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NH: The Dems Debate
posted at 2008-01-06 00:29 | Last modified 2008-01-06 01:08
Richardson: Pretty nice job. He's SO angling for VP. But on whose ticket?
Key Moments: After a bitter exchange between Clinton and Obama, Richardson had the best laugh line of the night:
"Well, I’ve been in hostage negotiations that are a lot more civil than this."
But then he got plaintive:
"Whatever happened to experience? Is experience kind of a leper? … We want to change this country, but you have to know how to do it, and there’s nothing wrong with having experience. So, I love change. We all are for change. But the question is, examine the record of those that in the past have produced change….we need somebody who’s been tested."
Clinton: Not bad, overall, and better as it went on. She started off a little defensive, as in this tirade after an Edwards comment about change:
“Making change is not about what you believe – it’s not about a speech you make – it’s about working hard. …I want to make change, but I’ve already MADE change. I will continue to make change. I’m not just running on a promise of change, I’m running on 35 years of change. I’m running on having taken on the drug companies and the health insurance companies, taking on the oil companies. So I think it is clear that what we need is somebody who can deliver change. And we don’t need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered. The best way to know what change I will produce is look at the changes I’ve already made."The video's here.
Key Moments: On a question about her likeability, which lags behind Obama's:
Clinton: “Well, that hurts my feelings, but I’ll try to go on. He’s very likeable, I agree with that. I don’t think I’m that bad.
Obama: "You’re likeable enough, Hillary."
Clinton: "I appreciate that." (That's big of you, Barack!)
After Edwards and Obama talked up their respective records:
"Can we have a reality break for a minute? We don’t have a patients’ bill of rights. Obama’s campaign chair in New Hampshire is a lobbyist. He lobbies for the drug companies. Words are not action. As beautifully presented and passionately felt as they are, they are not action.
Clinton keeps talking about 35 years of experience – but last I checked, she’d only held elected office for not quite 8 years. Am I wrong?
Edwards: Winner, hands down. He was the most passionate, the most articulate, hit the right notes – and he seemed to mean what he said more than anyone else on stage. Obama was cautious, Clinton was testy, Richardson felt like a throwback, but Edwards was, in ESPN-speak, en fuego.
Key moments: On fighting lobbyists and special interests:
"This battle is deep inside me, and it’s personal. And it matters whether its personal or not. Because if it’s either academic or political, when the tough fight comes, you’ll walk away from it, you’ll do what’s political. This fight is deeply personal to me. We need a president who believes deeply – in here - believes deeply in this battle. And it is personal for me. When I see these lobbyists roaming around Washington DC taking politicians to cocktail parties, I mean, the picture I get is my father and my grandmother going in that mill everyday so I could have the chances I’ve had. Where is their voice in this democracy? When are they gonna get heard? They need a president who will stand up for them. And so does every American who is listening to this debate."
It was his best moment in any debate this campaign season. Is it too late to matter? Maybe.
Obama: Who? He was wallpaper. Unflappable, sure, but unremarkable. Aside from one early sharp exchange with Clinton re health care, he was bland, vague, academic, dispassionate. Lots of buzzwords and broad themes, but very light on details. Curse of the frontrunner, lack of experience, or lack of a speechwriter?
Key moments: Well, none. But his campaign thinks he "did well." Were they there? Okay, seriously, as frontrunner, he played it safe. But there IS such a thing as too safe - and I think anyone who tuned in tonight hoping to be inspired was likely disappointed. Edwards spent more time defending Obama than Obama did.
Last Question: Charlie Gibson asked the Dems whether they made any mistakes during the debates this season they'd like to correct.
Not surprisingly, the two frontrunners elected not to point out their mistakes. Safe, sure, but wrong. Edwards and Richardson both scored big by being a little more honest.
Richardson: "Picking Whizzer [Byron] White [as his favorite Supreme Court justice]. I idolized John F. Kennedy, and I figured if Kennedy appointed him, he must be okay. But then I come to find out he was against Roe v Wade, against civil rights...That wasn’t a good one.”
Edwards: "It’s when I made the horrendous mistake of teasing Hillary about her jacket. [To Clinton:] I think you look terrific tonight."
The full transcript is here.
So who do YOU think won? Drop me a line.
