he olympic swim competition is over, but we still have synchronized candidates. Too synchronized to pick a gold or even silver. George W. Bush gets a bronze for not being blown out of the water and not looking at his watch like his dad.
Gore, who thought he could crunch Bush with numbers, was in command, almost too much in command, with his numbers. He began communicating, subtly but perceptibly, that he knew it all. Often, when Bush was trying to make a point, you heard a sigh in the background from Gore.
The sighs were intended, I'm sure, to signal that Bush was nuts. But they came off more as if Gore was the impatient child who always sits at the front of the class and keeps raising his hand to answer all the questions.
While he tried to say how Bush's Republican tax cuts would benefit only the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, Gore could not avoid this smiling, almost smirking head, half cocked to the side, repeating things that became awfully tiring. I mean, if I hear the word ''lockbox'' one more time to refer to Social Security ...
As for Bush, he came into the night with lower expectations, and despite some obvious stumbling around, he played to what he thinks his voters want to hear. He took a couple of mild shots at Gore's character, but more importantly warned of big, exploding, liberal, activist government (as if conservatives are somehow inert).
This debate decided nothing except to give Bush a lease on credibility, which means Gore has to find a new way to look smart without acting smart. George W. Bush's father was once knocked for looking at his watch. Gore has to refrain from being so synchronized he looks like a watch.
Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address isjackson@globe.com.
