Friday, October 08, 2004

Lies

As has been demonstrated recently, Bush and everyone one of his flunkies have absolutely no qualms about going out there and lying. My big worry for tonight is that Bush is going to go out there and just make stuff up. Lots of it. The danger for Kerry is that he'll, as any intelligent honest person would, want to be able to point out the lies and correct the record. However, one doesn't win these debates by "debating." One wins them by not looking like a complete douchebag, and by having one snappy comeback our enlightened pundit class can seize on as "the moment" of the debate, as they tried desperately to do with Cheney's lie. Tim Russert, who even knew it was a lie at the time, still commented on how masterful it was, which is absolutely stunning.

And, what does Russert think about this debate? Apparently, he already knows:

MSNBC: The burden in this second debate seems to be on President Bush to rebound and even the score with Sen. Kerry.

Russert: Even his closest supporters acknowledge the first debate was a lackluster performance. It reminded me very much of Ronald Reagan in 1984, where, after a dismal first debate, he bounced back in the second one against Walter Monday with that witty line about, “I won’t use your youth and inexperience against you.”