Debate Analysis

The 2nd Presidential debate last night was an insightful exchange of ideas, and gave the American people a much better view of both candidates. The previous debate was tainted by President Bush's inability to offer dynamic arguments in response to Kerry's relentless attacks. However, the debate last night was much more interesting and thought provoking, thanks to President Bush's great improvement in his debate abilities. Whereas Kerry undoubtedly won the previous debate, Bush was able to rebound and edge-out Kerry to win last night's debate.

The following is an analysis of the strenths and weaknesses of both Senator Kerry and President Bush.

Kerry Strengths: Most political pundits would agree that Kerry's performance was slightly better than his last. Senator Kerry impressed the audience with his ability to articulate his arguments with ease with his ability to quote believable statistics. He was also highly effective in attacking the President on the deficit and health care, by using his prosecutor style of confrontation. Kerry's brightest moment came when he was attacking Bush on his failure to fund education.

Kerry Weaknesses: Senator Kerry stumbled in a couple of instances when asked to explain his own stance on certain issues. Kerry used the same response of "Its not being done right" when asked to explain why he had changed his position on several key issues like the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act, and No Child Left Behind.
Senator Kerry's biggest mistake of the whole debate was when he criticized the President for not providing armor to American soldiers in combat. Kerry stepped on a land mine because Bush was then able to point out that Kerry voted against the 87 billion dollar supplemental aid package that funded American soldiers.

Bush Strengths: President Bush exceeded expectations during the debate because he was better prepared to spar with Kerry, than he had been during the last debate. Bush seemed more relaxed in the town-hall format and was able to better connect emotionally with the audience than Kerry. President Bush was well armed with facts and was successful in pointing out Kerry's controversial voting record on many issues, which he had failed to do in his last encounter. President Bush had a strong compossure and gave a commendable performance.

Bush Weaknesses: President Bush's debate style, although much improved, still failed to match that of Kerry. There were many instances where Bush ended his remarks in odd places, which undercut the emotion he built during his statement. President Bush also had one of his trade-mark moments when he wandered into Supreme Court slavery decisions when asked who he would appoint to fill a Supreme Court vacancy.
At a couple of points during the debate, Bush appeared out of character when after Kerry would finish speaking Bush would say "I'm still trying to figure that one out". They call the President "High-road Bush" for a reason. Bush's comments seemed rude and uncalled for, since Kerry was respectful to Bush.

Conclusion: Both candidates failed to explain thier own plans on Iraq, the defecit, and health care. They simply said that they had a plan, but neither Bush nor Kerry revealed any substance. They instead made broad philosophical arguments that had little detail.
Overall, both candidates did well. Bush improved much more than Kerry, but Kerry still carried the debate in style. Bush was much more effective in planting seeds of doubt by constantly reminding the audience of Kerry's voting record.
Senator Kerry was unable to shift the entire debate against Bush as he did last time, and was unable to defend his voting record or properly explain why he was opposed to so many things he had once supported.
It is because of this, that it is fair to conclude that although there was no clear winner of the debate, President Bush was able to carry more arguments, and attack Kerry's record, thus winning the debate by a slight margin.