I know that the media and the Kerry campaign are invested in the fact that those tracking polls said Kerry won the final debate and that Bush’s gain has everything to do with cynically exploiting the Mary Cheney thing. And I know that I’m invested in saying that Bush was the real winner of that debate (I predicted Bush would rise in the polls after the debate even as the polls said he’d lost the debate). Well, nevertheless, I think I’m right. Bush’s gains couldn’t possibly be attributable solely to the Mary Cheney flap. This Colorado poll has him surging with women (from 7 points behind to 2 ahead), reclaiming independents (from a 30 point deficit to a 7 point one) and bolstering his stance with his base (plus 4). That’s pretty broad momentum to attribute solely to Kerry’s Lesbian gaffe. Kerry proved once again he was the better debater that last night. Bush proved he was the better candidate.