I Agree

Watched the debate last night. Let's start with the obvious; President Bush gave a much stronger performance in this debate compared to the first one. I think being free of the lectern helped him a bit. But as good as he was, Kerry was better. Kerry seemed more calm and confident; and he was on the offensive. President Bush seemed defensive; in part because of the attacks being thrown at him, and in part, I suppose, because of his performance last week.

I more or less agree with Todd S. Purdum's analysis over at the New York Times.

At the outset, Mr. Bush seemed a bit strident and on edge, as if over-eager to avoid a repetition of his pained performance eight days ago. But he appeared to gain comfort as the encounter wore on, sounding considerably more confident and collected than he did last week. He strolled the stage, microphone in hand and characterized Mr. Kerry as "just not credible."

But as often as not, it was Mr. Kerry who was on the offensive on topics like tax cuts in wartime, prescription drug imports, the ballooning deficit, homeland security, the rationale for the war in Iraq and the daunting conditions on the ground there that he said had led to a "back-door draft" of National Guard and Reserve troops.

Mr. Kerry generally seemed to be more in command of his brief, more confident in demeanor and more intent than Mr. Bush to reach across partisan boundaries as he invoked the leadership of Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower and talked of the importance of balancing budgets. Mr. Bush seemed more content to play to his conservative base.

At any rate an interesting night; and we have one more of these to go.