Although the initial judgments made about the first presidential debate last Thursday were mixed, with many editorial boards calling it a draw, the media analyses in the days after are leaning more and more toward calling it a solid victory for Senator John Kerry. Snap judgments in the hours after the debate led some editorial boards, particularly those of The New York Times and The Boston Globe, to enthusiastically praise the challenger's performance. Other newspapers of record were more reserved in declaring a winner-The Washington Post ran an editorial commenting on the high points and foibles of both candidates. In fact, the only debate participant lauded in every bit of commentary has been Jim Lehrer, the moderator.Many news analysis articles suggested the debate was, in fact, a lopsided affair. The positive words used to describe Kerry-confident, forceful and incisive-have been matched by statements that President Bush was irritated, petulant and repetitive. Kerry answered questions eloquently while the president, occasionally stammering, used a series of one-liners like "mixed messages" and "it's hard work."

Before the first printing press was turned on, the Democratic and Republican armies of talking heads and screwball pundits descended on the airwaves. Campaign advisers and Kerry's primary opponents were in front of television cameras just moments after the candidates left the stage. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark appeared on MSNBC almost instantly, as did spokesmen for the Bush and Kerry campaigns. Clark, of course, lavished the Massachusetts senator with praise for the content and delivery of his answers.

But it was surprising to read that some of Bush's advisers complimented Kerry's performance and expressed their frustration with Bush's. Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director, admitted to reporters on Thursday night that "Bush has never been labeled the most articulate person in the country." But other advisers like Karen Hughes and Karl Rove only mentioned the positives. Hughes emphasized the president's honesty and that he was "understandably a little incredulous" with Kerry's positions. And Rove said he thought Bush was never at a loss for words, even though any video or transcription of the debate shows that in several instances, Bush responded with a long pause before saying anything.

Over on Fox News, Fred Barnes, the executive editor of The Weekly Standard, said he was impressed with Kerry's eloquence. But that's as much credit as Kerry received from the Murdoch Empire. When Hughes showed up for an interview with Brit Hume, the anchor's questions included prefaces such as "First of all, I never saw the president this passionate or articulate" and "The only thing consistent about John Kerry is he is inconsistent." (During the weekend, Fox create some campaign buzz of its own when its political correspondent posted a satirical Kerry speech titled "The Metrosexual and The Cowboy" on the Fox Web site.)

I wrote last semester a column about the efficiency of the Internet in tracking down news articles. This is especially relevant when looking for political information. Google News is an unscientific, but reliable enough method to gauge the press' analysis and criticism of the candidates. A search yesterday for the words "Kerry eloquent debate" yielded approximately 100 articles. It should be mentioned that Google News is hardly a replacement for LexisNexis, but it is convenient to the average Internet user and, more importantly, free of charge. Search results include a wide variety of sources including small foreign newspapers and partisan Web logs, but there are plenty of reliable sources to make a user confident in Google's ability to gather news.

The search for "Bush stammering" produced 44 articles, but "Kerry flip-flop" (after the debate) presented 334 items. Those conducting a more basic search will find that the phrase "Bush won the debate" with 33 results was overwhelmed by "Kerry won the debate," which yielded 302 articles. Following up on the praise for the moderator, a search for "Lehrer good moderator" produced 312 items.

Despite its usefulness in compiling news articles, an Internet search logarithm cannot stand alone in analyzing the response to the presidential debate. Polls taken since the debate have shown marked improvement for Kerry. Before last Thursday, most polls had Bush up between five and 10 percentage points. Newsweek's latest poll suggests that Kerry is now up three points (that is still inside the margin of error).

The first debate changed the course of public opinion quickly and so can the subsequent engagements. The media was correct in "awarding" the first presidential debate to Kerry. More importantly, ignoring partisan screeds, bizarre search results and Fox's practical jokes, the judgment on the debate was conducted through honest reporting and fair analysis.