For the first time, it’s a one-on-one debate. As my mother-in-law pointed out, it’s now an historic race, because the Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States will be either a woman or an African American.
I’m not live blogging the event, but I’ve been following a few blogs that are, including AmericaBlog and Raw Story. So far, I think both candidates are doing quite well and I’m happy to see quite a bit of collegiality, as that bodes well for Democratic party unity after the primary.
The quote of the night: “Somewhere along the line the Straight Talk Express lost some wheels.” — Barack Obama (and “I don’t think Republicans will be in a position to argue fiscal responsibility,” Obama said to cheers from the audience, noting the more than $4 trillion national debt).
UPDATE: Well, that was a great debate (”shockingly substantive,” according to Josh Marshall)! There was real substance in this one (20 minutes on health care?!?! Yee-haw!) and everyone seemed to be relaxed and enjoying themselves. Both candidates looked good. Perhaps the knowledge that no one is on the ropes on Super Tuesday allowed them to take it easy. The talking heads seem to think that Obama had a slight edge on debate performance (mainly because Clinton still can’t answer that question about her vote on Iraq without babbling, and still won’t admit that her vote was a mistake), but I don’t think there was any clear winner or loser.
Here is the transcript!
UPDATE: cool transcript with interactive video!
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Shazam!
CHICAGO, IL– Democrat Barack Obama’s campaign today revealed that they had raised 32 million dollars in January alone– equaling his total haul in the 2nd Q of 2007, the three month period where he had previously raised the most.
By contrast, John Kerry only hauled in $7.6M in January 2004.
Today’s astonishing revelation means that Obama has raised more money in one month than Republican frontrunner John McCain raised for the entirety of 2007. The Clinton campaign isn’t disclosing how much cash they’ve raised in January, a probable indication that they haven’t done as well in the funding race.
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Well, now it’s down to just Clinton and Obama. They will be debating the issues tonight (8pm est, CNN). At the moment, I’ll leave it to the candidates to highlight the contrast in their approaches to the issues faced by our nation, and instead look at the problem of electability. We Democrats will all rally around our candidate once we’re past the primary. You can argue the merits of one candidate over another, but with three potential Supreme Court appointments waiting for the next president, it is absolutely essential that we elect a Democrat in November. Here are just a few people who have shared thoughts about who has a better chance of winning against the eventual Republican nominee.
(Also, keep in mind that we’re not just electing a president. If we have a weak nominee, that will have an effect on the state and local races. We need to look at which candidate will get out our own forces without motivating large numbers of the opposition to go to the polls and vote against our down-ticket candidates.)
Continue reading ‘Electability’
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I just ran across this on Barack Obama’s website.
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Oy. I have to take a break from posting about politics for the evening. I just watched the Republican debate and the setting was the Reagan Library in California. Apparently when a person walks into that building, he (or she) is immediately stricken with a horrible case of Reagan Tourettes. If I had been drinking every time a candidate uttered the word “Reagan,” I’d be at the hospital now, having my stomach pumped.
So, anyway, this 1-2-3-4-5 Meme has been sitting in my drafts for a week or so. I was tagged by Sravana, who got it from Keera, but it’s taken me a while to get through it all. So, without further ado…
Continue reading ‘Republican Debate and a Meme’
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He’s reportedly struggling with the decision.
Richardson’s torn. He served in the Clinton White House, first as ambassador to the United Nations, then as Clinton’s Secretary of Energy. “I have a history with the Clintons,” Richardson said. “And I’ve always liked her. She always seems very genuine.” But Richardson considers Kennedy, who’s long been respected by Hispanics, as “a mentor.” In 1982, when Richardson ran for Congress for the second time — he lost two years before — Kennedy flew to Santa Fe and campaigned for him. “That might have been the reason I was elected,” Richardson said. And he said he likes Obama, telling a story about how Obama saved him during one of last year’s Democratic debates:
“I had just been asked a question — I don’t remember which one — and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn’t going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, ‘So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?’ But I wasn’t paying any attention! I was about to say, ‘Could you repeat the question? I wasn’t listening.’ But I wasn’t about to say I wasn’t listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, ‘Katrina. Katrina.’ The question was on Katrina! So I said, ‘On Katrina, my policy . . .’ Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, ‘Obama, that was good of you to do that.’”
The article goes on to wonder if Richardson is trying to negotiate “a vice presidential spot in the Democratic ticket, or perhaps a place in the cabinet.” I’ve been thinking for a while that an Obama/Richardson ticket would be a great one. Richardson would bring some important foreign policy experience to the ticket, while also giving it ethnic and geographic diversity.
The coming days leading up to Super Tuesday are going to be very interesting.
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This is terrible.
I really hoped that he would stay in the race for the distance.
And after Billary’s performance last night,* there’s no point in trying to pretend to be a neutral, loving-all-the-candidates kind of Democrat (and this does make next week’s decision much easier a no-brainer), so…
Go, OBAMA!
*Let’s use a baseball analogy. Hillary, a baseball player, agreed with the other players to skip a game, and then ran the bases on an empty field and claimed a great victory. It is one of the most pathetic things I’ve ever seen. And it is just the kind of divisiveness we are trying to get away from in Washington!
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Hillary Clinton does great when there’s no competition (but who does she think she’s kidding?).
Seriously, I’ve been trying to play fair and support all of our candidates. But the Clintons have a different playbook (especially when it comes to playing fair). This is one of the most pathetic performances I’ve ever seen (it depends on what your definition of “not campaigning” — or is it “pledge” — is?).
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