Occasionally, a sports reporter will be accused of ?writing his lead on the way to the ballpark.? After all, why wait until the game begins to declare a winner? In that vein, it?s worth asking why ABC even made George Stephanopoulos come in on to cover Thursday?s presidential debate.
?Well, certainly I think Senator Kerry has momentum coming out of here. He?ll come out of here and say, ?Listen, the American people agreed with what I had to say last night, they thought I did a good job,? and he?s got five more weeks to argue his case,? Stephanopoulos announced afterward.
Of course, the former Clinton communications director could have scripted that statement hours before the debate. It?s safe to say that even if Sen. Kerry had walked out with his face orange and his fly undone, Stephanopoulos would have claimed he ?has momentum? coming out of the debate. The media, after all, want a close horse race to cover. In reality, Kerry was behind in the polls, and remains behind. If you were running for president, is that the position you?d prefer?
This doesn?t change the fact that Kerry ?won? the debate. But the question that the spinmeisters miss is: ?Did this help him??
Americans don?t vote for ?debater-in-chief.? They vote for commander-in-chief. Another ABC News star, anchor Peter Jennings, doesn?t understand that. Jennings put up two instant polls, one that showed viewers thought Kerry had won the debate (45 percent to 36 percent for President Bush). Then, Jennings pointed out that the same sample showed no change in voter?s preference -- even with the ?loss,? Bush maintained his four-point lead. Jennings called that a symbol of American?s ?rigidity.? At least Jennings didn?t accuse us of throwing a ?temper tantrum,? as he did when voters tossed out the Democratic House of Representatives back in 1994.
Bush held on to voters because he stayed on his message. He sees the war in Iraq as a vital front in the war against terrorists. ?We are facing a group of folks who have such hatred in their hearts, they?ll strike anywhere with any means,? the president said. ?The biggest disaster that could happen is that we not succeed in Iraq.?
Many Americans agree with this, and many disagree. Of course, those who?ve already decided that the war in Iraq wasn?t worth fighting were already going to vote against the president, so there was no point in even attempting to reach them. The president held on to his base, and probably even expanded it somewhat.