2-0: Kerry wins second debate

At last night's town-hall-style presidential debate in St. Louis, Missouri, Senator John Kerry built upon his success last Thursday and connected to the audience on a personal level, while President George W. Bush played defense – at least he didn't scowl.

Kerry began the debate with guns blazing, making his best case yet against the Republicans' claims that he is "wishy-washy," accusations he called "weapons of mass deception." Kerry, uncharacteristically energetic and passionate, seemed extremely sure-footed and steadfast, effectively obliterating the flip-flop charge. Kerry went on to drive home the argument that Bush does not have a plan to achieve peace in Iraq. "The military's job is to win the war; the president's job is to win the peace," said Kerry.

An interesting pattern emerging in the debates is that the Kerry team has been able to efficiently remove difficult arguments from the playing field, while the Bush team has been forced to play defense. Kerry and Edwards have hammered home that there was not a connection between Iraq and al Qaeda, that the coalition is essentially the U.S. and the U.K., that Bush has not created the jobs he promised and that the size of the deficit is unprecedented. And last night, in addition, Kerry cited a barrage of Republicans in support of his arguments. In contrast, Bush is still trying to argue that Kerry is not fit to be President because he is critical of the war, an issue that Bush portrays as fundamentally undemocratic – that opposition is inherently dangerous.

Bush, however, like Kerry, performed significantly better than he did last Thursday. He struck a reasonable balance between poise and passion, except when he shouted over moderator Charles Gibson in response to Kerry calling Bush's "stop-loss" policies – which prevent soldiers from leaving the military when their service would normally expire – a "back-door draft." Bush also had a small victory on the issue of abortion, where he was able to clearly state that he would not fund abortion.

Perhaps Kerry's most important success of the evening was his ability to demonstrate both humanity and consistency, generally considered Bush's strong points. For the first half of the debate, Kerry seemed genuinely passionate, almost angry about Bush's misrepresentation of the war in Iraq and of Kerry's own positions, and for the first time, he even discussed his personal religion.

At the beginning of the evening, Bush needed to establish involvement in the debate and to show recognition that his policies and campaign were under attack and needed defending. And, to his credit, he did seem engaged in the process and gave some support to his positions. But Bush is still having trouble with hubris; when asked for three mistakes he made during his four years as President, he failed to name one.

On the other hand, Kerry needed to establish himself personally and presidentially, which he did with flying colors. Although he doesn't have the fishing-buddy appeal of Bush, Kerry came across a passionate leader, instead of an intellectual policy-maker: the kind of guy you'd want to have in the White House, even if not in your house.