As the world spins...

1. I was expecting a parallel press conference, but, noooo, Dubya himself changed the rules mid-debate and asked for time to rebut. He seemed genuinely puzzled by Kerry's statements, as if no one's ever talked about him like this in front of him before.

2. Body language spoke louder than words. One guy slouched, shoulders hunched. The other looked like he was someone you can run to when there's an emergency.

3. Hmmm. Duly impressed by Dubya's lack of impulse control, something I've never noticed before: interruptions, talk-overs, how his face reacted to Kerry's responses. Not even close to presidential, and creepy when you think he's got so much power.

4. I was pleased with how Kerry did. He even got a few good bumpersticker sound bites: "it is vital for us not to confuse the war, ever, with the warriors", "that happened on this president's watch", "you can be certain and be wrong".

5. Debate analysis has got to be like a political Rohrschach but still it was good to see the dKos analysis of freeper reactions.

6. What is with the LAT? They had the worst analysis.

7. Moderator Lehrer threw more pointed questions to Kerry. At one point in the debate, lobbed a huge softball to Dubya, when Dubya was sounding a little ragged, basically babbling about OBL. (Lehrer asked, "Has the war in Iraq been worth the cost of American lives, 1,052 as of today?", which helped Dubya get back on track).

Despite that, Kerry did well. He took advantage of each instance to show his stuff and turn it around.