There's no doubt Kerry won tonight's debate hands-down, especially if you saw it on C-Span where they showed a split screen the entire time so we could see each candidate as they listened to the other. As Kerry laid out the arguments against Bush, Bush stood there with a look on his face that said, "Oh, shit! The American people are onto me." So, yes, Kerry will get the bounce from this debate. However, there was one sad note in all this: Bush, not Kerry, took our advice on the draft issue.
Over the last several days, many of us on Daily Kos have urged Kerry to take a strong stand against reinstating the draft. Liberals have tried to tell people that if they want to avoid a draft, they should vote for Kerry. That will be a harder case to make now because it was Bush, not Kerry, who took a stand against the draft tonight.
In Bush's closing remarks, he vowed to win the phony war on terror "with an all-volunteer army." Kerry never said tonight his position on the draft.
I watched the debate on a college campus, and that pledge won Bush some points. The students mostly agreed Kerry won this debate on style, but on substance the reaction was more mixed.
Kerry may have taken a stance similar to Bush's in other venues, at events watched by a few hundred. But it was Bush who stood before the whole nation and promised us no draft.
Kerry has two more debates, two more opportunities to speak to the nation before election day. I hope he will use the opportunity to tell us clearly that he, too, opposes a draft. If he does, it will increase the gains he made tonight even more.