He isn't doing that great of a job so far....

I am just going to list the things that struck me about the debate, namely John Kerry's comments. Any opinions about Bush's speaking abilities or John Kerry's appearance will be saved for some other time, since the debate wasn't about either one of those things. I am interested in their stance on the questions asked, not how they stated it. A good speaker or a pretty face do not make a good president. Anyone who uses Kerry's botox poisoned face or Bush's stuttering streak as a reason not to like them is a moron.

I am at a loss as to HOW Sen Kerry is going to achieve everything he says he will do better. I heard a lot of "I will make better choices", "I will change this", "I have a better plan for this..."... but not once did I hear HOW he planned on doing any of it. So, even after this debate, I still have no idea on what Sen Kerry's plans are and how he plans to achieve them.

He mentioned how he would increase the Armed Forces by 40K more troops by adding 2 more divisions and doubling Special Forces numbers.... nice, except for the fact that it's ALREADY happening... under the current administration. It's not something Sen Kerry is doing that this administration isn't, like he led people to believe tonight. Why President Bush didn't counter those, I'm not sure, since he countered everything else Sen Kerry said he would do, that this is already being done.

When talking about the economy, John Kerry said that it doesn't matter how much we spend as long as we are safe. That scares me because that means that he is willing to raise taxes massively to get what he wants done. HUGE red flag to me right there. More taxes equals more government. More government means more control over MY life on an every day basis. That also makes me wonder because he voted AGAINST the $87B to keep our TROOPS safe, but he is so adamant about the tax cut being repealed, to pay for what I don't know.

His constant ragging on the issue of body armor got to me a little bit because of his vote against the $87B for things like body armor.

His statement that he would shut down our nuclear weapons program, especially immediately after he was talking about how much of a threat N. Korea and Iran are with their weapons capabilities, frankly scares the shit out of me. In a world where countries who have personal prejudices against other cultures, where countries would be willing to wipe out an entire culture because of those personal prejudices, and where those countries are developing weapons and weapons capabilities, the only thing that is going to prevent some of those countries from bombing us is the fact that we will have a bigger weapons arsenal than they will. We have had the technology and the means to drop nukes on other countries for DECADES and have only used it once when we were attacked first. Why are WE the ones who should disarm? I think disarming ourselves before we disarm them is one of the stupidest thing we can do.

Kerry claiming that he is going to disarm N. Korea and Iran with absolutely NO details as to how he plans to do that. Does he think that those countries are just going to lay down their weapons because he is John Kerry? Does he think that somehow he is going to convince them to disarm when the years of negotiations before have failed? He would have to go to WAR with them to get them to disarm. We are talking about IRAN and NORTH KOREA. He makes it sound SO EASY.

I am not at all impressed with what he calls a plan to deal with N. Korea (although it was a very vague plan at best). He talks about having this coalition to deal with the situation in Iraq, yet opposes having a group of allies, including China who has a large impact and influence on N. Korea, in the talks with N. Korea... who he agrees has been proven to already possess nuclear weapons/capabilities. He stated they are a bigger threat, bigger issue to be dealt with... yet he wants to do that one alone and not with the help of other countries??

When the moderator asked Kerry if he thought the soldiers in Iraq were dying for nothing, and he responded that he didn't think so as long as they were under his leadership, my jaw dropped. He very clearly implied that under Bush, the sacrifices have no honor because, according to him, Bush went into this war as a liar with alterior motives, but under Kerry the soldiers will have honor because his motives are pure. Uh, that is one of the most disrespectful things I have ever heard said about our military. The question was specifically about the value of the lives of the soldiers in Iraq, and he said "no, as long as...". I don't think there is ANY condition under which the sacrifices of our soldiers aren't valuable.

His statement about why he and Bush are different when it comes to voting for the war resolution seemed very elusive to me. When the resolution went up in front of Congress, the vote was ALL over the news and every American citizen that paid any attention KNEW that Bush was going to Congress to get it passed because he wanted to invade Iraq. *I* knew it, and I know that everyone I know knew it. Kerry trying to get away with his "He said he would only use it as a last resort and to me those words mean something" statement is a cop-out! He KNOWS that a president does not ask Congress to give him the power to send our military to war unless he plans to actually use it, and he KNOWS that Bush made it VERY clear before he asked Congress to vote on it that those were his intentions. Kerry is backtalking, like he always does.

Kerry's comment, "I may have made a mistake with how I talk about the war, but Bush made a mistake invading Iraq" (or something to that effect), made me angry as well. The only reason Kerry can get away with that comment at ALL is because he wasn't the one who had to actually DECLARE the war HE VOTED FOR. He is trying to talk his way out of it AGAIN, and I am not falling for it.

Also, Sen Kerry's inference regarding not securing anything but the oil refineries when we took Baghdad and set up over there. COMPLETELY not true. He made comments about us not patrolling the borders at all or securing other major buildings other than those affiliated with the oil. AGAIN completely not true. I know girls whose husbands did exactly those things in Iraq at the start of the war.

Something else that irritates the shit out of me, that Kerry did tonight, that most people who are against the war do, that Michael Moore does, is refer to the soldiers fighting in Iraq as "kids". I'm sorry, but anyone who makes the decision to join the military and defend their country, to follow orders and serve in Iraq, and to fight and DIE to protect their fellow soldiers and their country, is NOT A KID. The MEN and WOMEN in our military deserve more respect than that.