Only the blindness of emotional loyalty would allow someone to watch the first of 3 presidential debates and conclude that President Bush demonstrated he was fit to run the country. As a partisan, I was embarrassed. It was as bad as Nixon’s “well, I’m not a crook” press conference. Bush didn’t look guilty of anything; he just didn’t look particularly interested. Like his father in 1992, Bush 43 had better things to do.

By mailing in the first, most watched debate, the president has given the lead and the momentum to John Kerry. Kerry seemed way to smart a man to give it back. At this point, only the proven death or capture of Osama bin Laden will prevent John F. Kerry from taking the presidential oath of office next January. The Bushies must now develop a strategy to stay close in case bin Laden is capture or Kerry makes a monumental blunder.