CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A group of Florida swing voters last night said Sen. John Kerry cleaned President Bush’s clock in the first high-stakes presidential debate.
Of the 18 swing voters taking part in pollster Frank Luntz’s focus group last night, 16 said Kerry won the debate.
Nine of them said Kerry’s debate performance convinced them that he’s the right man to lead the country for the next four years, while just two are committed to voting for President Bush. Seven are still up for grabs.
“I think Kerry was far more convincing in the way he addressed the issues,” said Jan Luytjes, a 73-year-old retired professor. “My impression of Bush is he was not well prepared.”
Each participant in the high-tech focus group was handed a sophisticated joystick to measure his or her reaction to every word uttered by Kerry and Bush, with the results mimicking the rises and falls of a stock ticker or a heart monitor.
Kerry’s power punch came within the first few minutes as he criticized Bush for not sending U.S. Special Forces into the mountains of Tora Bora in favor of native troops, saying that Bush “outsourced that job, too.”
“It tied the key issues of the war and the economy,” said Juan Rizquierdo, 36, a teacher. “It pointed out a strategic weakness in the plan to get bin Laden.”
“I thought it was funny as heck,” added Maria del Llano, 45.
And the Bush campaign’s mission to permanently paint Kerry as a flip-flopper backfired.
“I believe he buried it,” said Arthur Spiegel, a 46-year-old lawyer.
Shockingly, when the debate ended, 10 participants thought Bush was the bigger flopper, while only two thought Kerry was indecisive. Many in the group came into the night open to Kerry, and had some reservations over Bush’s handling of the war – but said the president could still earn their vote.
Nine had voted for former Vice President Al Gore in 2000, while eight punched a chad for Bush and one passed on a trip to the polls. Five were women, 13 were men.
These swing voters – acknowledging that the war in Iraq is a high voting priority – also devoured Kerry’s line: “I believe the future belongs to freedom and not to fear.”
Kerry’s solid performance last night, underscored by the focus-group monitors, could turn the race for the White House on its head. Bush was easing into the driver’s seat heading into the debate – the first of three slated for the next two weeks.
“It was over in the first 10 minutes – Kerry had begun to make a case and Bush was simply not as articulate,” said Luntz, the pollster.
“But there is nothing Bush said that would turn a Bush supporter off.”
“The lasting impact is Kerry appeared presidential,” Luntz added. “That split screen hurt Bush tremendously. He looked negative and pissed.”
Focus-group members were utterly turned off when they caught Bush smirking during one Kerry response.
“He took a hit,” said Bob Leff, a 40-year-old lawyer.
But Bush had his high moments, too, with the peak coming as he recounted how he comforted a grieving family that lost a soldier.
“He believes in his mission and he follows it,” said 42-year-old Lisset Vega.
But many were turned off by Bush’s repetitiveness.
“It made him seem indecisive,” said Mark Vornsand, 54.
Conversely, they liked Kerry’s poise.
“He was prepared and presidential,” said Jeff Kinchelon, 56.
“I think he got cuter,” said Kent Sadau, a 39-year-old stay-at-home mom.