Kerry Trifecta

According to Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly's Political Animal blog:

WHO WON?....The post-debate polls are solidly in Kerry's favor:
CNN/USA Today/Gallup: Kerry wins 53%-39%.
CBS News poll of uncommitted voters: Kerry wins 39%-25%
ABC News: Kerry wins 42%-41%, even though their audience leaned heavily Republican.
Democracy Corps: Kerry wins 41%-36%.
That's by far the biggest win for Kerry of the three debates. By next week I'll bet Kerry is 3-4 points ahead of Bush in nearly every poll.

Since the phone polls from the first two presidential debates were also won by Kerry, that makes it three in a row. It seems clear Kerry did what he had to do. Contrary to all the Bush spin, Kerry now is seen as a competent and strong commander-in-chief and a likeable and "presidential" candidate.

The Gadflyer has a feature on polling results from Democracy Corps. that examines how much Kerry has gained during the debate on a variety of issues:

. . .people's opinions of Bush after the debates are just where they were before the debates, while Kerry has improved dramatically on every measure. Bush's average improvement was one-half of a percentage point, while Kerry's average improvement was 9.5%. Let's run it down, starting with Kerry:

"Cares about people like you"
Before debates: 51
After debates: 62
Improvement: 11 points

"Honest and trustworthy"
Before debates: 47
After debates: 57
Improvement: 10 points

"Strong leader"
Before debates: 43
After debates: 54
Improvement: 11 points

"Has good plans for the economy"
Before debates: 50
After debates: 57
Improvement: 7 points

"Has good plans for Iraq"
Before debates: 38
After debates: 47
Improvement: 9 points

"Offers a hopeful vision of the future"
Before debates: 51
After debates: 60
Improvement: 9 points

"Will make America safer and more secure"
Before debates: 42
After debates: 52
Improvement: 10 points

"Gives me confidence when I see him"
Before debates: 39
After debates: 52
Improvement: 13 points

"Likeable"
Before debates: 48
After debates: 62
Improvement: 14 points

"Flip-flops on important issues"
Before debates: 58
After debates: 52
Improvement: 6 points

"Not strong enough on security and defense"
Before debates: 54
After debates: 49
Improvement: 5 points

And how about Bush's claim that "I don't think I ever said I’m not worried about Osama bin Laden. I think that's one of those exaggerations." Check out the DNC video clip Exaggeration to witness the truth.

Last but not least, Salon offers a photo that allegedly shows Bush's Bulge still present. Perhaps he's just glad to see us and has a backward way of showing it . . . .

(Photo Credit: Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. from Sharon Farmer, click for larger view)