Thoughts on the Democratic debate

I recorded the first part of the debate, and if someone else hasn't already uploaded it to YouTube, I'll try to put it up over the weekend.

Some quick thoughts:

Joe Biden: What a shame that this guy is such an egotistical blowhard and Washington insider tool of the banking companies, because he invariably gets the best lines in ("Don't do it, no! Don't make me speak!" ). When you don't have Mike Gravel on stage, he's the best jokester. Biden is a hell of a smart guy. Dead wrong most of the time, but smart.

Bill Richardson: A better performance than we've seen so far, but still seems to be running for Secretary of State in a Clinton administration.

Dennis Kucinich: Dennis gives me fits, because if I were going to vote on an issue-by-issue basis of who absolutely most closely reflects my values and what I'd like to see, it's Dennis Kucinich. But while pragmatism is the kind of thing that makes people think Hillary Clinton is "electable", I realize that my utopian dreams are never, ever going to be enacted into law, because this country is never going to elect a president who advocates a "Department of Peace." I love what Kucinich is standing for, and I adore him for being the one person in the House to introduce articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney. I want him out there fighting the good fight, but he's just not a viable presidential nominee.

Barack Obama: Obama looks tired and worn out already, which makes me wonder what he'd do when the Republicans get hold of him. He sounds like the college professor played by Donald Sutherland in National Lampoon's Animal House before taking the kids home to get high with him. He's knowledgeable, earnest, and utterly, fatally dull. Obama is going to be great someday, but he just doesn't seem ripe yet. And his naïve insistence that you can reach across the aisle and compromise with people who will leave you with a bloody stump where your arm used to be makes him fresh meat for the Republican hate machine. Sorry, Barack...not this year.

Chris Dodd: Good Lord, what on earth has this man done with his hair? And did he have Botox? He looked terrible. Dodd has had a fantastic couple of weeks, with his almost singlehanded crusade (along with Russ Feingold) to prevent the telecom companies from obtaining immunity from prosecution for illegal surveillance of Americans and mass dragnets of their communications. But last night he sounded just loud and bombastic.

Hillary Clinton: I realize that I'm the only progressive woman blogger in the country who DOES think Hillary is playing the gender card, but enough already with the "I'm inspiring to women" bullshit. I don't give a shit if Candis Cayne is president, if s/he can end this Godforsaken war in Iraq, stop the hemorrhaging of money in the Middle East, get us going on alternative energy, stop the migration of jobs overseas, and repair our reputation in the world. I'd love to be able to support a woman for president, but not one who's cozying up to Indian outsourcing firms, having lunch with Rupert Murdoch, and whose husband is making nice with the likes of Richard Mellon Scaife. You want me to believe you're a progressive, Hill? Then stop hanging out with the worst kind of corporatists and wingnuts.

John Edwards: Not quite as flawless as the last debate, but strong. The media has decided to put the Howard Dean is Angry cape on Edwards this time out, and this is one time when his youthful looks and honeyed voice serve him well to dispel that framing. This guy hasn't made $30 million in courtrooms fighting corporations for nothing. He correctly reminded the audience several times during the debate that the so-called "attacks" on Hillary Clinton aren't personal, but are about pointing out differences. He's not calling HER corrupt, but she IS working within a corrupt system, and it is perfectly legitimate to point that out.

See Edwards video from the debate here.


That the Iowa race is a dead heat at this point, and that John Edwards could possibly pull out a win is giving the mainstream media fits. Newsweek/MSNBC's Howard Fineman is doing his duty for General Electric by penning a love letter to Hillary. MSNBC's Chuck Todd is being a good corporate soldier by keeping up the notion that this is a two-person race. CNN political editor Mark Preston says she recovered after her last weak debate performance.

Because when you're Hillary Clinton, and you have America's biggest corporations behind you, not outright screwing up means you won.