DailyKos on Why Obama Lost Thursday's Debate

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 10:42am

Kos has not been a Hillary fan, and this blog entry has been controversial.

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Why Obama lost Thursday's debate
by kos
Fri Feb 01, 2008 at 09:40:03 PM PST

On the substance of the debate, Obama might've squeezed out a narrow "victory". Hillary owned him on health care, but he owned her on Iraq, and Iraq was toward the tail end of the debate.

But on the politics, Hillary won.

Here's the bottom line: Hillary has the lead in most February 5th states. Despite the frothings of the anti-Hillary crowd, most Democrats like her and are comfortable with her. Therefore, Obama has to give them a reason NOT to vote for her, but for him instead.

Did he do that last night? Not that I saw. I noticed him agreeing with her a lot. And even when there were points of distinction, like drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants, he let Clinton off the hook instead of pressing the advantage. The two candidates seemed to be going out of their way to find common ground. That's great if people already like you and plan on voting for you (Hillary), not so great if you're trying to make up ground (Barack).

In fact, as many people commented, the two looked like a ticket. And it's hard for Obama to win many crossover votes if people think Obama is part of the package if they vote for Clinton.

Obama won big in South Carolina after establishing clear distinctions between himself and Clinton in their South Carolina debate. Obama may be be gaining ground nationwide, but he lost an opportunity to bolster those efforts last night.
Why Obama lost Thursday's debate

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 5:32pm

Thanks for posting this, PalJoey. At this point, I'm going to be shocked if Clinton doesn't come away from Super Tuesday with the most delegates.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 7:10pm

Which are the best websites for researching congressional records, and FACTUAL political info, in your opinion?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/2/08 at 11:03pm

Eh. I prefer opinion. Facts bore me.