As I ponder the meaning and effect of Thursady's debate, I can't help thinking how the R-nation will respond in the coming week. It seems to me that, if Edwards performs well, as I suspect he will, the Rs will go into complete panic mode. You see, last week they thought this race was over because they had effectively caricatured Kerry as a unpricipled, core-less, and unfit liberal Senator. While they may have understood the remote possibilty that Kerry could dominate Bush in Thursday's debate, they believed that Kerry's reputation and credibilty had eroded to such a degree as to render it irreversable -- no matter what Kerry did in the debate(s).
Well, they were wrong. Now, they are about to panic. If Edwards scores enough "body blows," watch out people. In my view, attack-attack-attack strategy cuts both ways. On the one hand, it may confirm voters concerns about Kerry's equivocations. But, on the other, it may turn-off the undecided voters who reject politics of personal destruction. Either way, it is coming, and we need to be prepared for it.
John Kerry, thank you for delivering on Thursady.