| John Kerry made a biting and tightly-argued challenge to George W. Bush's leadership in the war on terror in the first presidential debate on Thursday night, criticising the US president for launching the war in Iraq while Osama bin Laden remained at large.
In a debate in which Mr Bush at times appeared irritated by Mr Kerry's criticisms, the president effectively channeled public attention to questions about Sen Kerry's consistency and argued that his Democratic challenger will be unable to lead a war he now says is wrong. The debate had been seen as a critical, perhaps even the decisive, moment in the 2004 election, as an estimated audience of 50m people nearly double the size of the television audiences for the party conventions sized up the two candidates. The Kerry campaign staff emerged after the debate elated by their candidate's performance, while Mr Bush's aides were pressed by reporters to explain the president's halting responses and apparent displays of testiness. |
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