Democratic Debate: Liveblogging Anyone?
Posted by Kyle E. Moore on Nov 15, 2007 in Uncategorized | 130 comments
I really think that I’m pushing my luck here, but I’m going to give liveblogging a shot tonight, and we’re going to do it in the comments thread right here. The debate, set in Las Vegas, Nevada is slated to start at 8pm EST, just one hour from now.
As always, anyone willing to jump in is free to do so as long as you don’t spam, and keep it relatively respectful. In the next twenty minutes, I’ll be kicking things off with my usual pregame wrap up, and assuming everything goes off without a hitch, we’ll be starting just as the debates start at 8 O’Clock sharp.
And I like what he says right here, Human Rights are more important than National Security, and you could see this giant grin on Howard Dean’s face, and Blitzer shuts him down just as he gets going.
Good answer by Richardson.
I hate to say it but Edwards’ answer was cliched and empty.
Edwards on Pakistan, lead a long term international effort to rid the world of nukes. not bad…
Obama on the same question, human rights more important than national security. I love his answer that the two do not have to contradict each other. Good answer.
ooh, Dodd takes national security over human rights… not going to make the base happy on that.
Obama nails it – Human Rights and National Security are NOT contradictory.
I was not thrilled with Dodd’s answer, very hawkish, much more hawkish than what we’ve seen from his thus far.
Hillary Clinton jumps straight on board and pretty much kinda blames Bush for making neoconservativism uncool.
Blitzer keeps on with bi-polarity, insisting that ity’s either or. These are standard Fox-style “trap” questions – “have you stopped beating your wife yet?” Obama tried to but didn’t quite say that national securioty is tied to human rights.
Thanks Dynamic. I agree, Hillary gets a good pop from the audience, but that is for mostly blaming bush..
Dodd’s answer was only hawkish because of the way the question was framed. That’s what an either/or question is designed to do. I’m impressed that most of the candi’s aren’t letting themselves get caught in the trap.
I’m going to give Richardson credit on coming out and saying that the Surge is not working. I just wrote a piece on that earlier today, and it’s nice to see someone recognize this and now kowtow to the recent developments and the spin that surround them.
You make a good point Mick.
kucinich on whether the surge is working, and for all of the tough talk that Dennis puts forth, i think it important that he voted against the House Bill. His rationale was that it didn’t go far enough, but at some point, you have to engage in pragmatism.
I have trouble with any candidate who says unequivocally that National Security is more important than Human Rights. That’s the kind of thinking that got us in this mess in the first place.
And I agree Mick, Blitzer’s insistence on “yes or no” ignores reality. “Are you with us or against us?” is a yes/no question too.
Obama on the surge, the soldiers are doing great, but the surge is failing based on political roadblocks, and he brings back the talk about being more diplomatic.
Brings up the highest casualty rates and he nails it, “just because we’ve gone from horrific violece to unacceptable violence…” Nice.
Obama’s making good points but he’s taking too long to get there.
Yeah, CNN is playing pretty raw, and trying to remove the nuance that often informs Democratic positions.
Dennis is getting hysterical, it pleases some, doesn’t please some, and he seems to have turned into Mike Gravel, now that Mike Gravel isn’t getting invited to these things. Dennis, who started off doing quite well in the debates, has become, essentially, self parody.
Blitzer really is trying to put people on the spot. And now to Clinton. Was Ross Perot right on Nafta…
Clinton delivered her trademark weird laugh. And she delivers some empty platitudes about NAFTA not doing what it was supposed to do.
edwards: nice speech on trade and how corporations rule. “We don’t need to replace a corporate Republican govt with a Democratic corporate govt.”
Hillary’s ducking the NAFTA disaster. Now she’s saying it didn’t work “as well as some hoped it would”. Cute.
Obama just mischaracterized the Peru deal again.
Obama’s going to have to answer some questions on the Peruvian trade deal, he nods towards some of the protections we wanted… But I like his evoking Japan’s plan.
But Biden trumps with his, “enforcing the agreement!”
Biden makes the point that the power’s in the WTO to shut down unsafe imports but Buish won’t enforce the agreement. There’s are a lot of problems with that response but yes, technically, he’s right.
Obama on nuclear waste. develop the science. First candidate to “go green” on stage tonight. And he’s getting some props on his answer. Obama just smacked Wolf down. Called him out for asking questions three times that required the candidates to assume something can’t be done. Got a huge pop for saying the reason he wanted to be president was because he believed he could DO these things. nice.
I’m going to back off of the nuclear stuff because i think it’s just funny listening to these guys talk about it.
Obama’s very good on the waste question, and I liked that he finally called Blitzer on the bogus assumptions in the question. The common element here is that every one of the questions from the CNN crowd assumes that what’s happening now is the best that can be done and alternatives are frivolous and pie-in-the-sky.
Hillary Clinton on exploiting gender the card.
“Not trying to play the gender card, just the winning card” and what came after that was the best she could have said, and that was, “they’re not attacking me because I’m a woman, they’re attacking me because i’m ahead.”
This, I think, is her make or break moment, and she made it brilliantly.
Gonna take about a ten minute break (keep it going mick)
Hillary was ready for the gender question and made mincemeat out of it. Hard to see how it could have been answered better.
Good answer from Edwards on the gender issue, putting it back where it belongs.
Halftime – anyone have any thoughts on who’s winning so far?
I think Obama is putting in a very strong showing. Hilary isn’t stumbling enough for my taste, though.
Edwards was courtly without being condescending – a neat trick. “The voters have a right to know there are differences between us. It isn’t personal.”
Taking a break for the Town Hall format.
Hillary looks a lot calmer, a lot less angry. She’s got herself under control, but she hasn’t really been tested yet. Of what I’ve seen, there’s been a lot of passion but the candi’s have been hamstrung by trap questions whose assumptions are bogus.
I agree about Obama, tho he’s still wandering too much before he gets to the point. But the big surprise to me has been Richardson who, for the first time I can remember, actually talked about issues rather than his resume. Big improvement, tho probably too little too late.
I’m going to agree with both of you folks right now.
As it stands, if we don’t see something significant in this second portion of the debate, that answer alone will give her a win, and more importantly a win on what has partly been dominating the chatter since the last debate.
You are right, Mick, if Richardson had been performing like this from the beginning, he might be doing better, and I think the truth on Obama is kind of in between you both. He’s pretty tight, at least for him, but not as tight as he could be. But ultimately, he’s delivered some very good answers as well, and I think his waste answer was great, and he had another real good answer before that (but I forget… I’ll have to go back through the lb script we have here).
And we’re back.
First question from a soldier’s Mom and NOT friendly to Bush ot his war.
ALRIGHT! We’re going to start right up on Iran, and for those in the please anyone but Hillary camp, I think the best we can hope for is her getting taken to task for her vote on the IRG.
The question is being asked by a mom of a soldier, and she’s kinda killing me here, and she’s choking up, and it’s hitting me pretty hard. Biden gets his first crack on it, and he brings the IRG vote directly up and he’s answering it thoroughly and well.
Mick: yeah, I guess he’s one of them phoney soldiers.
And go Biden for calling for impeachment again.
Clinton on her vote.
I thought Obama answered the China question very well.
I was surprised he didn’t get the merit pay for teachers question, since he has spoken on that before.
And does John Edwards seem to have the same answer for every question – “it’s the American people that are important!”
And that Hillary commentor is spam, posted the same comment on my blog
Clinton, on the fear of the IRG vote, “there is no basis for that fear.”
If Obama or Edwards don’t go after her over that, maybe they don’t deserve to win.
Biden raises “I” word: “Bush should be impeached if he starts a war in Iran.”
Hillary’s defending her vote to call the Iranian RG a terrorist group, but it came right after her arguing for diplomacy, whoich her vote undercut. Cognitive dissonance here?
Hey Terry! Glad to see ya here!
I’m gonna go back and delete that comment when I get the time to.
And thanks, it was the China question that I think I was talking about.
Edwards on the Iran question, and I’m going to be honest here, i really think these “thank you” display is disingenuous. And here he is going after Hillary on it and I’ll at least give him credit for that.
Well, it was kind of oblique. Obama’s answer is better.
Good answer from Edwards on the Iran vote, but yeah, gotta agree Kyle, I think the thank yous were a bit over the top.
Cognitive dissonence, thank you so much.
Now it’s Obama’s turn. He does a good job of reiterating his philosophy on diplomacy, it’s a strong point, and he does well.
Wolf takes him to task for not being there for the vote, and that is a fals attack. If you look at what happens, Obama was told that the vote wouldn’t occur that day, so he left, and then they held the vote.
Private contractors. is pulling contractors a practical solution to Richardson.
Answer yes, but unfortunately, he is returning to the kind of answers that have made him something of a joke in past debate performances.
Say it Rich… say it Rich… there you go PTSD… points for that.
Edwards – “Moral Leadership,” which I hope resonates with a lot of people.
I remember when we used to be the good guys, and I miss those days.
Haha, nice shot from Kucinich about the Patriot act too.
Racial profiling. What are you going to do to protect American civil liberties, goes to Edwards who did vote for the Patriot Act.
There is something about Edwards here… and he hits the key points, but there is something, and here’s the rub with him and why I’ve never really been a fan of him, and he really does feel like he’s kinda empty… I dunno.
Kucinich, meanwhile, who is getting the next question. Dennis has turned into the angry elf.
Edwards called the spying illegal and went after profiling.
You know, I expected the audience questions to be screened by CNN but they got a reporter from somewhere else (a zine?) who picked real people with real questions. That’s a relief.
Wolf Blitzer on Kucinich, you know something, Wolf only seems to call on Kucinich to do others harm, when Kucinich tries to do himself good, Wolf cuts him off.
Are illegal immigrants and terrorism fighting intrinsically involved with each other.
goes to Richardson.
You know, as this should be drawing down to a close, this debate has been something of a yawner…
“Mexico! Give jobs to your people!” I love that answer, and you know, I think the moderators were really looking to nail dems to the wall on immigration, and you know, I think the answers they are giving are better, more well thought out, than perhaps they were thinking. Not everyone is, like I am, for blatantly open borders.
Dodd opens up with his answer with a string of Espanol, not a bad thing for him.