Ok....here goes.
First thoughts...written here before I have heard any spin from either side.
I thought the president did remarkably better. Not doing better would've been disastrous.
But...I think it was a tie. And I believe a tie goes to Kerry.
The president did a good job on the facts. I like what he had to say about abortion...he actually answered the question as opposed to just saying how much he respected the person's position...which is what Kerry said...that person's position is one that Kerry respects to get the vote, but one that he will not honor in any way at all.
Again, the president I think did a better job on substance than Kerry and a better job on style than he did in debate #1...but, again, I think the tie goes to the runner...I think the record will reflect that people felt that Kerry won.
I do wonder about Kerry being so defensive about 'the labels'...he is a liberal...why run from that? Why not run ON it?
The president did a good job about doing away with that nonsense about the draft...but the president missed a couple of opportunities...one example is when Kerry talked about a tax cut for some Americans (under 200K)...the president should've said that he brought tax cuts for every American who pays taxes...he mentioned it at some point, but should've done it in response to Kerry's comment about cutting taxes.
It will be spun both ways...but the bottom line is that the president took John Kerry's record to him in the debate...and the president had a strong appearance...he seemed, to coin a phrase, both compassionate and conservative.