QUICK TAKES ON THE DEBATE
Fist, the Seattle PI's recap.
-A lot of people were forecasting that this debate would be a "gang up on Dean" debate, but aside from some Lieberman silliness, this simply did not come to pass. Nothing that was said in the debate did anything to compromise the slightest bit of Dean's momentum.
-When Lieberman did go after Dean, Holy Joe dug himself quite a hole. He attacked Dean's stance that the Bush tax cuts should be repealed in full, sternly claiming that "the Bush recession would become the Dean depression" if such a policy were implemented. Of course, Dean's stance is that tax rates should be at Clinton levels . . . and Lieberman doesn't want to go back to that? This doesn't matter really, because everytime Lieberman, or anybody for that matter, attacks Dean, the good doctor raises large sums of money.
-Gephardt looked better than I have ever seen him. I admit, I was a little young to follow his 1988 campaign, but he was solid. His repetition of the phrase "miserable failure" gave me chills similar to Howard Dean's "fundamentalist preachers" speech in Sacramento back in February. He's lucky that Sharpton, the king of kickass anti-Bush soundbites, couldn't make it.
-Kerry was good, louder than usual, I just don't feel him distinguishing himself. Same with Edwards and Graham. Those three candidates seemed to get lost in the crowded field.
-Half of the candidates took time to recite a couple lines of Spanish here and there. This was certainly expected given the audience and format (the moderators were bilingual as well), so it escapes the designation of "shameless pandering".
-The first twenty minutes of the debate were a non-stop thrashing of Bush's Iraq policy by the candidates. It's amazing how well-articulated this viewpoint can be on TV when there isn't some wing-nut talking head interrupting every five words. They say that the Democratic Party would be best served if it united behind one voice, its eventual nominee, to focus its attacks on the administration. But I must tell ya, eight voices assailing the administration for its abuses, deceptions and mistakes ain't all that bad.
There will be a number of debates in the coming months, and they may or may not include retired General Wesley Clark, whom I'd be excited to see in a debate format.
What I'll remember most from this debate? 1) "miserable failure", and 2) Lieberman's hapless attacks on Dean.
Fist, the Seattle PI's recap.
-A lot of people were forecasting that this debate would be a "gang up on Dean" debate, but aside from some Lieberman silliness, this simply did not come to pass. Nothing that was said in the debate did anything to compromise the slightest bit of Dean's momentum.
-When Lieberman did go after Dean, Holy Joe dug himself quite a hole. He attacked Dean's stance that the Bush tax cuts should be repealed in full, sternly claiming that "the Bush recession would become the Dean depression" if such a policy were implemented. Of course, Dean's stance is that tax rates should be at Clinton levels . . . and Lieberman doesn't want to go back to that? This doesn't matter really, because everytime Lieberman, or anybody for that matter, attacks Dean, the good doctor raises large sums of money.
-Gephardt looked better than I have ever seen him. I admit, I was a little young to follow his 1988 campaign, but he was solid. His repetition of the phrase "miserable failure" gave me chills similar to Howard Dean's "fundamentalist preachers" speech in Sacramento back in February. He's lucky that Sharpton, the king of kickass anti-Bush soundbites, couldn't make it.
-Kerry was good, louder than usual, I just don't feel him distinguishing himself. Same with Edwards and Graham. Those three candidates seemed to get lost in the crowded field.
-Half of the candidates took time to recite a couple lines of Spanish here and there. This was certainly expected given the audience and format (the moderators were bilingual as well), so it escapes the designation of "shameless pandering".
-The first twenty minutes of the debate were a non-stop thrashing of Bush's Iraq policy by the candidates. It's amazing how well-articulated this viewpoint can be on TV when there isn't some wing-nut talking head interrupting every five words. They say that the Democratic Party would be best served if it united behind one voice, its eventual nominee, to focus its attacks on the administration. But I must tell ya, eight voices assailing the administration for its abuses, deceptions and mistakes ain't all that bad.
There will be a number of debates in the coming months, and they may or may not include retired General Wesley Clark, whom I'd be excited to see in a debate format.
What I'll remember most from this debate? 1) "miserable failure", and 2) Lieberman's hapless attacks on Dean.
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