http://drudgereport.com/dnc57.htm

just thought it was interesting. Tell me what you all think. Click on the video link in the middle of the page.

By Kernkate on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 08:24 am:

I just watched this and I did see Mr. Kerry take something out of his pocket, which were maybe notes. But President Bush was also arranging what looked to be papers in front of him.

By Kate on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 08:46 am:

Weren't they allowed to jot down notes as the debates played out? Like during their opponent's two minutes, didn't they jot down something they knew they needed to reply to? I'm assuming that's what Bush was 'arranging' and I didn't watch the clip so I don't know about Kerry and his pocket.

By Juli4 on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 08:46 am:

I just watched it a few more times. It definetely looked as though Kerry pulled something out of his pocket and unfolded it. Bush looked as though he started writing something. They are allowed to have pen and paper up there it just has to be submitted to the board and they place it up there to ensure that nothing is taken up there.

By Kaye on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 09:37 am:

Maybe he had an itch and covered for it well

so on a side topic what did you think of the debate? I know the press says kerry won, I know that he has gone up in the polls, but I watched it twice and overall I felt like they were pretty equal. Kerry did make some good points and it was I think pivitol when he made bush say out of frustration "YES I know it was osama that attacked us on 9-11". Interesting to me is that Kerry kept saying when i am in office we will do this and that, all of things that need funding, I wonder where this money will come from? What things will get dropped to afford them? Also for us although the economy has been bad for the past few years, the year has been a good year for business for us, in Houston the job market is picking up, companies are turning profits, etc, so I think that is a good point for bush. Anyway, what things in the debate did you find of great interest?

By Juli4 on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 09:40 am:

I posted what I think under "who will you vote for". I thought that Bush reacted too much instead of making points that he should have. I thought it was one long continual talking point and everything said was what we have heard over and over again. I look forward to the town meeting this Friday.

By Cocoabutter on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 11:00 pm:

I had to download and install the latest version of Quicktime in order to watch it. It would be nice if we could know what he took out of his pocket. According to what Drudge says, paper and writing utensils were provided, so there would not have been ANY need for either of the candidates to bring anything else with them.

By Juli4 on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 01:43 am:

There is also nothing allowed up there except what was placed on the podium for them. They could take notes on things that they were supposed to respond to and such, but nothing else was allowed. so if he did then not only was it not needed but it was against the rules of the debate.

By Emily7 on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 10:15 am:

He sweats a lot, maybe it was a hankie? I know that the temp was one of the things discussed. Maybe he was waiting for the camera to be off him to wipe his forhead. I think that if he did in fact cheat it would have been all over the news. I doubt he needed to cheat & think the allegation is ridiculous.

By Andi on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 11:11 am:

I have a feeling if he cheated he would have been caught. Don't you think if you noticed him getting something out of his pocket that the people in charge of the debate would have noticed it as well?

By Juli4 on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 12:03 pm:

Well I thought that it would get more attention if he in fact did. Although it doesn't sound like you watched the tape. I just watched the tape and it looked suspicious to me.

By Boxzgrl on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 12:10 pm:

Just out of curiosity, what would he have written down to cheat? They didnt know what questions they would be asked. Or maybe i'm missing something?

By Emily7 on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 12:14 pm:

I guess I don't understand... If you did not think he cheated why even bring it up.

By Juli4 on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 12:45 pm:

Listen I just posted a clip of what actually happened. I think the tape is suspicious so copy and paste the link and watch it. Ok form your own conclusions. I think that iti s consistent with his character to cheat. Who knows what he would have written down. just because you don't know what he wrote doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. WATCH THE TAPE!! then come and say what you think the clip showed.

By Emily7 on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 01:03 pm:

I think that based on what I saw, it looks like a bunch of people trying to start a problem. It could have been anything & if he indeed cheated I think THAT would have made national news.
I think that when you do not like someone you are going to draw whatever conclusion you what. There was not enough on that tape to even begin to guess what it was.
I think that it is just someone trying to start a problem that was not there. It would be interesting if people would actually try to win a campaign on merit, not rumor!
Oh & by the way I had watched the tape before I posted the first time.
I image Edwards is going to cheat tonight too!

By Kernkate on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 01:31 pm:

JMO if anyone at all thought he was cheating at the debate, I think it would have been all over the news and papers???
Maybe I missed it but I have not seen it anywhere.

By Cocoabutter on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 01:45 pm:

I just wonder- what if that were George Bush that we saw pulling something out of his pocket instead of John Kerry? Would it have made news then?

By Emily7 on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 01:56 pm:

I think that had it been anything important reguardless of who pulled it out of their pocket it would have made news.
I wonder if Bush had won the debate if we would even be having this conversation.

By Juli4 on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 04:31 pm:

The RULES of the debate that they both agreed to and submitted to were that they would be allowed no notes at all. they were to even submit their PEN beforehand to be inspected and placed on the podium by the debate moderator. As such, even a pen would be a violation of the rules.

I'm not asking whether you CARE if he was cheating, I'm asking you to watch the take and tell us what you think you saw. Did he appear to pull out a piece of paper and open it or what?

What would he have written on it? what would you have written on it if it were you? Statistics of the various and oblique things that are hard to remember, Maybe even which position he had taken last...

By Emily7 on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 05:01 pm:

And all I am saying is that it is pretty hard to believe that he pulled anything out of his pocket that would violate the rules without it being noticed by the press or they people being paid to make sure the rules are being followed. It could have been a stupid hankie to wipe his face off. I doubt that there is a huge cover up so that he could get away with cheating.
And actually you asked us to tell you what we thought...silly me I thought that is what I was doing. Just because you want to believe he cheated does not mean he was & it certainly does not mean I have to agree with you.
I also doubt that Bush would have let it go unseen if he thought Kerry was cheating & he was on the stage. He certainly had a better view than you of I had!

By Mommmie on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 05:10 pm:

Oh, blah, this is just a desperate attempt to distract people from the truth which is that Kerry did better than Bush in the first debate.

By Andi on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 05:40 pm:

Okay, I looked at the picture and it is so fuzzy. If they really wanted to show what he was doing I'm sure they could have found a much clearer picture. I don't beleive it for a minute and it's not just because I am a Kerry supporter.

By Juli4 on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 10:53 pm:

I just watched the clip and it looked that way to me. I just thought you were basing your opinion of the tape on that fact that you don't think he would get away with it, not necessarily on the clip. I only heard a few people talk about it and only briefly. It didn't show up on any nightly news or anything. I think the media is definetely biased to the left except for Fox wich is biased to the right. We all have our own filters and you bet if it was Bush we would here about it. But it wasn't.

By Mommmie on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 11:06 pm:

These two men were standing in front of a live audience with multiple cameras trained on them. If anything happened *everyone* would know and it would lead the 6 o'clock news.

Think Janet Jackson.