A Republican party staffer alleges that President Bush purposefully lost the first debate so that his comeback in the second debate would result in a bounce in his poll numbers. The President and his staff vigorously deny the allegation."What would I have to gain by losing a debate on purpose?" Bush asked a crowd of supporters in Minnesota on Saturday. "Of course I didn't do that. I'll grant you, I wasn't at the top of my game for the first debate, but it was not for lack of trying, and I've learned from the first one how to do even better on the second."
The allegations come from a Republican staffer who would only speak with the press anonymously. This staffer is said to have worked closely with the President's own people in the hours before the first debate.
"I can tell you that the President's own staffers were acting awfully suspiciously that day," the staffer told reporters. "They were very careful about what they said when others were around. But when I was in the restroom in a stall, and they didn't realize I was there, two of them were arguing over whether or not it could work for the President to lose this debate to win the next."
It's a well known fact that George W Bush is not seen as a strong debater. Whitehouse staffers say that Bush is a whole different character when he can deal with people, rather than a rigid debate format. This different is what the President's staff attributes to his stellar performance on Friday.
The anonymous Republican staffer also dispelled rumors that the President was wired during the first debate. "Seriously, he did so badly that first time, who in their right mind would think that someone was talking him through the debate? Anyway, I saw him, front and back, without his jacket on before he went onstage, and there was no wire."
The latest polls still show John Kerry and George W Bush in a very tight race, but Republican leaders point to several polls that show Bush ahead as evidence that undecided voters were swayed by Bush's debate performance. The third debate is scheduled for October 13 at Arizona State University in Tempe.
