I'm disappointed in John Kerry's performance in Thursday night's debate. Maybe it's just my high expectations: I feel Bush is so vulnerable, his positions are so simplistic and misguided, that it should be easy for John Kerry to pound him into political dust. To me, if Bush is still standing when it's all over, then Kerry has failed.
But there is one aspect of Kerry's performance last night than I find more disturbing than anything he or Bush said, and that's his abject failure to address his remarks to the camera, as Bush did consistently.
Every time the camera switched to John Kerry, Kerry was facing Jim Lehrer. There were 50 million people tuned into this debate, but it looked to me that the only vote John Kerry was trying to win was Jim Lehrer's.
It's just astonishing to think that, with all the coaching and all the rehearsal, nobody bothered to tell Kerry that he should address the camera, and look straight into the eyes of the American people. The rap on Kerry is that he does not connect with voters, and Thursday night was a perfect example of his inability to do that.
Every time the camera cut to Kerry, I felt like I'd been shoved out of the room. Maybe one of his coaches will mention this to him before the next debate.
Fear not. Kerry crushed Bush, and large numbers of voters agreed. The wheels are coming off the wagon as I speak. Now I bring prophecy: Kerry in a landslide. This is not a typo.
Posted by: Rob W | October 07, 2004 at 03:33 AM