Spin Cycle

With the debate out of the way, the real work of the debate begins: the pundits are pretending to take a stance, while in reality they're cautiously eyeing each other, the media, the polls, and hell, maybe even some of the big-league blogs as they look for guidance.

Team Bush is relentlessly doing their best to counter the obvious--that their guy looked like, well, a chump. Here's a video from the Democratic National Committee that uses Karl Rove's observation against him: if people really DO watch television as if the sound is down, then footage of Bush reaction shots can only reinforce the opinion that the man is quite simply bizarre. Was it too much caffiene that caused the odd eye rolls? The lip and mouth movements? Jeez, at times Bush looked like nothing so much as a man trying to crawl out of his own skin.

The Democrats should emphasize this. For now, it seems as if the "it was inconclusive" meme has taken hold--which, as I noted below, is an indication that Kerry won. But since the decision is really a function of the spin cycle, Team Bush, their fellow travelers, and any media lackey they can cajole or intimidate, will work hard to minimize the real damage from last night. They'll stick to their talking points the way cement sticks to a stoolie's shoes, and hope the rest of the media buys into it.

Kerry must counter this AND stick it to Bush. As I said, Bush looked at times like he was trying to crawl out of his own skin--well, when he didn't look like he was doing his best to channel Richard Nixon. The "more of the same" point WILL resonate with the public, which is getting wary of Bush's delusional "optimism" in the face of the Iraq quagmire. And Bush will be weak on the economy.

Well, I'm gonna go read some more spin--I've been checking out the usual websites, and like the pundits I like to slam, I'll be reading the tea leaves (hey, at least I'm not pretending to be an expert and clamoring to get on TV). Right now, I think it's possible that Rove can cow the media into calling last night's debate a wash--but a picture tells a thousand words, as the saying goes, and Dubya's picture last night was one of a scared bully. If the Democrats continue to hammer him on how he looked, and how pathetic he sounded, Bush may well find himself in a good sized hole.