Kerry supporters say their man beat Bush

I came to this debate as a Kerry supporter who wasn’t quite sure what

to expect. I did expect President Bush to come across as arrogant,

cocky and folksy, and there were no surprises there. I was hoping

that Sen. Kerry would distill his message, a message that has always

been there, and he did that well. Bush, on the other hand, had empty

sound bites and made a habit of constantly repeating hollow phrases

with no real plans. So, I feel very strongly that Sen. John Kerry was

the big winner at Thursday’s debate.

President Bush looked surprised, uncomfortable and startled at

times. Additionally, Bush kept repeating himself.

VICKI ZIMMERMAN

Newport Beach

Last night, I watched a stammering, smirking,

spaced-out-for-seconds-at-a-time man, who kept repeating the same

inane “This is hard work” phrase over and over. This is our

president? He evaded questions, refused to admit huge mistakes in the

war on Iraq and lack of planning on what to do once we “won” this

war. No wonder our former allies are running away, and we make more

and more mortal enemies in the world daily.

BRENDA MCCROSKEY

Newport Beach

In the first presidential debate, John Kerry proved himself as

articulate, confident and clearly in command of his facts. He also

showed that he could think on his feet and did not need a memorized

script. President Bush showed none of those traits and did nothing to

convince me that he could lead the nation to the respected position

it had in the world just four years ago.

STEPHANIE CAMPBELL

Costa Mesa

The telling moment in the presidential debate occurred when

President Bush and Sen. Kerry addressed the issue of leadership.

Whereas Kerry admitted that he does reserve the right to change his

mind when new information comes to light, Bush resolutely maintains

his uncompromising approach, as he demonstrated particularly well in

his failure to admit that Iraq is even more problematic than he

initially believed.

Strong leadership requires the right combination of intelligence,

erudition and judgment. President Bush regrettably falls short in all

of these areas, as he showed convincingly on Thursday night. Without

a teleprompter and a prepared script, he is lost.

ELLIOTT MERCER

Newport Beach

Thursday’s debate gave me a chance to see the two candidates side

by side and to compare them squarely on both style and content. It

was almost painfully clear to me that Kerry is in a different league

than Bush. What a relief it will be to have a president who doesn’t

embarrass us, whose intellect we can respect, and whose leadership is

based on substance rather than on swagger.

ELVIRA SOSA

Costa Mesa