Kerry "blew it"; it’s a conclusion that offers the most optimism for the next debate.
Kerry performed just fine - and Bush beat him.