More than 50 million people witness Bush’s defeat in debate

WASHINGTON (PL).—More than 50 million U.S. citizens followed the third debate between the presidential candidates in which, according to the surveys, Democrat John Kerry defeated Republican George W. Bush

Estimates from the Nielsen Institute revealed that 51.2 million TV viewers opted for the confrontation, while 12.2 million decided on a Major League baseball game.

The first and largest Bush-Kerry encounter in Florida attracted 62.5 million people, while the second was only watched by 46.7 million.

One of the issues that had been absent from the debate, immigration, focused the attention of the Hispanic population who, according to CNN reports, supported Kerry’s ideas.

Evaluating the third debate, Rick Rockwell, a political analyst quoted by the TV network, said that it was more of the same offered by the presidential candidates during their campaign. CNN states that the elections could be as controversial as those four years ago.

The political media has exposed government maneuvers to block the participation in the elections of close to 10,000 Florida citizens, mostly Blacks and Latinos.

This Friday a federal judge should hear charges brought by plaintiffs whose applications to be placed on the register were initially rejected, as was the case in the 2000 elections in which Bush scored his victory thanks to a similar maneuver by the state government.

The charges were brought by the AFL-CIO trade union and the People for the American Way Foundation, among other organizations, which are accusing the state secretary, Glenda Hood and electoral officials in five Florida countries of impeding their right to vote.

Since the last debate the contenders have been focussing their campaign on 10 states that could make the difference at the polls, and in which 7% of voters are still indecisive.

On the other hand, the economy seems to be putting new stumbling blocks in the way of President Bush.