Fox Panel: Debate a 'Knock Out' for Bush

Fox News Channel's debate panel ruled the last of
three face-offs
between John Kerry and President Bush a clear win for
the president,
with panelist Bill Kristol saying Kerry had been
"knocked out."

"I think Bush knocked Kerry out tonight," he told Fox
debate anchor
Brit Hume. "He just slaughtered him.

"I was keeping track of the twenty questions," Kristol
said. "I
don't have Kerry winning any question outright. I
think maybe six or
seven were tied. And I have Bush winning outright a
majority of the
questions."
Panelist Fred Barnes concurred.

"It was clearly President Bush's best debate. He
seemed to marshall
all the arguments that he wanted on all these domestic
issues - many
of which are traditional Democratic issues, including
health care."

Barnes said this was the first debate where Bush
seemed "animated
and strong" on the early questions. "In the others
it's taken him
sort of a half hour to get rolling."

"If he had done as well in the first debate as he did
tonight, he'd
have a much bigger lead in this race," he added.

Panelist Morton Kondracke agreed, saying, "I think
Kerry was on the
defensive a lot of the time so I think it was a much
better
performance by Bush."