Bottom Line

Pierce lays it down, blogging at Altercation.

The fundamental dynamic of these things has been that Kerry seized the role of the incumbent in the first encounter and never let it go. "Why should we ever trust you again?" is the great unspoken question of this campaign, and C-Plus occasionally appears to be trying to return his own serve.

I make no pretence of personal objectivity, but I've tried to view the debates through a simple filter. If I hadn't already decided to support Bush, what would he say that might persuade me? How could he present himself that would instill more confidence in his ability to understand what's wrong and make corrections during a second term?

And try as I might, I can't find a damn thing in any of the three debates that would persuade an genuinely undecided voter to move into the Bush column. I assume that someone who's undecided must have at least some reservations about the condition and direction of the country, or they'd naturally fall to the default position of 'more of the same.'

And that's all Bush has to offer. More of the same. No mistakes on his watch. No way. Peace and prosperity prevails, and freedom is on the march. But everyone who believes that is already in the Bush column, and right now my confidence level is as high as it's ever been.

Not high enough, of course, to believe that we can let our guard down for a minute. All Bushco has left is three weeks of smears, distortions and fear mongering, and it's coming down the road in full force. Count on it. Brace yourself, and get ready to work hard and fight back.

One of the best things about the end of the debates is we can set aside the jabber about what Kerry 'must do' or 'must say.' He did what he did and said what he said, and he won every step of the way.

Nope. Now it's down to what we must do. There's still an potential Kerry voter on your block who's not planning to go to the polls. There is. Go find that voter. You know this is the most important election of our lifetime. Convince that voter, and deliver him or her to the polls.

There are still calls to make, letters to write, signs to post, precincts to walk, work to do in every element of the ground game, which is now the only game in town.
Do something. Do it through your local party. Do it through your union. Do it through ACT. Do it through DFA.

Just do something.

We can win.

And we will, if we work hard enough and fight back everywhere.