I think Kerry did an excellent job that will no doubt give him a soft bounce. However, as soon as God is mentioned in the upcoming debates.. hang it up. If and only if, progressive young people, women and minorities come out and vote in record numbers, Bush will win.

Yeah, I don't know why we'd want to mention God. I mean, he's only mentioned in every single founding document of our country and in fact the concepts of Natural Rights and Individual Liberty really don't make sense without a belief in God.

If you vote against someone or don't vote for someone because they invoke divine providence, then you are an idiot.

Frankly, I want my President to have a deep and abiding faith in God, whether it is in a formally religious way (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.) or in a more general sense of spirituality. Plus, for every hippie anti-God vote he loses he makes up 2 normal people who live in the world of reality. So go for the God, Kerry!

Bush wins when it comes to the God-factor. That's my point.

Kerry is never going to steal Religious Right votes from Bush. But there's no reason to expect that he's going to lose huge swaths of the moderate demographics because he doesn't wear his faith on his sleeve.

Two Questions: 1. Did you like what the talking heads said after the debate? 2. Did you like what the talking heads said in 2000? Yes Kerry won. Yes Gore won. The Texas Rangers won yesterday too.

Say what you will about Gallup, but with the same people polled before, during, and after. Gallup polled our President up 54 - 43; then polled Kerry winning the debate 57 - 37; and finally polled the race at 54 - 40!

The needle did not move folks, at least for our President. Its time for you to work harder. HARDER!

Byron or Andrew, Why did you delete my first comment? Truth hurts?

How bout that comment C-Span caught between Lockhart and McCurry...Its a Draw. No spin. Its a draw.

I think Kerry clearly won on style, Bush on substance. But style is more important here, both for the media and for whatever poor lost swing voters still haven't made up their minds. On the whole, a big plus for Kerry. But he still has a long way to go. If the next two debates go similarly, I think he would still narrowly lose the election, all else being equal.

And I wouldn't be as confident about the next two debates. The expectations needle is now strongly toward Kerry, and domestic issues may prove more troublesome for Kerry than the Iraq mess.

Agree with Austingirl on religion, loser topic for Kerry, as is gun control, and even abortion (Bush can push parental consent and partial birth). Kerry will be talking about social security, the deficit, and raising taxes on the "rich".

AZ -

I am worried not enough people will vote and the RR will turn out in DROVES! aye, aye, aye!

I wonder how people would feel if they knew that Bush doesn't attend church.

Very nice Blog!