Random Debate Thoughts

I think CNN should be credited for holding a substantive discussion of the issues between the Democrats, that occasionally waded into the waters of actually being a debate. Brian Williams should be hanging his head in shame. There was not one bullshit gotcha question about haircuts, tell-all books, middle names, and what have you. Wolf Blitzer takes a lot of abuse from the left, but he should be commended.

Hillary Clinton's strategy is to blur the lines on Iraq. She wants the voters to believe that every Democratic candidate is completely united, and that if that's the case, you might as well pick Brand Clinton, giving that everyone's the same. Edwards and Richardson did try to push back against that, particularly Edwards. But it's clear that's the strategy. I was also, frankly, amazed that Clinton used the phrase "we're safer, but not yet safe" when talking about the threat of terrorism. That's the EXACT same phrasing George Bush used in 2004 to defend his policies. It's insulting to try to fearmonger as well as defend policy in the same way.

Edwards did try to tell a lot of truths tonight. He occasionally got muddled, and sometimes the truth forced him to praise his opponents. But he was more interested in articulating leadership through accountability and honesty.

Obama I thought did very well - though, like Chinese food, I cannot really remember a heck of a lot of it 30 minutes later.

They should play a drinking game with Richardson about what four-word resume epithet he'll start each answer with. "I'm a governor." "I'm from the West." "I've been to Darfur." "I was US ambassdor." It's annoying, and it makes it seem like he's lying to me.

Dodd gave the most concise, most reasoned, most substantive, and best answers out of virtually everyone up there. His answer that the top priority in the first 100 days is to restore Constitutional rights endears him to me greatly.

Joe Biden was forceful on Darfur and it stood out. When Blitzer asked everyone if they supported military action in Darfur everyone started asking for parameters. I am glad that both Clinton and Obama rejected the very premise of hypothetical questions. That's important. Other than that, Biden still buys into right-wing frames about de-funding the troops rather than the war.

I think Kucinich was lucid on all of the issues, didn't veer off into kumbaya territory, and I think it's very important to have him on that stage, to articulate in favor of single-payer and the tragedy of NAFTA, for example.

Gravel is an example of how you should never answer a question in a Presidential debate with "I get my meds from..."

more reasoned stuff later. Good debate.