Debates Part II: The Leapening

First off, there are many that have a much better analysis and review of the debate than me... two so far that have caught my eye are Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo and Ambivalent Imbroglio. But, I'm still going to give my opinion because I don't know how to not give it.

I particular I like Josh Marshall's comments about the woman who asked President Bush to list three specific mistakes he has made during his presidency and all he basically said was "some appointments." As Josh says:

The fiscal health of the country is a wreck. The country faces an unfolding disaster in Iraq. And numerous examples emerge day after day showing how that disaster grew directly from bad decisions the president made. And faced with a questioner who asked for just three mistakes he thinks he's made over four years, he couldn't come up with one. His answer was to say that on each of the big issues he's gotten everything exactly right.

And:

In the Bush world you never admit mistakes. The only mistakes the president can think of are the times he appointed people who do admitted mistakes - who put reality above loyalty to the president.

Anyway, the thing I noticed was that Bush couldn't wait to leap out of his seat to try and refute something Kerry said, in flagrant disregard for the debate rules. There was even one point where Kerry was still in the middle of his time (I think the warning light was on green, meaning Kerry had somewhere between 15 and 30 seconds left) and Bush stood up and held his microphone at the ready. And of course, there was Bush's little hissy fit he threw at moderator Charlie Gibson.

Although, as with the last debate, I don't think Kerry delivered any kind of a knock-out blow, I think Bush showed that he is like a petulant little child who thinks the rules don't apply to him, and that the only way to be heard isn't to think things through and speak logically, but rather to try and yell louder than everybody (including the guy who is there to moderate the debate). Very presidential.