Delusions of Adequacy

It seemed to me, in the midst of watching it, that Bush was winning hands-down. He did this mainly by holding his own on turf considered to be strongly favorable to Kerry, and getting some good shots in while remaining presidential. His biggest gaffe, I think -- excluding moments when he said things that turn out not to be quite so true as one would hope -- was making that sideways reference to the CBS Rathergate fiasco, then saying "Never mind." This was reported on NPR this morning as befuddlement, rather than a roundabout (and, to most voters -- or at least most NPR correspondents -- obscure to the point of opaque) joke.

I still think Bush did far better than expected, and did not lose the debate. I'm not so sure, in the glaring light of day -- strike that, it's overcast here, and I haven't seen any glaring light since I turned on my lamp this morning -- that he won it. It was, as a British SAS observer at a GSG-9 takedown of some terrorists back in the 70's remarked, a close-run thing. (Yes, similar things were said of Waterloo. But the SAS/GSG-9 reference is a little more topical.)

If only Bush could give one more speech before the election to a crowd of supporters, and have it broadcast on national TV, he could sew this thing up.

Less than three weeks till Election Day.

As Tom Petty says, the waiting is the hardest part.