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from the debate. Had Presiden Bush been able to come up with one. he might have reversed the popular judgment that he lost.
Debates do have an effect on some undecided voters and persuadable voters. At least some early polls are proving our point here. Winning a debate has consequences, and so does losing. Yet the finality of this is uncertain. Should Kerry sweep the debates, tho’igh. he will be on track to win the White House.
At least as important is the effect on partisans. Just look al the Democratic crowds and their reactions to Kerry in the days following the debates. There is an electricity that was almost totally absent in the pnor week. Interviewee after interviewee has said some version of the following on television: “I had been losing hope, but now I'm charged up and ready for victory!”
Every moment counts. Someone should have reminde< President Bush about his father looking at his watch in 1992—or he should have remembered Gore's sighs in 2000. What goes around, comes around, and now Bush has to live forever with those famous surly cutaways.
The news media spin can strongly influence voters, especially if there is a consensus winner and loser. Along with the 1976 "free Poland” debate that so badly hurt President Ford, the first 2004 debate will go down in history as one of the best examples of influential media spin—Bush supporters would say overkill. Bush has taken a massive beating in the press, probably worse than his sub-par performance actually deserved. But then, so did Gore in 2000. As unfair as politics is, there’s a rough justice in our system over time.
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