I am a young student keeping up with the election day by day. And George W. Bush should be ashamed for what he has done to this economy and reputation of the U.S. When he first found out the Iraqies were here he should have put up front more security. And spending all this money on a war that is doing nothing but causing more and more countries day by day to dis-like us more. He is also risking more and more of our devoted American's life. At last I can say vote John he will set things right 1 step at a time.

I am a young student keeping up with the election day by day. And George W. Bush should be ashamed for what he has done to this economy and reputation of the U.S. When he first found out the Iraqies were here he should have put up front more security. And spending all this money on a war that is doing nothing but causing more and more countries day by day to dis-like us more. He is also risking more and more of our devoted American's life. At last I can say vot John he will set things right 1 step at a time.

SHEESH!! Which party is using negative campaigning? It sure is not Bush/Cheney. For 40-50 yr's the libby-crats have used nothing but cheap shots, scare tactics, and lies in their attempts to win elections.

Agit -- are you saying fighting terrorism is EASY? Well, I guess it is or was if you were a supporter of Clinton/Gore. Their admin did little to combat terrorism. Madeline Albright simply appeased North Korea for her 4 yrs, as did Wm Christopher prior to her. And how is saying "We're working hard" any different from Clinton croaking out, when he wanted to escape from a press conference, "...and now I have to go back to do the work the American people elected me to do," ?? We all know he was just going back into the Oral office for a little TLC.

Jenny -- no politician of any party is better than you, or me, or anyone else. The question is which party can provide the opportunities for us to excel in our work and lives to better our own situation(s).

We can all agree to disagree on this board. My point is, that for my vote, and my beliefs, a conservative gov't is far, far better at allowing individuals to excel, than a liberal gov't where "handouts" are given as token gifts. Remember how easy it was to spend money as kid, that was given to us by our parents? And how much more judiciously we spent our money after we began earning it ourselves?

Just my thoughts on what's been posted. Peace and best wishes to all who post...no personal grudges here -- just a good place for intelligent discussion.

I'm surprised that I haven't seen mention of the Osama/Saddam gaffe that Bush made. While being questioned about the logic behind hunting down Osama, and the suddenly switching to Saddam, Bush got the two mixed up, saying "But to say that there's only one focus on the war on terror doesn't really understand the nature of the war of terror. Of course we're after Saddam Hussein - I mean bin Laden."

How can Bush purport to have a strong handle on national security when he can't even keep his enemies straight?

zdean -- Kerry SHOULD be better than me. I live in a two-bedroom apt. in Brooklyn. He's a 20+ year senator. I hope he's smarter than me. I watched Bush last night and seriously thought at times that I could beat the guy in a debate.

Kerry did what he needed to do. Bush has been president for four years, these are HIS policies he's defended. If he can't hands down, without a doubt win a debate about his policies that he has already put in place, then he loses the debate. That's exactly what happened last night.

I have a torrent of the debate up at my website: http://www.cryptocity.net/~dan/ if anyone wants it

Oh, minor point overall, but what's up with Kerry saying the NYC subways were shut down during the Republican Convention? I winced when I heard him say that -- c'mon, Kerry's people should do some fact checking.

Amazingly, I think Bush did worse than he did in 2000 against Gore. With four years on the job, one would have hoped for a better performance, but it didn't happen.

Expect the negative campaigning and ads to be RELENTLESS in the weeks to come. If they can't beat Kerry face to face, the appeals to the negative side of voters (like accusing liberals of wanting to ban the Bible) will only increase.

zdean, GWB won on issues? ha! what a joke! bush avoided many of the questions (why did he bring up the international criminal court?), rarely provided specifics, and (as others have pointed out above) merely whined about how hard his job is.

well, boo-hoo, bush. if the job is so hard, mr. president, maybe you should step aside, because we all know someone more able to take on the work! kerry gave clear plans for the next few years and played to his strength, nuclear proliferation, while our poor president is still trying to figure out how to pronounce _nuclear_.

If GWB is goign to get better, he better show up with less squints and more lines. JK may not be a prize, but there is noting more arrogant than sending men to die for the sake of adventure, and nothing more snobbish than thinking you're above serving. It's hard to say GWB won on issues since he didn't really raise any... just stood there saying this presidenting thing is tough.

While JK is a skilled debater, his true, arrogant, snobbish, "I am better than you"-self was obviously apparent during his non-speaking moments of the "split screen". While GWB was speaking, the split screen showed JK true smarminess; looking down his nose like he had just stepped into some doggie doo; or - like an impoverished child had just approached him asking for money.

JK "won" as a debater, but GWB won on issues, staying on message, and being able to plainly convey his plan(s) for the next four years, while JK could only repeat his mantra of "I have a better plan" while failing to articulate any specific details of his "better plans".

GWB popularity and debate skills will improve over the next two debates while JK's will sink -- very, very similar to the 2000 debates with Al Gore.

I just hope that Kerry doesn't flip flop again in the next few days. That would be the nail in the coffin!

The more I see of John Kerry, the less he seems like Lurch and more like Abraham Frikkin' Lincoln !

I am gradually converting from "anyone but Bush" to actually liking John Kerry for Prez.

Anyone else notice that Bush had a whistling booger (either that or all the coke has given him a permanent whistle-y inhale),

that's got to be distracting when you are on national TV without a kleenex.

i love all these comments!

work on your parents! last weekend I had the talk with my Catholic/Republican Mom (who lives in NJ) and my mom is voting for Kerry!

[url]http://www.debates.org/pages/t...[/url]

http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2004a.html

We've all seen the photoshop comparisons between Bush and Alfred E Newman... Did anyone else notice the likeness was especially striking last night during the 'unauthorized cutaways' to W when Kerry was speaking? GWB is an utter bufoon. I can't imagine any Bush supporter who actually saw the whole debate feeling good about their candidate today.

Everytime Bush refers to the presidency as being "hard work", what I hear is "I'm dangerously underqualified!"

Hey, I am too! It's ok, W. Come market wine with me. Compared to the presidency, it's a frickin' breeze. We'll all be better off.

If we're going to drink when they mention Osama, we need to also drink when they mention Saddam.

And I propose a drink every time Bush talks about this being "hard work." We know, W.

What's amazing to me is how often Bush said that being president is "hard

work." OF COURSE it's hard work! You're the leader of the free world, the

most powerful man on the planet! Making economic, environmental, military,

domestic and other legislative decisions is tough? Dealing with the many

problems facing this country is difficult? Really? I would expect a

president to WORK HARD. Why he has to keep explaining that to people who

don't get three months of vacation, government sponsored health care and a

pension is beyond me and, frankly, is insulting.

to s's point, there was yesterday's times article on ny'ers going to swing states.

and dirk, how many times might teresa tell laura to "shove it"? that could be a drinking game for that debate.