Republicans are still desperately trying to tap dance around the question of why Senator Kerry looked so good on Thursday night, and their guy, well, didn't. They have now trotted out a moldy oldy. It's the style, stupid!
"Sen. John Kerry, though behind in the polls before the debate, remains within striking distance and viable for the next two debate nights and the election based largely on his superior speaking skills."
Cal Thomas
"I'll concede that style counts. It was fair game for critics to say Al Gore's demeanor defined his performance in the 2000 debates. In that spirit, my verdict is: On the demeanor question, George W. Bush lost Thursday night. But he won on substance."
Debra Saunders
"To his credit, Kerry was well coifed, poised, and surprisingly succinct. He managed to make his wildly divergent positions seem slightly more consistent, and he even scored on a few rhetorical digs.
"Missing from the 90-minute event, however, was any coherent Kerry plan for what to do in Iraq if Americans do choose to change horses midstream."
Joel Mowbray
This is actually somewhat comforting. If you'll recall, these were exactly the sort of things they said through eight years of the Clinton Presidency. And the argument failed to move many people. Granted these are more serious times.
The other problem, for the Republicans, is the old shopworn attacks on Senator Kerry seem a little, well, shopworn. It's hard to believe the caricature of Kerry as a lightweight dilettante when you see him standing toe to toe with President Bush, and, frankly, creaming him in the debate.
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