Soooo close! As to the debate, I didn’t watch. Yell at me if you want, but I can’t work up much enthusiasm for the 08 race yet. And no, I haven’t watched the earlier debates either.
I think giving Blitzer the ability to craft who got how much time was absolutely lousy. He managed to give time in clear proportion to their standing — which only made the Gravel/Dennis/Biden tier frustrated and angry.
I think each candidate should be given exactly the same amount of time.
Biden best response by calling for public fianancing of elections
Dodd runner-up for saying he would restore the constitution first day in office
Wolfie is supposed to moderate the Republics on Tuesday. I would like for someone to do a compare between his performance tonight and his performance on Tuesday and then rub his nose in the discrepancies in treatment that I’m sure will be glaringly obvious to anyone with a brain. Olberman, Stewart or Colbert?
I think giving Blitzer the ability to craft who got how much time was absolutely lousy. He managed to give time in clear proportion to their standing — which only made the Gravel/Dennis/Biden tier frustrated and angry.
I think each candidate should be given exactly the same amount of time.
I think you are right but I am glad there were no bells or whistles or flashing lights. They give the debate a sort of gameshow feel.
JANE! This one was better than the first, stupid questions notwithstanding. And miles ahead of the rethugs. i liked Hill and Edwards. And Kucinich. I’m with Teddy, I could stand any of them (except maybe Toofs) for Prez.
I just can’t sit through the self-important inanity of the moderators. How bad was Wolf’s beard? (And by this I mean to mock Blitzer, his beard is his most redeeming feature.)
Biden best response by calling for public fianancing of elections
Dodd runner-up for saying he would restore the constitution first day in office
Wolfie is supposed to moderate the Republics on Tuesday. I would like for someone to do a compare between his performance tonight and his performance on Tuesday and then rub his nose in the discrepancies in treatment that I’m sure will be glaringly obvious to anyone with a brain. Olberman, Stewart or Colbert?
I think I’m still not sure who I support. I was split Edwards/Richardson. Now Richardson’s off my list. But I’m not 100% Edwards. I think I need to hear more about Dodd and Biden. I like some of what I’ve heard, but I haven’t heard enough.
I’m afraid part of why I like Edwards is that I like Elizabeth.
Biden’s comment on public financing was great. Maybe he could get his friends in the credit card industry to help with this from some of their bankruptcy boondoggle he helped set up.
I found Dodd impressive in his limited chances to speak and I also find him to be an honest broker out there (which just probably means my BS factor is down on him). That said, still hard to see him with a chance in this whole thing, but stranger things have happened (actually, they haven’t).
I think I’m still not sure who I support. I was split Edwards/Richardson. Now Richardson’s off my list. But I’m not 100% Edwards. I think I need to hear more about Dodd and Biden. I like some of what I’ve heard, but I haven’t heard enough.
I’m afraid part of why I like Edwards is that I like Elizabeth.
Don’t be afraid….We’ve been stuck w/Ms Laura and the Lint Twins for the past tooooo many years.
She gets the nomination and I’m sitting this one out.
As long as you vote for Dems down ticket, Rev. They still need you. I sure hope a Repug sits out too, though.
No problem with the down ticket dems. But Hill is a DLC hawk.. There’s no way I can support her. And she will rally the wing nuts like there’s no tomorrow.
Gotta turn it off. Carville and Brazille are the dem pundits. Puke time again.
I think giving Blitzer the ability to craft who got how much time was absolutely lousy. He managed to give time in clear proportion to their standing — which only made the Gravel/Dennis/Biden tier frustrated and angry.
I think each candidate should be given exactly the same amount of time.
I think you are right but I am glad there were no bells or whistles or flashing lights. They give the debate a sort of gameshow feel.
Hillary Clinton will be a disappointing nominee because she’s such a nasty warhawk. But any one of those candidates will be far, far better for this country than the torture-loving fascism dreamers of the GOP.
I have to agree with an earlier comment that it is now time for about 3 of them to drop out, so the rest will have a bit more time to give answers.
If a listener has to read between the lines and doesn’t realize Clinton’s “withdrawal” doesn’t really mean ALL, then they’re never gonna learn what the candidates are about.
I didn’t realize it, but the comments about Obama failing when the answers require more detail is probably an indicator he would fall further and faster if there were only about 4 candidates on-stage.
All supporters on the left of Obama or Hillary should think hard about who they’ll support if their particular candidate withdraws. I can’t see a supporter of Gravel or Kucinich or Dodd or Richardson ever going that far to the right. They’d practically have to repudiate their entire stance on the Iraq occupation.
It will also be interesting to see which Dems and consultants analyze the Repub debate aftermath on Tuesday since I’m seeing Wormtongue then JC Watts then Donna Brazile. Yu-u-cch!
Hillary came out okay: perhaps I expected less. She stuck it to Wolf with his stupid hypotheticals. That’s good. Edwards: snippy and tried to hard. barack: kept no 2 slot. Wolf was looking to skewer and got smacked down a couple of times.
Overall ok: but I was not impressed with the questions by the two moderators. Those from the guests/voters/showed their pre-occupations and were sensible.
I think giving Blitzer the ability to craft who got how much time was absolutely lousy. He managed to give time in clear proportion to their standing — which only made the Gravel/Dennis/Biden tier frustrated and angry.
I think each candidate should be given exactly the same amount of time.
Is it any different than the networks calling the Presidential election before polls close in the central time zone? Not really.
Democracy is a farce.
[yeah, I said it, but Pat Buchanon said it first.]
Taped speech of Law ‘n Order Fred on CSPan. inserted caption that he will announce formally “the week of July 2″ Any bets he does it on the 4th? How very patriotic of him to announce on the same date that Adams and Jefferson died.
She gets the nomination and I’m sitting this one out.
I would ask you not too. If Clinton get the nom we will need every vote we can get in order to keep a Republican out of the white house.
Nope. Electoral college.
In the heavy Dem vote states (I’m in CA), if the Dems anoint another DLC candidate, I’ll vote Green (the party, not Nader) and hope others in “safe states” do the same.
edit - still want to see the Dem win - but divert as much support as possible for Green policies.
As long as you vote for Dems down ticket, Rev. They still need you. I sure hope a Repug sits out too, though.
No problem with the down ticket dems. But Hill is a DLC hawk.. There’s no way I can support her. And she will rally the wing nuts like there’s no tomorrow.
Gotta turn it off. Carville and Brazille are the dem pundits. Puke time again.
Maybe I misunderstood for I thought Arianna was gonna comment.
I think obama blew it…He doesn’t think well on his feet. Hillary came out well and knows how to snap a towel. Biden pounded the table with surprising pyth. I think Gore saw this and got closer to deciding to run.
I think obama blew it…He doesn’t think well on his feet. Hillary came out well and knows how to snap a towel. Biden pounded the table with surprising pyth. I think Gore saw this and got closer to deciding to run.
No problem with the down ticket dems. But Hill is a DLC hawk.. There’s no way I can support her. And she will rally the wing nuts like there’s no tomorrow.
Gotta turn it off. Carville and Brazille are the dem pundits. Puke time again.
Maybe I misunderstood for I thought Arianna was gonna comment.
They keep teasing her appearance to keep us watching while Wormtongue, Watts, Brazile, Wolfie,, and King try to sound erudite and involved. And aware of reality (V-e-r-y difficult for all of them to do)
The advertisements for the GOP debate are so CNN. It’s like a boxing match with all of their images popping onto the screen one after another. Gotta make old men look active, I guess.
I think they all should have beat up on W more. And Cheney.
You saw how the crowd reacted to Hill on Cheney’s “diplomacy” — they loved it. We need more active, outright, open mockery of our current Administration, their policies, execution, and hatefulness.
Do they have to tell everybody they’re not just Democratic pundits, but supporters/operatives for a particular Dem candidate?
Ooh, Mark, be careful with the excising comment content. I didn’t say that bit about Carville and Brazile (although somebody did me the favor of saying it…).
EPU’d from several exciting threads ago. But Carville is evil, and so is his wife Mary Matalin. She worked with Scooter and Darth Cheney to promote the Iraq War. If she has not committed crimes, she still is a vicious lying neo-con, helping raise money for Libby (as does Fred Thompson).
I think obama blew it…He doesn’t think well on his feet. Hillary came out well and knows how to snap a towel. Biden pounded the table with surprising pyth. I think Gore saw this and got closer to deciding to run.
Did he? I don’t see that. I think Hillary was relxed, I don’t know that she won though. I think the three “top” all did well. I can’t vote for Clinton in the primary though because of her vote on Iraq. She can say she voted for it becuase she wanted to have the inspectors stay, but she voted for the use of force. That was not hidden from her when she voted.
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN ) – Columnist and author Eric Alterman was arrested Sunday night inside the debate spin room and charged with criminal trespass after police say he refused repeated orders to leave.
Hillary looks fantastic - I know, sexist to say so - but wow.
Fantastic — now, if that were what was really important in a president.
Can you imagine anyone being concerned with whether Teddy Roosevelt was handsome?
Did it seem odd for her to say “we did it before” when talking about Bill Clinton’s administration balancing the budget? It certainly sounded odd to hear Newt Gingrich taking credit for balancing the budget. Why don’t we give credit to Al Gore, after all he broke the tie in the Congress to get the ball rolling despite not a single Repub vote (and Hillary wasn’t yet a Senator). Yay Al!
Actually, Teddy Roosevelt’s active Rough Rider public image, carefully crafted by a man who grew up as a sickly lad, was very important to his political success.
You know, I can tactically agree with Hillary having done well, her answers are polished, blah, blah, blah, but as that MW Crowley said, as a woman she has to project a certain toughness…
Why is that? I’m not quite in RevDeb’s ’sit it out if Hillary wins’ camp, but I’m awful close. Is Hillary locked into this ‘I’m a tough broad’ schtick?
i’ve been in the anybody but hillary camp for awhile, mostly because i’m tired of hearing and reading about the clintons and i think we could all use a break from the clinton/bush endlessness. but geez, i’d love to see hillary on the stage against any republican candidate, she’d be totally dominant, win a lot of voters, and give a ton of ammunition to use against the—you know—sexists, nascar dads, wife beaters, wingnuts, etc.
MarkH #88,
You’ve got a good point. It would be wise of the Democrats to take the budget issue away from the R’s by repeating that every time the question comes up-Not One Republican Voted for the Plan That Balanced the Budget.
The Rep debate was so painful I was ashamed for them. This was a little better. I am hungry for substance. What was there of substance worthy of the presidential seat of power in this debate? Maybe someone found something I missed. Hillary reminds me of the old regulars in Louisiana politics.
I think obama blew it…He doesn’t think well on his feet. Hillary came out well and knows how to snap a towel. Biden pounded the table with surprising pyth. I think Gore saw this and got closer to deciding to run.
Just the opposite - he saw Senator Clinton take another dogged step toward the nomination and ordered seconds on dessert.
Actually, Teddy Roosevelt’s active Rough Rider public image, carefully crafted by a man who grew up as a sickly lad, was very important to his political success.
Are you really trying to say Teddy Roosevelt was a success because he looked rough? Really? I suppose you also think Dubya is a great leader because he said “Bring it on!”
Larry King should not wear those suit pants without the coat. He should have on a less in your face stripe rather than the gangster look.
But those suspenders are one of his trademarks, and he’s proud of them.
Bob in HI
I got no problem with the braces, I mostly wear them myself. Far more comfortable than wearing a belt. But just the look of that bright pin-stripe, gangster suit and the dark shirt was not a good look.
The view from here is that geting rid of the Republicans in 2008 is absolutely critical. People of principle may not be able to find it within themselves to vote for certain candidates. And I respect that.
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN ) – Columnist and author Eric Alterman was arrested Sunday night inside the debate spin room and charged with criminal trespass after police say he refused repeated orders to leave.
there’s more.
they’ll need one cell for him and one for his ego.
No, I don’t think that. But I think that appearance has always mattered in modern Presidential politics. I was making a light point about your Roosevelt comparison, since you brought him up. I hardly deserve the charge of approving of W in any way, form, or forum.
Are you really trying to say Teddy Roosevelt was a success because he looked rough? Really? I suppose you also think Dubya is a great leader because he said “Bring it on!”
Roosevelt’s father instilled in him a great desire to be a force of good in the world. Things like creating the national park system was a direct result of his father’s great love of nature and the environment. His “rough rider” image gave him the public confidence to be a strong leader but he didn’t forget his past.
You can contrast this with G.W. Bush’s relationship with his father til the cows come home.
Yeah. A few weeks ago, someone called his wife Cruella DeCarville and after a little discussion, I decided that Wormtonge was an appropriate name for him so we have Cruella and Wormtongue DeCarville…
I thought Edwards showed the most respect to the people in the audience, which I suppose one could call “authenticity.” Although I liked Hillary’s smackdown of Wolfie just fine.
And why is John King interviewing voters who haven’t decided between Democrats and the GOP? This is a primary debate, CNN, let’s keep it pure. Of course, all the commentators are GOP.
I thought Hillary did a great job. I have to agree with what David Gergen just said on CNN, she looked Presidential (and the other guys didn’t, really). She sounded authoritative, her answers were good. On the “would you assassinate Osama” question, she was able to say that her husband had tried to, which (though it didn’t work, obviously) sort of reinforced that she’s in a different tier than the other guys. She’s been around the block.
I thought Obama sounded somewhat tentative with some of his answers.
Kucinich is insane, obviously.
Edwards’ answer to “what will you do in your first 100 days” kind of stank. Travel the world in order to reassert America’s moral authority. This is dumb - you can assert America’s moral authority by staying in the U.S. and being a good leader. Whether the rest of the world will respect us again will depend on our actions and policies, not whether they get a visit from a President. Unless we’re talking about Gabon.
Dodd actually had one of the better answers to this question: restore the Constitutional rights in our country (he’ll do that on Day One).
I also thought Hillary looked fantastic. Her hair and makeup were really good. That buttery yellow undershirt she was wearing matched her hair exactly, her eyeshadow was subtle but tasteful, and I even like her modified mullet.
So, who had the best hair of the night. It should be Edwards hand down….
My rankings:
Top-hair - Obama, Edwards, Clinton, Dodd (I don’t know why, but it works!)
Good hair - Gravel, Biden
Beauty-school dropout - Richardson, Kucinich
Hillary and that make-up. She rocked!! They should have her stylist on Larry King later.
I thought Edwards showed the most respect to the people in the audience, which I suppose one could call “authenticity.” Although I liked Hillary’s smackdown of Wolfie just fine.
And why is John King interviewing voters who haven’t decided between Democrats and the GOP? This is a primary debate, CNN, let’s keep it pure. Of course, all the commentators are GOP.
New Hampshire has open primaries. An independent can go in to vote, declare a party, vote and then declare back to an independent immediately after voting.
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not the zed
I think that if everyone weren’t so damned sick and tired of the Bush Crime family we wouldn’t be paying this much attention this early in the cycle.
That’s what I think.
Gosh I’m glad I’m gonna get to vote for one of them for President — and that one of them will BE President. It’s a helluva crowd.
RevDeb @ 3
Yeah we’re all taking a bath in previews of coming attractions to get us through the horror show.
RevDeb @ 3
And I think you’re correct. FWIW.
Soooo close! As to the debate, I didn’t watch. Yell at me if you want, but I can’t work up much enthusiasm for the 08 race yet. And no, I haven’t watched the earlier debates either.
I think these candidates so outclassed the opposition the debate was a slam dunk for the party of JFK, etc. et al.
Nice clip, FDLers. Shows how at ease and presidential Clinton was tonight. I’d forgotten the nifty Condi-Cheney dismissal…
Tom Watson @ 10
Trying to get Biden clip of public financing of elections up soon.
I think giving Blitzer the ability to craft who got how much time was absolutely lousy. He managed to give time in clear proportion to their standing — which only made the Gravel/Dennis/Biden tier frustrated and angry.
I think each candidate should be given exactly the same amount of time.
Jane Hamsher @ 11
Biden is talking about the money raising because he isn’t raising nearly enough.
Biden best response by calling for public fianancing of elections
Dodd runner-up for saying he would restore the constitution first day in office
Wolfie is supposed to moderate the Republics on Tuesday. I would like for someone to do a compare between his performance tonight and his performance on Tuesday and then rub his nose in the discrepancies in treatment that I’m sure will be glaringly obvious to anyone with a brain. Olberman, Stewart or Colbert?
TeddySanFran @ 12
I think you are right but I am glad there were no bells or whistles or flashing lights. They give the debate a sort of gameshow feel.
JANE! This one was better than the first, stupid questions notwithstanding. And miles ahead of the rethugs. i liked Hill and Edwards. And Kucinich. I’m with Teddy, I could stand any of them (except maybe Toofs) for Prez.
AC360 talking to Dodd now — he never fails to impress.
I just can’t sit through the self-important inanity of the moderators. How bad was Wolf’s beard? (And by this I mean to mock Blitzer, his beard is his most redeeming feature.)
dakine01 @ 14
Hopefully all 3! Arianna certainly will.
I think Hillary took it, hands down. Sorry RevDeb.
lolo?
What did I think?
I think watching/reading all the FirePups’ comments FIRST before watching the debate on YouTube is the best way to go.
You guys made me laugh the whole time, so much less stressful to watch it vicariously through you first.
(Family had adverse possession of the tube for a movie — worked out fine. They were out of my hair and I could enjoy the debate comment feed.)
I think I’m still not sure who I support. I was split Edwards/Richardson. Now Richardson’s off my list. But I’m not 100% Edwards. I think I need to hear more about Dodd and Biden. I like some of what I’ve heard, but I haven’t heard enough.
I’m afraid part of why I like Edwards is that I like Elizabeth.
Biden’s comment on public financing was great. Maybe he could get his friends in the credit card industry to help with this from some of their bankruptcy boondoggle he helped set up.
I found Dodd impressive in his limited chances to speak and I also find him to be an honest broker out there (which just probably means my BS factor is down on him). That said, still hard to see him with a chance in this whole thing, but stranger things have happened (actually, they haven’t).
AC says Arianna is coming up on CNN. They make a nice couple I think.
Loo Hoo. @ 21
She gets the nomination and I’m sitting this one out.
Jane Hamsher @ 11
I think I was in EPUsville when I mentioned that if you can get Biden here, all of the candidates will know how we feel about campaign finance reform.
Blitzer was so HORRIBLE it was it was difficult to watch
RevDeb @ 26
As long as you vote for Dems down ticket, Rev. They still need you. I sure hope a Repug sits out too, though.
I’m with OK kiddo that I will support the nominee of my party. It will be maybe with enthusiasm or maybe with regret but support the nominee I will.
RevDeb @ 26
I would ask you not too. If Clinton get the nom we will need every vote we can get in order to keep a Republican out of the white house.
Teddy, can you please call Hillary about using the correct term on the occupation?
Getting here late, I liked Edwards, seems strong, and straight forward. Liked some of Hillary, some of Dodd
Rayne @ 22
gotta agree
Zee @ 23
Don’t be afraid….We’ve been stuck w/Ms Laura and the Lint Twins for the past tooooo many years.
And Elizabeth is a great influence on John.
Larry King should not wear those suit pants without the coat. He should have on a less in your face stripe rather than the gangster look.
So, the first half of the debate they get lecterns, the second half they get what look like seats stolen from the first class section of a TWA flight.
I think they should be given unicycles for the next debate.
Jane Hamsher @ 11
That’s Biden’s high-water mark so far
Ugh. Wormtongue.
Rayne @ 29
No problem with the down ticket dems. But Hill is a DLC hawk.. There’s no way I can support her. And she will rally the wing nuts like there’s no tomorrow.
Gotta turn it off. Carville and Brazille are the dem pundits. Puke time again.
dakine01 @ 36
Zombies dont have good fashion sense.
I will support the nominee by voting for them but contributing money to them may be another matter.
I think Hillary, Dodd, Biden, and Edwards all did well. Obama and Richardson disappointed, Gravel is done; Kucinich did well-possible VP?
buckley @ 16
True. Both of you.
So who does JC Watts want to be the Democratic nominee?
Hillary Clinton will be a disappointing nominee because she’s such a nasty warhawk. But any one of those candidates will be far, far better for this country than the torture-loving fascism dreamers of the GOP.
I have to agree with an earlier comment that it is now time for about 3 of them to drop out, so the rest will have a bit more time to give answers.
If a listener has to read between the lines and doesn’t realize Clinton’s “withdrawal” doesn’t really mean ALL, then they’re never gonna learn what the candidates are about.
I didn’t realize it, but the comments about Obama failing when the answers require more detail is probably an indicator he would fall further and faster if there were only about 4 candidates on-stage.
All supporters on the left of Obama or Hillary should think hard about who they’ll support if their particular candidate withdraws. I can’t see a supporter of Gravel or Kucinich or Dodd or Richardson ever going that far to the right. They’d practically have to repudiate their entire stance on the Iraq occupation.
It’s gonna get interestinger and interestinger.
I think Edwards did as well as Clinton. Most aggressive, straight answers.
buckley @ 31
Frank33 @ 25
Speaking of beards. Does Wolfie use the Miami Device?
-GSD
It will also be interesting to see which Dems and consultants analyze the Repub debate aftermath on Tuesday since I’m seeing Wormtongue then JC Watts then Donna Brazile. Yu-u-cch!
Hillary came out okay: perhaps I expected less. She stuck it to Wolf with his stupid hypotheticals. That’s good. Edwards: snippy and tried to hard. barack: kept no 2 slot. Wolf was looking to skewer and got smacked down a couple of times.
Overall ok: but I was not impressed with the questions by the two moderators. Those from the guests/voters/showed their pre-occupations and were sensible.
Tom Watson @ 38
Agreed. It was one of the few answers in this debate that caught me off guard.
TeddySanFran @ 12
Is it any different than the networks calling the Presidential election before polls close in the central time zone? Not really.
Democracy is a farce.
[yeah, I said it, but Pat Buchanon said it first.]
Carville reminds me of Fire Marshall Bill
You know, Carville and Kucinich’s ears are remarkably similar.
Hillary looks fantastic - I know, sexist to say so - but wow.
Taped speech of Law ‘n Order Fred on CSPan. inserted caption that he will announce formally “the week of July 2″ Any bets he does it on the 4th? How very patriotic of him to announce on the same date that Adams and Jefferson died.
Gosh, hasn’t the GOP found a good high-profile no real responsibility role for JC Watts? I sure hope so, he’s great!
teeboy @ 37
LOL!!!
J.C. Watts pappy told him what for. He said “A black man voting for a Republican is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.”
-GSD
teeboy @ 37
707
omg another hour and 24 minutes of this commentary.
jc watts thinks wolf did a great job with all the egos on the stage.
RevDeb @ 40
Do they have to tell everybody they’re not just Democratic pundits, but supporters/operatives for a particular Dem candidate?
[Inverted quotes repaired by moderator]
buckley @ 31
Nope. Electoral college.
In the heavy Dem vote states (I’m in CA), if the Dems anoint another DLC candidate, I’ll vote Green (the party, not Nader) and hope others in “safe states” do the same.
edit - still want to see the Dem win - but divert as much support as possible for Green policies.
Free trade cultists destroy Green policies.
No vote for Hillary here.
After 6000 dead Americans, 655,000 dead Iraqis and half a Trillion dollars I’m really starting to buy into the Hillary is tough on terror thing.
teeboy @ 37
They could get one of those extra tall ones for Dennis so he can be around the same height as the others.
Loo Hoo. @ 59
I thought they were gonna have naptime for the third round.
Blankies and futons for everyone.
-GSD
RevDeb @ 40
Maybe I misunderstood for I thought Arianna was gonna comment.
GSD @ 60
so does the reverse apply?
RevDeb @ 65
Possible tickets:
Clinton/Obama
Edwards/Kucinich
Dodd/Kucinich
Biden/Richardson
Clinton/Richardson
Edwards/Obama
Gravel is insane. NO WAY would I want the Prez to have a line-item veto. ‘Earmarks’ need to be fixed in-house, with the congress
Arianna, Gergen, and some Murphy GOP guy on CNN now.
Everythingseemssoneat @ 64
don’t forget 25,000 wounded (Americans). Untolled number of Iraqis.
I think obama blew it…He doesn’t think well on his feet. Hillary came out well and knows how to snap a towel. Biden pounded the table with surprising pyth. I think Gore saw this and got closer to deciding to run.
Huff sez it was Hillary’s nite.
jcricket’s boy toy @ 73
I HOPE so!
newspaperbrat @ 67
They keep teasing her appearance to keep us watching while Wormtongue, Watts, Brazile, Wolfie,, and King try to sound erudite and involved. And aware of reality (V-e-r-y difficult for all of them to do)
lina- Good point.
I liked the replay of Biden saying that “the only one emboldening the enemy is Bush”
And Arianna isn’t being quite as hard on Hillary as usual just now.
Gergin says Hillary won.
Arianna says Hill was very successful.
Other guy: Hill did pretty well, but if you watch her with the sound turned off, she had problems. (???)
AC360 says hill tried to get a laugh on Cheney. I think Hill was surprised they laughed.
This murphy guy’s a boob.
The advertisements for the GOP debate are so CNN. It’s like a boxing match with all of their images popping onto the screen one after another. Gotta make old men look active, I guess.
I think they all should have beat up on W more. And Cheney.
You saw how the crowd reacted to Hill on Cheney’s “diplomacy” — they loved it. We need more active, outright, open mockery of our current Administration, their policies, execution, and hatefulness.
MarkH @ 62
Ooh, Mark, be careful with the excising comment content. I didn’t say that bit about Carville and Brazile (although somebody did me the favor of saying it…).
[Mod: fixed]
Zee @ 54
EPU’d from several exciting threads ago. But Carville is evil, and so is his wife Mary Matalin. She worked with Scooter and Darth Cheney to promote the Iraq War. If she has not committed crimes, she still is a vicious lying neo-con, helping raise money for Libby (as does Fred Thompson).
toobin: Hill’s best nite in public ever.
jcricket’s boy toy @ 73
Did he? I don’t see that. I think Hillary was relxed, I don’t know that she won though. I think the three “top” all did well. I can’t vote for Clinton in the primary though because of her vote on Iraq. She can say she voted for it becuase she wanted to have the inspectors stay, but she voted for the use of force. That was not hidden from her when she voted.
Uh oh
via Atrios
there’s more.
eRobin @ 56
Fantastic — now, if that were what was really important in a president.
Can you imagine anyone being concerned with whether Teddy Roosevelt was handsome?
Did it seem odd for her to say “we did it before” when talking about Bill Clinton’s administration balancing the budget? It certainly sounded odd to hear Newt Gingrich taking credit for balancing the budget. Why don’t we give credit to Al Gore, after all he broke the tie in the Congress to get the ball rolling despite not a single Repub vote (and Hillary wasn’t yet a Senator). Yay Al!
I was able to watch the first half of the debate and Hillary was great, as was Dodd. Unfortunately I missed the questions from the audience.
Edwards came across as sincerely trying too hard by knocking the others. He was a better fit running as VP with Kerry.
I heard Arianna will be chiming in on CNN so tuned out since she will be busy as usual knocking Hillary nonstop.
And then there’s Candy…and John King. Good Republics, all.
Actually, Teddy Roosevelt’s active Rough Rider public image, carefully crafted by a man who grew up as a sickly lad, was very important to his political success.
You can’t tell me that it was just luck of the draw that Senator Clinton was seated at the center of the stage.
You know, I can tactically agree with Hillary having done well, her answers are polished, blah, blah, blah, but as that MW Crowley said, as a woman she has to project a certain toughness…
Why is that? I’m not quite in RevDeb’s ’sit it out if Hillary wins’ camp, but I’m awful close. Is Hillary locked into this ‘I’m a tough broad’ schtick?
i’ve been in the anybody but hillary camp for awhile, mostly because i’m tired of hearing and reading about the clintons and i think we could all use a break from the clinton/bush endlessness. but geez, i’d love to see hillary on the stage against any republican candidate, she’d be totally dominant, win a lot of voters, and give a ton of ammunition to use against the—you know—sexists, nascar dads, wife beaters, wingnuts, etc.
Alterman got arrested?
eRobin @ 56
I thought she looked good, too. And it isn’t important to me, but there are people who do think it important. And they also vorw.
MarkH #88,
You’ve got a good point. It would be wise of the Democrats to take the budget issue away from the R’s by repeating that every time the question comes up-Not One Republican Voted for the Plan That Balanced the Budget.
Arianne trying to respond to Murphy contentions that Dems are weaker than they are…
dakine01 @ 36
But those suspenders are one of his trademarks, and he’s proud of them.
Bob in HI
The Rep debate was so painful I was ashamed for them. This was a little better. I am hungry for substance. What was there of substance worthy of the presidential seat of power in this debate? Maybe someone found something I missed. Hillary reminds me of the old regulars in Louisiana politics.
vorw = vote
I think I’ll turn on the lights now.
Ha! Gergan…Hillary beat back Blitzer, she won (paraphrasing)
TeddySanFran @ 72
Let’s see. A former GOP’er, a current GOP’er and and current GOP’er’s media flack.
Fair and balanced.
-GSD
jcricket’s boy toy @ 74
Just the opposite - he saw Senator Clinton take another dogged step toward the nomination and ordered seconds on dessert.
TeddySanFran @ 90
Are you really trying to say Teddy Roosevelt was a success because he looked rough? Really? I suppose you also think Dubya is a great leader because he said “Bring it on!”
I didn’t watch the debate but I think it was Curlin by a nose.
Bob Schacht @ 99
I got no problem with the braces, I mostly wear them myself. Far more comfortable than wearing a belt. But just the look of that bright pin-stripe, gangster suit and the dark shirt was not a good look.
The view from here is that geting rid of the Republicans in 2008 is absolutely critical. People of principle may not be able to find it within themselves to vote for certain candidates. And I respect that.
GSD @ 49
Well, Yassir Arafat’s barber was unemployed. . .
Bob in HI
leslie @ 95
Well, as long as they don’t biwu it’s cool.
RevDeb @ 88
they’ll need one cell for him and one for his ego.
dakine01 @ 39
Carville?
Bob in HI
No, I don’t think that. But I think that appearance has always mattered in modern Presidential politics. I was making a light point about your Roosevelt comparison, since you brought him up. I hardly deserve the charge of approving of W in any way, form, or forum.
I’m not neccessarily a Hillary fan, but in all fairness she seemed the most ready for primetime tonight.
Edwards’ messaging is much better than Obama’s.
Gore could do well if he decided to make a run.
TeddySanFran @ 90
Roosevelt’s father instilled in him a great desire to be a force of good in the world. Things like creating the national park system was a direct result of his father’s great love of nature and the environment. His “rough rider” image gave him the public confidence to be a strong leader but he didn’t forget his past.
You can contrast this with G.W. Bush’s relationship with his father til the cows come home.
Bob Schacht @ 111
Yeah. A few weeks ago, someone called his wife Cruella DeCarville and after a little discussion, I decided that Wormtonge was an appropriate name for him so we have Cruella and Wormtongue DeCarville…
I thought Edwards showed the most respect to the people in the audience, which I suppose one could call “authenticity.” Although I liked Hillary’s smackdown of Wolfie just fine.
And why is John King interviewing voters who haven’t decided between Democrats and the GOP? This is a primary debate, CNN, let’s keep it pure. Of course, all the commentators are GOP.
I thought Hillary did a great job. I have to agree with what David Gergen just said on CNN, she looked Presidential (and the other guys didn’t, really). She sounded authoritative, her answers were good. On the “would you assassinate Osama” question, she was able to say that her husband had tried to, which (though it didn’t work, obviously) sort of reinforced that she’s in a different tier than the other guys. She’s been around the block.
I thought Obama sounded somewhat tentative with some of his answers.
Kucinich is insane, obviously.
Edwards’ answer to “what will you do in your first 100 days” kind of stank. Travel the world in order to reassert America’s moral authority. This is dumb - you can assert America’s moral authority by staying in the U.S. and being a good leader. Whether the rest of the world will respect us again will depend on our actions and policies, not whether they get a visit from a President. Unless we’re talking about Gabon.
Dodd actually had one of the better answers to this question: restore the Constitutional rights in our country (he’ll do that on Day One).
I also thought Hillary looked fantastic. Her hair and makeup were really good. That buttery yellow undershirt she was wearing matched her hair exactly, her eyeshadow was subtle but tasteful, and I even like her modified mullet.
Obama looked best in the sitting position.
So, who had the best hair of the night. It should be Edwards hand down….
My rankings:
Top-hair - Obama, Edwards, Clinton, Dodd (I don’t know why, but it works!)
Good hair - Gravel, Biden
Beauty-school dropout - Richardson, Kucinich
Hillary and that make-up. She rocked!! They should have her stylist on Larry King later.
TeddySanFran @ 116
New Hampshire has open primaries. An independent can go in to vote, declare a party, vote and then declare back to an independent immediately after voting.
CNN has found a woman who can’t decide between Republicans and Democrats.
Where can they have found such a person? I’m gobsmacked.