It's hard to say if it was that smirk, or his repeated insistence that he would never change course in Iraq, but by the end of the first presidential debate President Bush had come awfully close to losing the vote of Republican Thomas C. Racosky.
"The president appears to me to have a pretty big ego, and he's letting it get in the way of what's best for the American people," the goateed Racosky, a retired builder, said after watching Thursday night's presidential debate. "Before tonight, I really wouldn't have known which way I was leaning. If I had to vote now, I guess it'd be for Kerry."
Racosky is a swing voter in a swing district in a swing state, a political moderate living at the crossroads of Republican farmlands and cities once defined by hulking steel mills and home to technology and service firms. He was among 120 voters, many of them undecided, in three states -- Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Michigan -- who watched the debate with Washington Post reporters.
When Kerry said that Bush had "not been candid with the American people" about Iraq, and when he accused the president of "outsourcing" the crucial battle of Tora Bora in Afghanistan to local warlords, his words resonated. By debate's end, the audience was giving Kerry a higher score on almost every question. When Bush smirked or was at a loss for words, a few chuckles could be heard.
"You could see him hesitating," said Barbara Newhard, a middle-aged undecided voter. "Those looks of his drove me nuts. It was like Bush couldn't stand to hear the truth."
Bruce Glazier is 60, a bearded bear of a man who opposed the war and watched his 401(k) portfolio do a header these past few years. Still, he was ready to vote for Bush until the debate. "Kerry came across well, with no hesitation and no silly faces and lots of brains," Glazier said. "It upsets me that Bush can't admit a mistake in Iraq. He needs to take a lesson from Dan Rather and apologize."
But most of the Bush supporters agreed that the president had not presented his case very well. They spoke of his posture, his stammering, even the poor camera angles. The president "came across as too 'good old boy,' " said Penny LaIacona, a Bush supporter. "He was too relaxed. He seemed to hesitate a lot. The hesitation itself was very distracting."
Kerry unnerved a few Republicans for a different reason. "I was absolutely shocked how well Kerry came across," said Ritta Mitchell, a Republican.
Both parties are in pursuit of the "soccer mom" vote, so the vote of soccer coach Lisa Roschek, 29, might be seen as a holy grail. She has never voted, a string she is determined to break this November, and came to the debate not much caring for either candidate. She said she was pleasantly surprised by Kerry and found Bush annoying and unpersuasive.
Roschek applauded Kerry for challenging the president's assertion that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States made necessary the war on Iraq. Kerry pointed out that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with that attack, which was plotted and carried out by Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.
"Good point!" Roschek said to the television screen. "That was huge for me."
By night's end, as everyone trooped out into the crisp autumn air, most agreed that Kerry had won the debate.
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