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Addendum: What’s going on? My fellow conservatives disagree with me? I still love them. 
Addendum II: I’m getting a mini “Bushalanche” from the good conservatives at Blogs for Bush.
Addendum III: I’ve got some cool commenters, including the ones who don’t agree with me. Thanks for your participation!
AmericanThinker-lanched? Nice
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There’s plenty of buzz around the blogosphere to keep you busy, but here’s my brief assessment.
Let me say this for the record: I am a biased conservative. I went into the debate with the full expectation that PBS’s Jim Lehrer would throw softball questions at John Kerry and put George Bush on the defensive. As a public television liberal, he fulfilled his mandate!
I listened to the debate on the radio because I didn’t want “body language” distracting me, and my ears tell me that George Bush won the debate. While I wish my president were a more articulate, forceful and powerful speaker, he is definitely a man of substance, unlike John Kerry.
If Kerry believes he’s a better man for the job, he didn’t prove it last night. What do we really know of Kerry’s positions? Did anything change last night? He kept repeating ad nauseam that he’d do this differently or that differently, without going into specifics.
George Bush is a deeply disliked man among the liberal set, and we all know that Lehrer is a liberal, whether he believes so or not. Like it or not, detractors, that is a very important fact. I don’t have to know Lehrer personally to know that he was biased in favor of Kerry.
As I listened to the debate, I was neither surprised not upset that Kerry got all the easy, open-ended questions. In fact, it probably worked in Bush’s favor. Liberals are everywhere, and no one should have been surprised that the moderator would likely be a liberal. Bush had to answer tough questions, but he stayed on message, unlike Kerry, who tended to drift off into answering questions not asked.
To my ears, Kerry sounded pompous and condescending, especially when he talked about the troops and our allies. And the context in which he used the word “global” unnerved me. Unlike Bush, Kerry is the kind of man who’d put America’s national security in the hands of globalists. Only a raging leftist would think that’s a good thing, people.
One big factor in Bush’s favor is his support for our troops. He stressed over and over that mixed messages will not work and criticizing our allies, the people also sarcrificing their lives for freedom, is foolish.
This post will be updated with fresh links around the blogosphere (Did you ever notice that Instapundit links to the same bloggers over and over again?), and I look forward to reading your assessment of Debate #1. Some bloggers are really parsing the event and mining the debate transcript. See the transcript here.
Commenters, let the game begin!
For links, click here…. *******
News Media: Liberal Boston Globe says, “President’s armor undented.”
For the debate facts, visit GeorgeWBush.com.
Deacon at the Power Line blog thinks Kerry won the debate. Blogs for Bush is for Bush, of course. Daniel Drezner and Hugh Hewitt sound off. Check out Michael King’s assessment and Political Musings’s analysis
INDC Journal declares a draw. See Beldar’s take on the first debate. Captain’s Quarters says lefty magazine says Bush won.
Update: You simply must check out Dean’s assessment. Also see my blogbrother DC Thornton’s comments. Wizbang says free-form is Bush’s forte. More from INDC Journal. Power Line links to the scorecards. Slip of the Pen is mining the transcript. Blogicus has an excellent round-up of bloggers’ opinions.
Evangelical Outpost has a post up about the debate. Truth Laid Bear comments on Jim Lehrer’s performance. More from Blogs for Bush. Expertise is disappointed in Bush.
Allah speaks! Booker Rising calls it a draw.
Update II (12:08 p.m.): Ronald Wieck at The American Thinker says Kerry won the debate but lost the election, and Thomas Lifson tells Kerry, “No Sale.” Samantha says, “And Bush has facial expressions, who knew? I had a few facial expressions myself during the debate. I guess that’s something Bush and I have in common. Makes me like the man even more.”
Protein Wisdom’s verdict: “Senator Kerry will be having the cedar-smoked salmon salad with toasted walnuts and Buffalo mozzarella; President Bush will have the pork chops.”
Blogbrother Michael Bowen says: “[H]e gave me the impression of a man solidly and confidently in control. But he also gave me the impression that he just wishes he could curse Kerry out and show him what for.”
Crowhill: “And now, the important part of the debate.”
