Friday Face-Off

FACE-OFF: n. 1. A method of starting play in ice hockey by dropping the puck between two opposing players. 2. A confrontation.



At long last, the first debate is in the bag. Consensus is that it was a draw, with maybe a slight edge to Kerry. The orange glow was gone and he scored points with the metro-sexual set waving his long, recently manicured fingers around. W has a funny way of twisting his mouth that appears to be somewhere between a grimace and a half-smile...not flattering, but I think he made up for it by speaking directly into the camera. jfk spoke to Jim Lehrer. So here's how I scored it:



1. Style: A tie, although if the poofy-haired look is back, jfk wins. Kerry's height was an advantage, but his wierd Lincolnesque facial structure is cold on TV. W comes across as warm, caring and engaging. jfk comes across as the arrogant professor in the required course you hated.



2. Iraq: A tie. jfk managed to weasel out of his shifty record on the war. W failed to deliver a knock-out blow. The illogical thesis jfk puts forward regarding the "$200 billion spent in Iraq that could be spent at home" needs to be addressed - so you would stay in Iraq and finish the job but spend the money at home?



3. Korea: Big advantage for W. He communicated that he understood the complexities of this situation, that he knew all the world leaders involved and that a 6-way negotiation was the way to keep pressure on Kim Jong mentally Il. In an ironic twist, Mr. Multi-national said he would move forward with a bi-lateral negotiation with KJL, ignoring our allies in the region!



4. Iran: How 'bout them Moolahs? Advantage W. Especially if you saw any of the O'Reilly interviews earlier this week. W is crystal clear : Iran will not have nuclear weapons. jfk has a "policy" - he'll tell the IAEA we're "really mad now" and insist on sanctions. If that doesn't work, he'll convene a summit, go to the UN, derive another policy...hey, I'm serious dammit!! Hey, jfk, it's hard to see the nuance in a mushroom cloud!



5. W's Best moments: There were several...the wrenching story about meeting with parents of a fallen soldier showed how genuinely human this man is. jfk could not articulate a decent answer to this other than raise his experience in Vietnam again. I think W landed a solid body blow when jfk said that a "global test" would be applied before preemption. A stinging right hook caught jfk when W challenged him to explain his "coalition of the coerced and the bribed" to Tony Blair. W's humanness came through again when he ducked the "character" question and complimented jfk on his service, his fatherhood and his daughters. Finally, I think his closing statement was far superior.



6. jfk's Best moment: The shot at W about how his father pulled up short in lieu of marching to Baghdad in the first war was a solid jab that visibly landed on W's cheek - the split screen showed him glaring across the divide. Of course in Texas you don't talk about a man's daddy without 'spectin' to have to step outside!



Net, net, the "Insta-polls" will give Kerry the edge. He may have breathed a little life into his flagging campaign, but Redstater believes the lingering images will be a sincere W staring into the camera and talking to YOU versus elegantly manicured jfk pontificating on why his position in Iraq is actually consistent. Interestingly, the local rag, Pravda on the Cumberland - I mean The Tennessean polled 5 undecided voters...after the debate - 3 went for Bush, 1 for jfk, 1 still undecided.