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Jason provides his take on the night: “Bush clearly dominated.” “Kerry floundered quite a bit, often reverting back to talking points.” “Bush resonated with those of faith, while Kerry’s window-dressing references to the bible and his days as altar boy ring hollow.” And his conclusion, which I whole-heartedly agree with: “If you’re still undecided now,…

Tonight: “The way to succeed is to train Iraqis so they can do the hard work of Democracy. We’ll have 125,000 troops trained by the end of this year.” Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, September 23, 2004: “It’s 100,000 total security forces, and I don’t want anyone to make the mistake that security force…

Tonight: “To say that the borders are not as protected as they were prior to September 11th shows that he doesn’t know the borders. … He just doesn’t understand how the borders work.” From the 9/11 report preface: “Indeed, even after 19 hijackers demonstrated the relative ease of obtaining a U.S. visa and gaining admission…

Tonight President Bush references the Lewin Report, a non-partisan analysis of the candidates’ health plans. They do suggest Senator Kerry’s health plan cost estimates are lowballed: Kerry says it’ll cost $860 billion over the life of the plan, while Thorpe says it’ll cost more like $1.2 trillion. Let’s not quibble on the details — let’s…

President Bush just quoted the Lewin Report. Lewin is a subsidiary of Quintiles International, whose CEO, Dennis Gillings, has contributed generously this cycle: 8/6/04 Kerry Victory 2004 $27,000 8/6/04 Kerry Victory 2004 $2,000 11/14/03 Bush/Cheney 2004 (Primary) $2,000 8/23/04 Republican National Committee $25,000

Tonight: “1 million more students have received Pell Grants.” Oops: “Financial aid is primarily based on family income, which, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, has fallen in recent years. In other words, because people have struggled in the labor market they have become eligible for financial aid. At the same time, college tuition has…

Tonight: (Of Senator Kerry’s plan to give families access to the same health care that Congress gets.) “It’s an empty promise.” “It’s too expensive.” “It’s a bait and switch.” June 30, 2003: “A consumer-friendly system is one that says we trust the consumers to make the best choice. Senior citizens are consumers, and therefore, the…

Tonight: “I don’t think I ever said I’m not worried about Osama Bin Laden.” March 13, 2002: “So I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you.” Update: Matt has the video.

Go tell the campaign what’s on your mind…

Naomi Klein has a devastating article in next month’s The Nation about James Baker’s dual roles: on the one hand, as public emissary arguing around the world for forgiveness of Iraq’s debt. On the other hand, as a partner in the Carlyle Group, which just happened to cut a deal with Kuwait to help it…