The Ref Would Have Stopped The Fight.

Last night we saw the face of the world of the moment. All the unnecessary confusion and uproar of the times moved like storm clouds across the presidents eyes. It can well be assumed that these clouds originated somewhere in the presidents brain; an excess of humidity, two different weather fronts meeting; precipitation is expected.

This morning I watched the spin. The odious Tom Curry over at msnbc.com is cartoon like in denial. I've been all over the map in the last couple of hours and it's like watching smiley faces standing outside their demolished house. "oh, it's nothing, we're just going to stay the course."

I have a strong suspicion that the administration will find some way now to back out of the next two debates. bush is not a come from behind kind of a guy. He needs a bigger support team than Tom Cruise going on vacation. But when you're all alone on stage, competing against a challenger, your record and your own inability to articulate... you’re in trouble deep; if you're gwb. Clinton would turn this to his advantage. bush is no Clinton.

bush put food on the nation's family several times last night; leashing daughters on dog chains, gonna change his tactics too, it's hard work, it's hard work bwak! You bet it's hard work when you don't know what you're doing. Hidden behind numerous sycophants and an army of spin apologists bush manages to lumber through in the day to day, but all on his lonesome he looks like what he is, confused, uninformed and forcefully clumsy where grace is life or death.

This was bush's strongest shot with his strongest suit. It's all downhill from here. Next week he faces independent voters and their questions about... who knows what? Following that he has to confront the economy. That won't be pretty. He doesn't need a kick me sign on his ass to encourage what he'll have to face.

If Gore's one sigh was a serious body blow what are we to make of bush's face dancing? Not all the kings’ horses, nor all the kings’ men can put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Kerry looked presidential. bush looked like someone dropped a sack of loser dust on his head. No bro, that ain't dandruff.

I found myself actually feeling sorry for this clueless ill made man. Then my focus quickly shifted to the damage he has done.

bush lost Ohio last night, mark my words. It is interesting too that the hurricanes in Florida may have dealt a death blow to bush's chances there. I read a terrific story yesterday, about how voter locations in bush-heavy areas are going to be unusable and how many bush supporters won't even be in the state for the election.

Last night, the American voter saw, in convincing fashion, what their choices are. You can't retouch this photo. In millions of living rooms across the country the American public saw a wan, dispirited and confused dummy reach for that missing something and come up empty.

Oh, they'll gear up the war of incremental attrition again. They'll pound the same familiar sand over and over through the days. But the facade has cracked. The weakness and lack of vision were all too painfully clear. The momentum has shifted. The image of presidential comparison was glaring. Kerry was measured, focused, sharp. bush looked like an amateur fry cook in a busy diner; someone who had lied about his experience and who drank a little too much the night before. The waitresses know and the customers are not happy.

The thing with going it alone is that you often wind up alone. You should never march too far ahead of the supply wagons. You should never over extend yourself. bush has done too many of the wrong things in too many theaters of operation. He rushed to war. He bullied through tax cut after tax cut. He alienated too many allies. He lied and he lied and he lied. His unfounded overconfidence was not met with a responding lover’s faith. In the end, the numbers don't add up.

I submit that last night, possibly for the first time, he saw and felt that indeed he had been wrong. I think it overwhelmed him. The comment about 'changing tactics' said it all.

Yes, this was a bad day at Black Rock but the real problems have just begun., because bush now has to spin himself. He's down, he's hurt. Now he needs to come forth with an articulation he can't manage, with a vision he doesn't possess, with a calm and purposeful persona. But his whole game thus far has been to repeat himself over and over; he has no extemporaneous abilities. He has no capacity to reach inside for that extra something cause there's nothing left inside. As a result, he's left with just more repetition. He has to go back out and do the same thing he was doing and he's going to look febrile as a result.

It just may be that things are about to stop going bush's way and start going the right way... they're not the same thing.