Debatable

I was running A Game of October Thursday night, and accordingly I didn't watch the presidential debate. Admittedly, I probably wouldn't have watched it even if I hadn't had other plans. For one thing, I would've had to plug in a TV set to do so. And find the rabbit ears that are around somewhere. Oh, and figure out what stations we can actually tune in with rabbit ears. Come to think of it, it might've been easier to find a webcast version, if there was one.

But I was curious, so I made my way through a transcript over the course of Friday and this morning. I'm a couple of days behind on LJ, but I expect my friends list will be peppered with post-debate commentary. I wanted to finish the transcript before I got to those entries.

It might be nice to make up my own mind for once.

Didn't quite work out; I wound up hearing about the debate from two of my Republican friends before I finished reading the transcript. But I don't think that made a big difference in my final opinion on it.

Everyone I've spoken with says that Senator Kerry won the debate, from a rhetorical standpoint. I'm told he looked better and sounded better. That shows even in the transcript: Senator Kerry made fewer grammatical errors, and was less likely to correct his word choice. The difference between the two of them in the opening of the transcript is stark: the senator's words read like an essay, while the president's are clearly those of a man speaking.

But I do miss the experience of seeing their delivery. I wonder if I would have found Senator Kerry more persuasive if I'd seen the debate?
( Because, rather to my surprise, I didn't find him persuasive at all )