I figure we need a thread for this. Hillary and Obama are going for the throats. This is going to be good!
Anyone else watching?
I only watched about the 1st hour, and won’t be able to watch the rest until later tonight, but so far it appears that Obama is getting mostly applause while Hillary is getting some applause but a considerable amount of booing, too.
I am upset, because when they both tear each other down like this, it weakens the party and gives the Republicans ammunition. I think it got ugly and I have only watched half (had to pause).
What Obama needs to do is to put the onus on Wolf Blitzer. Tell him to do a segment tomorrow on how the campaigns compare in terms of accurately describing the other side. He shouldn’t introduce any new stuff into the debate-- just stick to debunking the recent outlandish comments of Bill and Hill.
I tend to agree with you, John, as to how the candidates came off in the first half. But I’m a fan of Obama’s. On other sites, I’ve seen people calling this Obama’s worst debate yet. I think this is indicative of the “Rorschach” nature of this race: each of us takes the same event and sees it differently based on our opinions of the candidates.
You should’ve stuck around for the second half (which is still going on). Much more sedate, but some funny one-liners. Best one, in my opinion was when Obama was asked whether Bill Clinton was the first black president:
“I’d have to see him dance to decide whether he was, indeed, a brother”
Was it me, or did Obama not shake Hilary’s hand after the debate? If he did, I missed it.
He did, right before he shook Edwards’
Good. I’m glad to see I was wrong.
Oh sure, nothing like marching in lockstep to demonstrate how strong your party is.
There aren’t enough eyes to roll.
The purpose of these primaries is to hash out where the parties ought to go - and if you’re not comfortable with that, then maybe you’d be happier with the party bosses making those choices for you. That’s how it used to be done.
All in all I found the debate rather petty and high schoolish - “Yeah, but Ms Warner? She said that I said… and that’s not true!” I admit that I only caught from when they sat down on the stage and onward, however. That question about whether B. Clinton was the first black president was a complete waste of time, and there were other questions just as silly. Why would MLK support you? “Well, actually, he wouldn’t, MLK would support Obama. Next question, please.”
I kind of hope Edwards gets a bump from this. Though, I hope he drops out if he doesn’t.
That was a good line. Brilliant, really. Neither Hillary nor John could have said anything like that. Quite deftly and subtly, Barack showed that he could connect to black folks in a way that others just can not: with racial humor.
Overall, though, I found him a little slow in his delivery tonight. At one point, probably after the “Bill Clinton is black” question, I felt he was rambling (but then he made a nice recovery). Maybe that fight tired him out a little, I dunno. I thought Hillary made herself look terrible when she tried to talk over him. Obama got a nice shot in about how sometimes he’s not sure who he’s running against–Hillary or her husband.
I thought Edwards was really strong tonight. And he’s still acting as if he shouldn’t be counted out just yet. Hillary was also pretty good, when she wasn’t trying to be cut throat.
I also thought Edwards did better tonight than he has in the past.
That kind of personal remark is what I hate to see in these debates. Thanks.
What kind of personal remark? I’m not sure what you’re referring to.
I’m a little disappointed in both Barack and Hillary for the sniping, but after watching the whole thing, I think of the two of them, the eventual loser will be able to handle it and roll their support into a national general campaign.
I have seen a lot of these things, they’re all starting to roll into each other.
I liked how Hillary got in “Rezko” and “slum lord”. Go, Hillary!
I only saw a clip of it on the news and I was pretty shocked. I think it weakens politics in general and it’s been showing up in Congress on both sides.
Hillary better chill, cuz Obama would be the best Veep she could hope for.
Hillary won’t pick Obama for VP.