Friday night was the second televised debate between President

George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry.

The two presidential candidates debated in a town hall type of

meeting in St. Louis where they were asked questions from an audience of

undecided voters. “The Bush and Kerry camps can barely disguise the

disdain they have for each other,” read a picture caption in a recent

Newsweek article, which showed the two men scowling at one another.

However, in greeting one another, the candidates were smiling.

According to the polls, Bush faired better in Friday’s debate than he

did in the first debate. An ABC poll, 35 percent of voters thought Kerry won

the second debate and 32 percent thought Bush did. According to a previous

ABC poll on the first debate, 52 percent perceived Kerry to be the winner,

with 23 percent favoring Bush. “Head to head: Bush limped into St. Louis,

but bounded back out — confident that his debate performance left the race

dead even,” said a Newsweek headline.

A variety of issues were debated, from taxes to terrorism. According

to Newsweek, a highlight of Bush’s performance was when he said, “You

can run but you can’t hide,” where Bush cited Kerry’s Senate record on tax

hikes. The Bush campaign called Kerry a liberal who is weak on defense.

The Bush campaign released a new television ad that cites a New

York Times interview where Kerry said, “We have to go back to the place

we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives but they’re a

nuisance.”

According to a report from CBS news, Bush also criticized this

comment at a campaign stop in Hobbs, New Mexico where he said, “Our

goal is not to reduce terror to some acceptable level of nuisance. Our goal is

to defeat terror. ” Bush said that the way to do this is to “go on the

offensive,” or to preempt a terrorist attack on the United States. According

to the ABC news poll, Bush still holds a lead in the category of “leadership.”

According to Newsweek, a highlight for Kerry was a comical moment

where he referred to the people in the room who he suspected would be

effected by his tax roll back — he, President Bush, and moderator Charles

Gibson — “Charlie, I’m sorry. You too.” said Kerry.

According to the ABC news poll, “Kerry remains more competitive

in terms of personal popularity than he was before debate No. 1.” According

to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup when asked which candidate “cares about the

needs of people like you,” 49 percent of likely voters chose Kerry, versus 42

percent who chose Bush.

While Bush attacked Kerry on national security, Kerry, in Santa Fe

New Mexico, said that Bush’s “energy policy has failed,” reads a New York

Times article. Kerry said that he would “set up a trust fund to develop

alternative fuels, cut energy costs by encouraging energy-efficient buildings,

diversify sources of oil and other fuels and upgrade electricity grids to

prevent blackouts.” Kerry said that Bush favored “friends in the oil

industry,” over consumers.

The nation is still pretty evenly split over whom they would prefer as

their president according to two recent polls. One poll by ABC News holds

that Bush is in the lead with 50 percent of those polled supporting him

compared with 46 percent supporting Kerry. It has a margin of error of 2.5

percentage points. Meanwhile, Kerry is in the lead in a poll by

Reuters/Zogby with 47 percent supporting Kerry and 44 percent supporting

Bush. It has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

On Wednesday, the third and final debate will be concerned with

domestic issues. It will be held at Arizona State University.