Sen. Kerry left Florida with a vital win over Bush in the firstdebate. Appearing calm and collected, he delivered his answers withheretofore-unseen charisma and conviction. Finally elaborating on thedetails of his plan for Iraq and the war on terror, Sen. Kerry easilyappeared as the more competent leader and statesman. He lookedparticularly strong while critiquing the lack of foreign nationsinvolved in the Iraq war and the fact that Bush ignored StateDepartment recommendations regarding Iraq.

As for President Bush, he never seemed to get into a rhythm, as ifKerry’s responses were constantly throwing him off guard. Rather thanproviding candid answers to the questions posed, he often looked likea Fox News mouthpiece, regurgitating talking points such as “Americais safer” and “We’re makin’ progress.” When asked whether JohnKerry’s potential election would make America an easier target forterrorists, Bush skirted the question by stating he doesn’t thinkKerry will be elected. At one point, he stated he should bere-elected because of the tough decisions he has made in office, butnever gave examples of these decisions. Bush appeared frustrated attimes, bored at others and was sometimes stubborn beyond belief, asif admitting his mistakes in foreign policy will get him impeached.Consistency is an important quality for a leader to have, but thereis nothing worse than a leader who is too stubborn to admit he waswrong.

Despite early hype that the debates would be safe, scriptedextensions of the party conventions, the first debate revealed muchabout both candidates. It was the first indication that Kerry has thefortitude to lead the United States and the first time we saw Bushagainst the ropes. It breathed some life into the slumping, listlessKerry campaign and allowed the Democrats an opening to counterpunchthe mighty GOP wrecking ball that appeared to be poised for a secondNovember victory in as many chances. Most importantly, it tightenedthe race up and it set the stage for what promises to be a memorablesprint to the finish line.

- Jonathan Sullivan is a finance junior.

- This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of TheDaily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com.Anonymous letters will not be printed – include your full name, majorand year in school.