Empty “victory”

From the Boston Globe: “Debate unable to sway focus group”

Supporters of John F. Kerry's campaign were overjoyed after Thursday night's debate. Pundits and viewers agreed the Democratic nominee for President had aced the foreign policy matchup with President Bush. Aides in Kerry's revamped, on-message campaign operation allowed themselves a little restrained gloating.

But if Kerry's biggest fans could have been at Moe's restaurant with the Globe's 10-voter focus group Friday night, they might have left feeling a bit deflated. All of those voters believed Bush had done badly Thursday. Most of them believed Kerry had gotten the better of the president in the debate.

And yet, not one of their minds was changed by it.

Interesting. Let’s see how the polls look with a couple days perspective.