Debate in Ohio

Barack Obama has a mesmerizingly and awestriking way of answering questions. I have not ever seen this in a candidate for President where he is not trying to strike points against his opponent, but trying to answer the question truthfully and honestly, what I think is his most appealing quality and why his campaign is doing so well. I think the pundits have it all wrong on him, that he is not good in debates that Hillary beats him (no doubt she is good).

Toward the end of the debate there was a question regarding Minister Farrakhan and could have been troubling for him. It stuttered a bit and then Clinton tried to hit him and he refreshingly answered it honestly, recovering and even scoring some points with the audience.

Tim Russert, I thought was outright unfair in some instances to both candidates and I think this is a situation where MSNBC tried to be part of the dialogue instead of asking questions. I thought it a bit shameful. It is gotcha politics and has nothing to do with the candidates. Russert did it with Clinton as well on the Iraq situation and she rightly shut him down.

The Debate in Austin

A couple of clips from the debate where Obama did well. This is for my mom who told me she had to work and could not see the debate. Since she is a huge fan of Barack Obama and I get MOST of my political instincts from her I wanted to do a bit of a wrap-up.

I thought the debate was a tie. Barack did very well, though at times seemed to go through the motions. I did love his immigration arguments (as well as Hillary), his belief in changing the system and why he can do it and the fight on the plagiarism charge (which is simply preposterous). See why below and why Hillary did the same thing. Anyway, they both did well and I don't think it will change things.




Keith's wrap-up on the debate which is near perfect.


And certainly Hillary's best moment in the debate. Was it conciliatory or was it a new day in the Clinton campaign? I am not sure. It may be her best moment in the campaign, although at first I thought it was a little pandering, but then she did score. Although, Talking Points Memo says she took the line from her husband in the 1992 campaign.

Debate in Hollywood

I thought the debate was very good and very substantive. I have posted the Iraq argument that I thought was good, a little fractured because of lenghts, etc. I thought Senator Clinton dug herself a bit of a hole in the Iraq argument toward the end. She also probably had the best line of the night when talking about the Bush Presidency and the Clinton dynasty. She said, well I think it took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush, so it might take a Clinton to clean up after the second. Pretty good and got rousing applause.

The Democratic Presidential Debate

The debate was interesting and I think it is time to begin paying attention to these debates. This election will be decided within 90 + days if you can believe that. So, it is time. If you want a clip to see how Clinton stumbled and other parts of the debate go here.

Though, I think it is clear Hillary Clinton is powerfully intelligent and knows how to debate better than all of them, maybe with the exception of Edwards. Edwards and Obama attempted to go after her. At the beginning Obama did not do well, his attack strategy seemed more like a conversation, but I thought he did score points throughout the debate. John Edwards seemed to do Obama's bidding for him as he is surely trying to get back into this race. The polls are showing that his candidacy is beginning to wane. If I would pick a winner it would be Edwards. He was articulate, strong, showed clear differences between what he and Obama claim from Clinton and also admits what many have said here, that he is not above purity in contributions, but he is honest about it, which is more than we can say for most of these guys and gals.

But, Hillary is strong and extremely gifted at debate, more than I ever thought possible. I think she is wrong on policy, but she knows how to defend her positions. Although, she seriously faltered at the end of the debate and if you wish to watch, here it is:


I think the entire debate strategy is completely ridiculous and flawed, however. Asking Dennis Kucinich if he saw a UFO was preposterous. I wish he told them to go stick it. They barely asked him any questions and when they do they ask him about UFO's? And above at the top here look at the talk clock on Dodd's website. They asked Hillary, Obama and Edwards all of the questions with a few to Biden, Dodd or Richardson and Kucinich was way behind. Biden is last because he answers very quickly and does not go on long like the others.

The only time I clapped out loud was for Kucinich and the only time I felt inspired was by what Edwards said about changing the course of our nation and turning the country back over to the people.

Edwards/Kucinich ticket.

Obama Wins the Debate

Barack Obama is now saying he will limit his participation in these debates. He took a beating at the beginning of this debate, but it seems from these voters reactions he withstood the challenge and came out smelling like roses.

I watched most of the debate this morning and too was impressed with Senator Obama. I am often disappointed listening because of the lack of diversity of issues discussed, but Obama often says things many of us are feeling and that can only help him.

A fact I did not know in Iowa is the race is tightening. The latest ABC News poll has Obama at 27%, Clinton at 26% and former North Carolina senator John Edwards at 26%. What I find interesting is Iowans along with those people in New Hampshire seem to be very discerning voters. They have expected much from the candidates because of their "first in the nation" status for decades now. Though, these voters are predominantly white, regional and religious as compared to say, where I live, New Jersey. Where right now, Hillary is the runaway favorite. But, these voters are not fooled and they see a snow job coming a mile away.