What inane questions!

Will our children and grandchildren grow up in a world as safe as the one where we grew up in?

Safe? World War II, Korea, Vietnam?

Only the dead have seen the end of war.

Flu shots?

Show me where the Constitution gives the president the power to vaccinate!

Then there's the sensitive hot-button issue.... How on earth can Scheiffer ask with a straight face whether homosexuality is a choice?

I can't answer that unanswerable, unqualified question any more than Bush -- who said he didn't know.

Kerry: "It's not choice. I've met people who were struggling with this for years."

Maybe it wasn't a choice for them, but for others it was.

No one can answer such a question or speak for such a diverse group of people -- the reasons for existence or nonexistence of "choice" being as varied as the number of people in the group.

Bush seems more rested and vigorous in this debate than in the last two. More articulate too. Unless something changes, so far this looks like a Bush win.

Abortion, healthcare, nothing new said by either man.

Bush looks livelier, smilier....

Whatever happened to the "conservative scowl?"

MORE: Immigration. Bush wants guest worker cards. Kerry (after first continuing -- shrewdly -- to talk about the ruined middle class) wants to toughen border enforcement. Kerry mentioned "people from the Middle East" coming across the border. Says he'll make the borders secure which they're not.

Minimum wage: Tired of family values without taking care of families. Fundamental right to raise minimum wage. He'll fight "tooth and nail."

Overturning Roe v. Wade: Lots of knowing smirks by Kerry as he writes and waits..... He may be waking up a bit. Both keep returning to education theme. I don't think they like the abortion question any more than the gay marriage question.

Blaming the wealthy is a favorite theme for Kerry, and education is a favorite for Bush.

"BACK DOOR" DRAFT: Kerry complains of bad judgment, Bush being overextended. Need to have "real alliances." President "broke faith."

There is an optimism versus pessimism thread running throughout, and tonight Bush has a corner on the optimism quotient.

Bush alludes again to the "global test" and Kerry seems defensive. Why should he have to say that he'll never fail to protect America? It's undignified, and Bush has the upper hand here.

ASSAULT WEAPONS: Bush said he was in favor of the ban (yecchh!), supports background checks at gun shows, Kerry not smirking. Kerry the hunter says he wants to "respect" the Second Amendment. Says prosecutors support the AWB. Terrorists will go to gun shows and that will make us less safe. The AWB made us "safe" against terrorism because bin Laden wants his guys to go to gun shows.... Please.

Affirmative action..... Again, please.

MORE: Today more minorities own their own house. [Bush] That's positive!

Prayer. Bush -- prays a lot. His faith is personal. Prays for troops, his families. Its a free society. You're equally an American regardless of how you worship. Prayer sustained me. "I receive calmness in the storms of the presidency." Religion important but don't want to impose it. Love our neighbor as we love ourself. Believe God wants everyone to be free, and freedom in Afghanistan is product of the Almighty.

[Kerry] I respect everything the president says. Everything is a gift of the almighty. Higher Being. All find ways to express it. Love your neighbor. We have more loving to do. Separate but equal school system.

(Not much of a disagreement there.)

9/11 question. [Kerry] Unity. President did a terrific job initially. Not Dems or Repubs. Now we are divided. "I've never seen such ideological squabbles." Committed to changing that. Need to come together. Find common ground. I'll meet openly; not secret meetings in the White House. Get campaign finance reform going.

Bush: divided nature of Washington is his biggest disappointment. Tough town, entrenched special interests. Bitterly divided. We need to work to bring it about. McCain is for me; Kerry's plan is "RETREAT AND DEFEAT."

Strong women; what have you learned? Bush: "To listen to them." "To stand up straight and not scowl" (!) Wife "speaks English a lot better than I do." Talked of how he met her. Love at first sight.

Kerry jokes about lucky people who've married up. Good joke: "Me more than others!" (Laughter.) Mom left him with words "Integrity. Integrity. Integrity." Admits he takes himself too seriously. (Both men are self effacing and polite to each other here.)

CONCLUSION: Both men ended on optimistic notes, but again, Bush sounded like more of an optimist.

Kerry gave the clenched fist salute after Bush left the stage. To great cheers. Why?

I think Bush won it, and I wasn't expecting that. Kerry looked tired. Bush looke vibrant. Nothing new was said, which means the way they said it is everything.

UPDATE (10/14/04): Regarding "the way they said it," the Belmont Club's Wretchard discusses what the way they said it reveals:

Even today many of our most important decisions -- who we will trust as a prison cellmate, combat buddy or wife -- are based on an indefinable pattern recognition. We may choose a lawyer on his resume, but we will choose our allies in barroom brawl on personal assessment. Polls show that half the American public has found what it wants in John Kerry and an equal number have found it in George Bush. But what each has sought may be strikingly different. Although the general populace was split evenly between Bush and Kerry, a Military Times survey showed soldiers preferred President Bush by a 73:18 ratio to Senator Kerry. That suggests those seeking allies in maintaining Roe vs Wade may see a welcoming visage in Senator Kerry; while those looking for someone to trust in a foxhole will take one look -- and fly. Which is no condemnation of Senator Kerry: elections are only secondarily about candidates, they are primarily referendums on ourselves.

(Via Glenn Reynolds.)