Damn! Did anyone see Tony Blankley sputtering like a beached whale on the McLaughlin Group tonight. He had nothin'. Pat Buchanan wasn't giving him any kind of help. The unanimous decision of The Group was that Kerry won but Tony B tried to squeeze out some credit for Bush saying he lost on style but won on substance. Lawrence O'Donnell responded by asking how he could have won on substance if he couldn't even fill up the alloted time without repeating himself.
I figure the McLaughlin Group is a fairly good sample of the range of spinnery out there. From what I could tell, the GOP's best tactic is to change the subject and avoid actually talking about Bush's debate performance.
Debate #1 Winner: Kerry
Post-debate spin winner: So-far, Kerry
Now polls, smolls, it'll take a while for this all to sink in and spread around. But my personal political seismograph is starting to pick up the kind of minor, imperceptible rumblings that will lead to a major tectonic event in November. As Lawrence O'Donnell so succinctly put it tonight, America is not going to watch George W. Bush lose three debates in a row and then re-elect him.