Election Recycling: I'm Going to Fight Booze Edition
•Iraq was hot potato at first debate.Kerry: "We can win in Iraq, but I don't believe this president can."Bush: "If we lose our will we lose, but if we remain strong and resolute, we will defeat this enemy." [ WP , NYT , USAT , LAT , WSJ , BG ]
•Candidates disagree on nearly every aspect of Iraq; both achieved many goals. [ WP , NYT , LAT ]
• Bush: Stick to "what you believe in your core, in your heart of hearts."Kerry: "It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong." [ NYT , BG , BG ]
• Bushappears tense and even sighs during criticism;Kerry"ramrod" but "nodding hungrily at each question." [ NYT ]
•No major factual errors, but many misleading statements. [ WP , USAT , LAT ]
•Candidates remained on scripts. [ NYT ]
•Many undecideds praiseKerry. In overnight poll of 615, 53% sayKerryoutperformedBush. [ NYT , USAT , USAT , LAT , LAT ]
•"Safer" was last night's key word. [ USAT ]
•Candidates agree on importance of fatherhood while projecting warm, educated father image. [ LAT , LAT ]
•Pundits surprised byKerry's strong performance.Dick Morris: "Of the 45 minutes whenBushspoke, there were 20 or 25 minutes when he wasn't even there." [ LAT , WSJ , BG ]
•September brought nearly 2,700 attacks against American forces in Iraq, the highest yet. [ NYT ]
•House strikes down ban of gay marriage. [ WP ]
•"Security moms" illusive; concern about terrorism, Iraq crosses genders. [ WP ]
• Bushtours hurricane damage: "Did you get hit pretty hard?" Political opportunity seen.Rove: "We're flying sort of blind. Since August 13, we've not been able to get consistent polling." [ NYT , LAT ]
•Campaigns galvanize supporters with rapid web response to debates. [ WSJ ]
•FEC has yet to determine how campaigns may pay for recounts. [ NYT ]
•Pentagon, learning from mistakes in 2000, works aggressively on voter education. [ WP ]
• Lehrerblended into background. [ USAT ]
•"Going Upriver: The Long War ofJohn Kerry" raises meta question: "Will the war in Iraq produce the nextJohn Kerry?" [ NYT ]
•Foreign reporters get in the way on the trail.Richard Wolffe: "They come here and they think they're a big deal. And it's an incredible shock to their system to find out that Washington doesn't give a [expletive] about them." [ WP ]
•Prohibition Party candidate: "I'm going to fight booze until hell freezes over, and then I'm going to buy a pair of ice skates and fight it some more." [ NYT ]