Feeling Better Now

To know him is to really not like him very much, John Kerry that is.

That's part of why I think Dubya did much better in Friday's second presidential debate. The other part is that the President was much improved over his first debate performance. He scored some direct hits and, after a cold start in the first thirty minutes, really played to his strengths for the last hour.

Perhaps it was Kerry who under-estimated his opponent this time. His constant attack mode is wearing thin, especially since he seemed to have nothing new to say from the first debate. Wearing a mask of doom-and-gloom, with the verbal pomposity to match, the junior senator did not seem to connect well with the live audience, dodged most of his questions (does he think viewers won't notice), and said "I have a plan" at least 90 times without ever once letting on a single detail of any plan.

UPDATE: Saturday, 10/9/04 at 7:35 p.m.

(Originally I had posted a few quick points that I think were key Kerry mistakes. Sometime between the posting and Saturday afternoon, the points disappeared, although several people I know read them and commenting about them. I had not backed up the material because it was late. I will not make that mistake again. I suspect foul play, naturally. The best revenge is to live -- and write -- well. And so I shall. They'll be sorry!)