perfidy

Due to a medical emergency in the Buckethead clan, Buckethead, Mrs. Buckethead and Sir John-the-actually-quite-well-behaved-in-the-car-considering-he's-been-in-a-car-seat-for-fifteen-hours lit out for the wilds of Massachusetts. As it turns out, all is well and Buckethead's beloved mother was sightseeing again two days after a heart attack thanks to the wonders of modern technology and the puissance of the Cape Cod Medical Center's staff.

So, unlike most of the politically addicted citizens of this great nation, we listened to the great debate on AM radio. No cable news, no cspan, nor even streaming interweb video. It was a challenge to create an accurate mental image of the debate. Where do I insert my mental jpeg of Kerry sticking his tongue out for maximum verisimilitude? Was Bush clenching his forehead or smirking as he made that comment? As of this moment, I have not seen any replays of the debate on TV, so my impressions are purely based on what I heard driving through the smelliest bits of Eastern PA in the rain.

I think that the debate was a draw - Kerry had more debating style fu, and scored a few hits. Bush was his typical aphasic self at times, but pulled out the heavy artillery on the flip-flopping. Here are some of thte things I was thinking during the debate:

• Kerry repeatedly said he'd do better, but failed to actually say how he'd do better. The very few times he actually offered specifics, it was something that the administration is already planning or doing. His theme for the debate seemed to be, "Anything you can do, I can do better." Armchair quarterbacking is a hell of a lot easier than actually throwing a pass in the big game. Something bloggers should be well aware of, btw.
• Is it just me, or was Kerry being hypocritical for bitching that we were insufficiently multilateral in Iraq, but then saying we should ditch the laboriously arranged six party talks in North Korea to go it alone?
• Mrs. Buckethead made the insightful comment as the debate was winding down that all of John Kerry's suggestions for defense policy revolve around the good wishes of others. Getting the French and the Germans to participate. UN approval. ICC. Summits. "Global Tests" for American use of military force. Those good wishes are far from guaranteed, especially in the case of the the axis of weasels and the UN. I really, really, really have a hard time believing that France would be willing, next January, to reverse their policy and send troops to Iraq, or share the costs of reconstruction just because John Kerry's phiz is staring back across the negotiating table. Which leaves us in the same situation, with the added bonus that an incoming president Kerry would have little goodwill from the allies we do have given what he has said of them so far.
• Kerry used a lot of his time attacking Bush. Bush used a lot of his time quoting Kerry to Kerry. I think Bush was more effective with his tactic.

Kerry needed to do something spectacular, or at least have Bush commit political seppuku, to have an effect on the larger campaign. Neither happened. Which leaves Kerry where he was, five to ten points behind in the polls. Four years ago, Al Gore deeply unimpressed the electorate with his debate performance, and it had an effect on the election. Here, a tie does nothing to gain Kerry back the ground he's lost since August. There is a chance that he may achieve something in the next two debates, but given that the Kerry campaign had settled on Iraq as "the" issue, this was their shot to change the dynamics of the race. The economy is steadily if slowly improving - and certainly not in the middle of a meltdown. Domestic policy is taking a back seat to the war on terror because of both reality and the decisions of campaign managers on both sides. I don't think Kerry supporters will have much to do but pray for Bush to screw up in some truly miraculous way, and evil genius Karl Rove will likely manage to prevent that.

As a side note, I have to say that the post debate conversation on AM radio was entirely pathetic. It left me with a craving for the blogosphere I stronger than I have ever felt. Compared to the jackassery running rampant over the AM dial, I would even have been happy watching Chris Matthews on Hardball. Callers to talk shows are almost universally ideologically driven incarnate talking points. Not one in ten actually said anything about the debate per se, instead merely repeating DNC and RNC party lines. Dreadful.