Kerry seemed far better prepared than Bush, ready to counter the president's points while Bush often repeated himself and at times seemed at a loss for words or defensive. The president even audibly sighed at times. By the time the debate was over, it seemed clear that Kerry had given himself a new lease on life and guaranteed that the campaign has a long way to run.

New York Times:

if the question was whether Senator John Kerry would appear presidential, whether he could present his positions clearly and succinctly and keep President Bush on the defensive when it came to the critical issue of Iraq, Mr. Kerry delivered the goods.

Seattle Times: Round One, a Win for Kerry and Voters:

Last night, Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential challenger, pounded home his indictment of the Bush administration's war in Iraq and offered America a fresh start to win the peace.
The confident performance was not only presidential, it undercut all the assessments of Kerry's inability to serve in the Oval Office as commander in chief.

One of the more curious sensations of the night was to watch the normally assured president look a bit shell-shocked from the frontal assaults on his leadership, performance and judgment. Kerry was mercilessly direct but never disrespectful or angry.

Arizona Daily Democrat:

If John Kerry's weakness is foreign policy, George Bush has a lot to worry about come November. Kerry, who has been widely criticized as the weaker of the two on foreign policy, decisively showed in last night's debate that he can measure up to - and significantly surpass -the president. While President Bush looked unprepared and flustered, Senator Kerry was poised and articulate.

Bush was clearly caught off-guard by the intensity of the debate and stumbled through anything not prepared for him in advance. He interjected several times, only to realize he didn't have anything to say. Kerry, on the other hand, came prepared to defend his record and attack the president's, and his speech was consistently measured and reasoned.

The differences had to with more than speech ability:

Bush sounded like a broken record, insisting repetitively - to the point of comedy - that John Kerry was "inconsistent" for saying that the war in Iraq was "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time." His message was, effectively, that we can't afford to look weak to our enemies by changing our strategy half-way through the war.

Kerry countered - correctly - that there was nothing "inconsistent" about wanting to change strategy in the middle of a war. The war has been demonstrably mismanaged until this point, so an upheaval in how it's run is not only logical, but necessary.

John Kerry presented a clear proposal to the country last night: "Vote for me, and I'll win the war in Iraq swiftly, get your children home and repair our relationship with the international community." Bush's message? "Vote for me for president because I know what's right for the country. And I know what's right for the country, because I'm president."