Bush v. Kerry, Round Two.

In tonight's matchup both candidates improved substantially over their performances in the last debate. Bush made greater strides, perhaps in part because he had a lot more work to do, but remained unmistakably himself; a lot more in command and a lot less befuddled, he still managed to misidentify his opponent at one point as "Senator Kennedy" (a Freudian slip, perhaps, or an intentional flub), raged at moderator Charlie Gibson a couple times, and delivered an absolute stunner about how he wouldn't nominate anyone to the Supreme Court who supports Dred Scott (that must have been a bummer for any jurists out there who might be looking to bring back slavery, the 13th and 14th Amendments notwithstanding); beyond the opinion's irrelevancy to the present election, that Bush would characterize Dred Scott as an example of judicial activism betrays ignorance at best and disingenousness at worst. Kerry was a lot more plainspoken and straightforward than he was last time, though he could've been a bit more forceful at times. Both men gave about as good as they got, and I'm genuinely looking forward to their final confrontation next Wednesday. AMDG.