Sunday, October 10, 2004
Editorial - Bush rebounds, but Kerry stays strong
The challenger seems to be closing any perceived credibility gap, so the final debate will be crucial
Friday's second presidential debate in St. Louis saw both candidates in prime form, giving voters a good picture of each. President Bush did much better than in his first debate, this time not grimacing and mostly avoiding the twisted syntax, repetition and lack of compelling detail that hurt him the first time around.
But Sen. John Kerry probably made incremental gains by doing what he needs to take the election down to the wire. He looked like a credible challenger, armed with reasons for replacing the incumbent.
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Although it probably didn't lose him votes, Sen. Kerry again advanced his promise to increase the military's strength by 40,000 active-duty troops, something that may be hard to do after the problems in Iraq, whoever is president.
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More..
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/10/10/sections/commentary/article_269741.php