Bush was bad in all three debates, rarely able to express cogent thoughts on policy. But the lowbrow consensus was that the debates played to Bush’s advantage, mostly because Gore sighed too much. His ostentatious sighing and histrionic grimaces, intended to puncture Bush’s inanity, mostly made Gore seem like a prick. His demeanor was condescending, his body language was inelegant, and it was (apparently) better to be uninformed than annoying. This conclusion invented a political perspective that’s become omnipresent in any two-person race but still felt original in 2000: Again and again, Bush
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