I must say that Bush did pretty well in the debate. He didn't come off as a complete bumbling idiot as he has in the past. Sure, there were a few little stutters and pauses, and yeah he looked just outright annoyed in the cutaways while Kerry was speaking, but he really held his own. Against Kerry, who's an experienced and talented debater, Bush came off as someone who simply has a different view of the world. I've said it before, that's really what this all comes down to: Who's world view is most like yours? There are more than one way to skin a cat, so which do you think is better? That's going to determine who you vote for.

However, as far as this debate was concerned, I think Kerry came out on top. Mostly because I think he came the furthest from where he started before the debate. Kerry needed to prove to people that he wasn't wishy-washy (or a flip flopper if you want to use the media's phrase), that he could be as strong and decisive as Bush is. And I think Kerry succeeded in that. I think to the undecideds, he'll no longer be looked at as the weaker candidate. Maybe people will no longer be voting against Bush, but FOR Kerry. In that sense, he made great strides forward during this debate, which is why I think he won the debate. Kerry put Bush on the defensive for the majority of the debate. Bush didn't fall backwards, but I don't think he moved forward either. There was no knockout punch, this wasn't Clinton v. Dole in 1996, but Kerry definitely had the harder hits. That's how I scored the debate.

Whether a vote was swayed really depends on the voter's world view now. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see less undecideds in the new polls. I think Kerry won the debate. I'm still voting for Kerry and feel better about doing it now, he most closely represents me and my world view. I don't think this debate won either side a great lead in the race, I think this debate just made the race closer. We'll see when the new polls come out.