I was this close to not doing the running commentary tonight, as the Sox blew a 5 run lead in the 7th inning, but after a walkoff homerun to win the series by David Ortiz, we're back on.

8:01 PM: I'm surprised that the WashU gym was available for the debate, as I'm sure there was a middle school fencing tournament or peewee football camp that wanted the space.

8:04 PM: They just showed a nerdy guy in the audience with huge teeth. That's not going to be a good image for prospective WashU students.

8:07 PM: Bush just pronounced my former school's name even more bizarrely than I usually hear. I guess "Washington" is a few letters too long for him.

8:10 PM: "We all thought there was weapons there." "There wadn't weapons there." It's too bad Kerry can't just quiz Bush on verb tenses, or else this election would have been over long ago.

8:17 PM: The wind up toy trotted out his "wrong war wrong time wrong place" quote again. And another great line: "We're going to make...'lections." ???

8:25 PM: Not a good move for Kerry. When asked what he would do as a president if Iran becomes a nuclear threat, he dodges the question and attacks Bush. He's been successful so far answering the questions and not trotting out party lines, and he should stick to that strategy.

8:32 PM: Bush getting in a little argument with Charlie over what he should talk about. Things are getting feisty.

8:39 PM: Lots of microphone problems so far...AAAH! Bush just called it "Missourah"! He should lose 10 points in the polls just for that.

8:46 PM: I think Bush just called Kerry "Senator Kennedy", although it's often hard to tell what he's saying. Now Kerry is laughing in the background, but at least he's not making Bush-esque faces yet.

8:54 PM: Now neither candidate is attempting to answer questions and both are in mudslinging mode. This doesn't bode well for the senator. Bush already has the vote of all the "git 'er done!" folks, Kerry needs to stick to logical answers and common sense.

9:02 PM: Haha, Kerry just gave some props to Red Sox fans. Too bad he's already spurned most of them by referring to his favorite Sox player as "Manny Ortez", the unholy combination of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.

9:08 PM: Bush just implied that outsourcing jobs isn't a problem. That won't go over well.

9:14 PM: We interrupt this debate blog to bring you a Red Sox postgame picture of Pedro Martinez wearing swimmers' goggles and holding a midget wearing a Sox uniform:

9:19 PM: It's funny hearing Dubya talk about science, then go straight to lines like "The Constitution of the United States says...It dudn't say that!"

9:23 PM: Kerry starts talking about his Catholicism, which is a rather touchy subject for him these days, but then goes on to make a good point about not letting personal faith get in the way of the interpretation of the law. Unfortunately, most people like to have pointless fights about when a fetus goes from being cells to being alive. It's funny how everyone's a scientist.

9:28 PM: Kerry just finishes talking about how things are not as black and white as Bush tries to make them, then is immediately followed by Bush claiming "he voted for partial birth abortions, so he's not against partial birth abortions." Does he even listen or is he doodling on his pad?

9:36 PM: I'm not sure who won this one. Bush made a better impression than he did at the last debate, but he still continues to trot out the same talking points over and over again. And that's on the rare occasion he's able to form a complete sentence without mangling his contractions.

Posted by: Eileen at October 8, 2004 10:52 PM

Posted by: Eileen at October 8, 2004 10:55 PM