There won't be anymore debates

[Thrill]

The networks broke Chimpys rules by showing his face while Kerry was speaking.

Forget the other debates. WATCH

[JohnKleeb]

1. Well Bush will look like a wussy and rightfully so

[CrowNotAngelGRL]

14. It wouldn't surprise me

but I hope that it doesn't happen. It wouldn't be right personally, and I think if Bush backs down it'll show he's giving up and a wuss personally. Don't they already have an agreement and everything? Or can someone (Bush) still back down?

[still_one]

2. I think there is a small probability

the problem is that once they started the debates if they don't continue them it will hurt them more than if they do

[neoteric lefty]

3. Thats why I watched CSPAN

had the candidates on split screen. They had to adjust the shot of Bush due to his slouching.

[Longhorn]

6. Everyone had the same feed from Fox. We all saw the same

coverage, split screen and not split screen, no matter which network we watched.

[Dufaeth]

8. Cspan had a constant split screen

with no edits

[LiberalFighter]

9. Two of the networks were about 2 seconds off

[neoteric lefty]

10. I know they all had the same feeds

but it was up to the network which ones to show and how to show them. I flipped it around and saw that Fox didn't have the split-screen (at least when I watched). But I always go with CSPAN because I know what I am going to get, no games. CSPAN just had both candidates in straight foward camera angles the whole time. It seemed a lot easier to focus on what the two were saying which should be the most important thing.

[CrowNotAngelGRL]

16. I took watched CSPAN

and liked the split screen. Simple and can still stay on what the person who was speaking was saying.

[neoteric lefty]

25. Exactly, though the one thing I didn't like about Kerry's reaction was

that he kept nodding the whole time when Bush tried to make a point. I am sure that is an old debate exercise, but it seemed weird for Kerry to nod when Bush was blabbing about Kerry being inconsistent.

edit: spelling

[welshTerrier2]

23. C-Span broke the debate rules

the rules said neither candidate could stand on a platform (i.e. to make bush look taller) but the C-Span split screen made the two candidates appear to be the same height ... the top of bush's podium was higher than Kerry's ...

this is not a small issue ... "furniture techniques" are frequently used to send a message ... talk show hosts frequently have their chairs set higher than their guests ... conference room tables frequently are wider at the "power end" ... there are lots of little tricks ... they're small but they're important ...

someone did this intentionally ... and it's not OK ...

[neoteric lefty]

30. you seem to be making a lot out of nothin

You are upset about them adjusting the camera so both fill up equal amounts of the screen but if they wouldn't of done that, then Kerry's height and Bush's slouching would have made Kerry look 6-8 inches taller than Bush, and then GOPers would be yelling. I thought it was perfectly fine and did not add or take away anything from either candidate.

[Uzybone]

36. Ironic

you are complaining about a benign thing like Kerry nodding while Bush speaks, yet you turn around and critize another poster. Kinda hypocritical.

[neoteric lefty]

39. Well I did not mean to personally criticize another poster

and I don't think I did. I just felt the issue he (or she) was talking about was pretty trivial in the whole scheme of things. They (and you) may disagree. Also, you may feel that Kerry's nodding was trivial, which it kind of is I admit. However, I don't see how my critique of the mannerisms of Kerry disallows me from responding to others' topics. Please explain what is so "Ironic" about it...

edit: rephrased a sentence

[frogbison]

32. Well...

I decided that they had to do this to get the top of John Kerry's head in the shot. Had they not, all we would have seen of W would have been his head. While both men appeared at the same spot on the top of my screen, Bush's podium was a good bit higher than Kerry's...it had to be.

[fishwax]

21. They didn't all have the same feeds

I had two TVs on (I have extra TVs for football :)) for a brief time, just to verify. I watched MSNBC and ABC at the same time, and, in addition to the timing being slightly off, ABC showed a reverse shot from behind Kerry while * was talking for about 20 seconds, while msnbc was showing a forward shot of bush. So I'm sure there was more than one feed.

[Longhorn]

27. I guess I misunderstood, then, because I understood that Fox

was covering this debate and other networks would be doing the other debates. I didn't realize they could pick and choose their shots. Sorry to confuse anyone.

[Evergreen Emerald]

31. Fox supplied the feed to everyone....

...several camera angles. The individual networks determined what cameras they wanted to show, but fox decided what the cameras would show.

[enki23]

29. not on PBS

.

[Overseas]

37. Split Screen Surprised Me

Becuase I thought the 32 page rules included cameras only focussing on the speaker and not the quiet one.

I watched CSpan, too, and the Fox producer they were talking to before the debate began was hinting that yes there were rules everyone was aware of and would try to abide by -- but you never know, he seemed to hint.

So I thought of him when the first split screen with the twisted image of 2-Faced Bush appeared. Like whoops-- guess Fox just couldn't follow the rules after all...

I jumped to MSNBC for background after that while doing my media e-mailing and now I have just seen the 5th "you can't trust Kerry on defense" ad-- focusing on the easy lies about "voting to cut the intelligence budget." Just like the $87 billion thing-- a vote against Halliburton is a vote against America ?

Shazaam!

[WiseMen]

4. Rove will now turn the rest of the Ad budget to the Swifties and other Hit

squads.

[Overseas]

35. He already has been !!

Had MSNBC blabbing along in the background as I did my poll replies and many media e-mails and there were at least 3 "Kerry is weak on defense" type ads already !

[MrMonk]

5. The third scheduled K/B debate might take place.

I'll bet that the Town Hall debate will either be disrupted by a mob or cancelled due to terra.

[Beetwasher]

7. I HOPE They Pull This! That Would Be AWESOME!!!!

Ha Ha!

You may be right, but they'd be digging their own graves unless they're that sure of BBV!

[Doosh]

11. lol, this is probably all we need!

:)

[drscm]

12. I wish *Bush would pull out. It would be a statement of concession.

[AnIndependentTexan]

13. the rules are what we need to play in Kerry's favor.

Remind the media and have everyone out about the rules and how Kerry was still able to win with Rules stacked against him.

[life_long_dem]

15. BUSH broke a rule

trying to get another word in. Kerry said ok, if you want to break the rules. (Something close to that).

[CrowNotAngelGRL]

LOL

I noticed he did too after his time was up he went on trying to defend his title. Does anything happen with that? I noticed Kerry played by all the rules, was calm, cool and collected. :D

[NightOwwl]

33. That was smart. If Bushy tries to pull out of the other debates

because of a so-called broken rule by the networks, we have him on tape cheating and Kerry pointing it out.

[LynneSin]

17. I was placing wagers at the debate party I was at

I was up to $2000 that at least part of the remaining debates would be cancelled. No one was buying in on that bet

[Catherine Vincent]

18. They weren't supposed to show split screens?

[CrowNotAngelGRL]

20. I thought I heard they weren't supposed

to but Fox decided to not play the rules (go figure eh?). I guess they decided to show them or something.

[welshTerrier2]

19. I saw a hint of this before the debate

C-Span was interviewing Frank Fahrenkopf who said something to the effect that the campaigns historically have complained about some rule or other and frequently request changes to the rules for subsequent debates ...

i got this "vibe" that he was hinting about the possibility that one side might just use "rules violations" to back out of future debates ... he didn't say it but he sure laid the groundwork for the possibility ...

[Freddie Stubbs]

22. I thought that there were supposed to be two more

:shrug:

[Ksec]

24. I think so too . Theyll have some lame excuse.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

26. 40 MILLION people watched this debate.

You can bet your ass they will be talking about it tomorrow.
40 million. That's nearly half the entire number of votes in the 2000 election.
If Bush drops the next two debates, he will look very weak. And you can bet that the Kerry campaign has plans for that possibility.
Even if they say "Kerry broke the rules". 40 million watched them tonight, and 40 million saw Kerry stomp all over Bush.

[bain_sidhe]

28. I doubt that because Bush performed so poorly

He CAN'T let that be the final impression the "undecideds" have of him. It's bad enough that it'll be hanging out there for a week before he has a chance to change it. He has to try to replace tonight's image in the voters' minds.

[cire4]

34. Exactly. The expectations are so damn low now....

...that an untrained chimp could meet them. Rove would be stupid to pull out of the remaning debates considering it will be fairly easy for Shrubya to make a somewhat impressive performance.

[ReadTomPaine]

38. I disagree, Bush now requires either another debate or similar appearance.

Expect the attacks on Kerry to reach a fever pitch very shortly to try and counteract this debate disaster for Bush. There will also be some sort of issue regarding the debates the GOP will raise to try and overshadow the actual event. Should be interesting to see just what they come up with.

RTP

[snowbear]

40. It;s funny that the two items Bush REALLY wanted..

..He wanted the heat cranked up, and he wanted the 3-phase light warning.

Well.. both of those were handled to perfection by Kerry. It was Bush who was sweating bullets, looked ucomfortable, and twice rambled on past the red light blinking.

George LOST this debate. :toast:

[AgadorSparticus]

41. i agree. the vice will tighten but here's the thing. they're not going

to get a pass like they did with the swiftvet liars. we are on the offense too.