Kerry wins on warmth and Presidential bearing ...
Notes from talking with Republican family members who are voting for Kerry and a friend who was truly undecided ...
My mother on Kerry:
My mother thought that Kerry was very warm and very Presidential. She really liked how Kerry talked about what it means to be a Catholic .. that faith w/o works is dead. She thought this was a great contrast btw him and Bush. Bush talks a lot about faith but he doesn't do much about it. One talks a good game (Bush) while the other lives the faith (Kerry). She loved his focus on women .. esp. about pay being lower for women doing the same job and that's wrong. As a businesswoman, she's encountered lots of sexism in the work world over the years. In general, she really, really liked Kerry on a personal level tonight.
My mother on Bush:
She thought the President was very unPresidential. He went from smarmy with all those silly one-line attacks that fell flat to being at times rather juvenile and goofy ... kinda like the class clown ... to at times .. just odd. She said that she thought something must be wrong with him b/c in 3 debates we've seen 3 different men. One time we see a President out of touch and almost unintelligible, the next time we see a very angry and almost out-of-controll man and then this time a man who was at times goofy and at times more like a bad used car salesman. It's just too weird, she said.
My sister on Bush & Kerry:
My sister (a conservative Republican) who is voting for Kerry ... he cinched her vote after the first debate ... said pretty much the same thing that my mother said. She loved his talking about faith and what it means and about good works and how that relates to helping the poor. She loved the talk about women and wages. She found Kerry really very warm. She thought that this was a great debate for him on the human side. She found him so much more likable than Bush. She thought that Bush was a different guy in this debate than the other two and she thought this was strange. She was surprised that Bush seemed so less like a President than the President of the Frat Club. There he was ... wisecracking, smirky, silly, strange, and just not very Presidential.
My undecided friend on Kerry:
Finally, she connected with Kerry! In the last debate she thought Kerry was cold. This time she said that she really identified with him. She agreed with him on most issues except abortion. She said she was surprised how touching his comments about his wife and family were. She could relate to his comments about his mother. She's now leaning Kerry. She said she'd probably vote for him now since she felt very comfortable with him tonight. He finally spoke to her in a personal way.
My undecided friend on Bush:
Three debates .. threee different guys. She said that she's not really sure which one is the real guy, but the fact that he could have so many different personalities was freaky. He just doesn't seem Presidential compared to Kerry. Bush reminded her of the guys in college she always avoided .. the frat boys who just like to have a good time. She thought that he might appeal more to guys tonight than women b/c he's not the kind of guy women like her would want to date. But she could definitely see him as a guy's guy ... the kind of guy that guys like to go out and have a beer with and play darts. But definitely not the kind of guy for her. She also said although she preferred some of Bush's policies more ... he just isn't Presidential enough. She said she's watched the three debates and after all three she still doesn't know which guy is the real Bush. And that's the problem. She's just not sure of him anymore. And she felt like Kerry understood what it was like to be a women in a man's world. She doesn't like Kerry's stand on abortion but she thought that he was so human when he talked about gay people and how it was important for them to have rights too and how it was wrong to use the Constitution against them. She thought that Kerry was much more sympathetic to the poor and minorities.
NOTES: All three thought that it was a very good debate. They all three liked it better than the 2nd debate. And all three found a connection to Kerry. And on the Mary Cheney question ... all three thought that it was very humanizing ... it put a public face on gay rights. My mother who is very conservative thought that it was hypocritical for Republicans to use Mary Cheney to run their Campaigns but then to hide her from the public. And then to try to use the Constitution to take away the rights of gay people to be with their loved ones in the hospital or to deny them their inheritances was mean-spirited and wrong.
Commonalities btw the three women:
All three are opposed to gay marriage but they all support gay rights. All three are opposed to changing the Constitution. All three thought that the Republicans using value issues as wedge issues to divide the country was wrong.
All three live in battleground states. All three are conservative. My mother and sister are Republicans. My friend is an independent who voted for Clinton and Bush.
My take:
I thought the debate was a little boring. But then maybe the debate wasn't geared to me. I thought Kerry had a clear win. Bush was less Presidential in this debate I thought. I think his attempts at humor sounded silly and out of place. He couldn't help but smirk a little. His one-liners went nowhere. And the thing that bugs me the most ... when he talks about values .. he always comes across as it's us against you. I strongly resent that.