the debate 52-39. msnbc’s online poll had kerry winning 71-29, cbs’s poll had kerry winning it 39-25 (36% had it as a draw).

but cbs cant be trusted, my gop friends say.

so we go to fox news since theyre fair n balanced

whose internet poll had kerry winning it 55-44.

so basically nobody thinks that bush won this debate

except

the instapundit

worlds greatest blogger

who says bush won it “hands down”.

and then finds three people who agree with him. and links to noone who disagrees with him.

im shocked.

shocked.

the president gave his best performance last night. i like how he was emphasizing words in that wonderfully unique way of his.

harkens back to the days when dana carvey would imitate his pappy.

“wouldnt be prudent, wouldnt be prudent.”

its almost like a shatner

punching

those key words on the down beat

and then letting it resonate out there with a confident pause for emphasis.

much like how a change machine has to load up again for a while, resetting, after its dispensed $5 in quarters.

tonight made me realize that i will miss my retarded president

who, the writing is on the wall, is doomed to continue his losing ways and have his ass handed to him in the election in three weeks,

because america isnt as lame as its current leader.

apparently.

watching the debates tonight showed clearly that yes anyone could be president, but not everyone should be, because when just anyone becomes president, they can fuck shit up a little worse than we ever expected.

you dont have to be in iraq to know that shits fucked

here on the local abc tv station they featured this “undecided” voter who was grading each question.

before the debates he said he wasnt crazy about bush and was definately not crazy about kerry either.

but the thing that made him decide to vote for kerry was when bush looked in the camera and told middle class workers that they had more money today and they were doing better because of him.

Bush: You know, he talks to the workers. Let me talk to the workers.

You’ve got more money in your pocket as a result of the tax relief we passed and he opposed.

If you have a child, you got a $1,000 child credit. That’s money in your pocket.

If you’re married, we reduced the marriage penalty. The code ought to encourage marriage, not discourage marriage.

We created a 10 percent bracket to help lower-income Americans. A family of four making $40,000 received about $1,700 in tax relief.

It’s your money. The way my opponent talks, he said, We’re going to spend the government’s money. No, we’re spending your money.

the instantly decided voter told the abc reporter, “im not doing better, and if bush thinks things are better for people right now then he’s seriously out of touch.”

which is ironic since it seemed that bushies new strategy was to drive home the fact that kerry is “out of the mainstream.”

as if being out of the mainstream has ever hurt either man in their political careers.

who knew canadian drugs and health care would be such an achillies heel to the president when everyone thought kerry would be able to waltz right into the white house due to the quagmire in iraq, no wmd, no obl, and the record-breaking deficit?

but somehow health care was the sleeper hold, the secret weapon, the the tiny gspot of the death star and lynchpin to its destruction. witness:

KERRY: The reason health care costs are getting higher, one of the principal reasons is that this administration has stood in the way of common-sense efforts that would have reduced the costs. Let me give you a prime example.

In the Senate we passed the right of Americans to import drugs from Canada. But the president and his friends took it out in the House, and now you don’t have that right. The president blocked you from the right to have less expensive drugs from Canada.

We also wanted Medicare to be able to negotiate bulk purchasing. The VA does that. The VA provides lower-cost drugs to our veterans. We could have done that in Medicare.

Medicare is paid for by the American taxpayer. Medicare belongs to you. Medicare is for seniors, who many of them are on fixed income, to lift them out of poverty.

But rather than help you, the taxpayer, have lower cost, rather than help seniors have less expensive drugs, the president made it illegal – illegal – for Medicare to actually go out and bargain for lower prices.

Result: $139 billion windfall profit to the drug companies coming out of your pockets. That’s a large part of your 17 percent increase in Medicare premiums.

When I’m president, I’m sending that back to Congress and we’re going to get a real prescription drug benefit.

yes i liked the tony soprano analogy. if you missed it, the president was asked, “what do you say to someone in this country who has lost his job to someone overseas who’s being paid a fraction of what that job paid here in the United States?”

to which dubya said he would tell him to go back to junior college.

Bush: “… education is how to help the person who’s lost a job. Education is how to make sure we’ve got a workforce that’s productive and competitive.

Got four more years, I’ve got more to do to continue to raise standards, to continue to reward teachers and school districts that are working, to emphasize math and science in the classrooms, to continue to expand Pell Grants to make sure that people have an opportunity to start their career with a college diploma.

And so the person you talked to, I say, here’s some help, here’s some trade adjustment assistance money for you to go a community college in your neighborhood, a community college which is providing the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century. And that’s what I would say to that person.”

to which sen. kerry said

KERRY:I want you to notice how the president switched away from jobs and started talking about education principally.

Let me come back in one moment to that, but I want to speak for a second, if I can, to what the president said about fiscal responsibility.

Being lectured by the president on fiscal responsibility is a little bit like Tony Soprano talking to me about law and order in this country.

(LAUGHTER)

This president has taken a $5.6 trillion surplus and turned it into deficits as far as the eye can see. Health-care costs for the average American have gone up 64 percent; tuitions have gone up 35 percent; gasoline prices up 30 percent; Medicare premiums went up 17 percent a few days ago; prescription drugs are up 12 percent a year.

But guess what, America? The wages of Americans have gone down. The jobs that are being created in Arizona right now are paying about $13,700 less than the jobs that we’re losing.

so much more to say, so please feel free to leave your opinions in the comments.

full transcript + o’reilly’s o’fucked + tiffany