Is this the worst debate ever?

It's been over 30 minutes, and all they've covered is bittergate, pastorgate, and Bosniagate. Will we ever get to hear their thoughts on real issues???

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Well, I think you'll all have to admit that our good Senator from Noo Yawk knocked that debate kuh-lear outa duh ballpark!

Duh winnuh and kuh-leeeeeee-aar champeen:



The Next President of the United States

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Updated On: 4/16/08 at 11:32 PM

you know what i hated about the debates most?

i *expect* the moderator to be douches...maybe not in such a BANAL way, but douchey nontheless.
but i dont expect the candidates to ALLOW themelves to be framed that way and REENFORCE the media's phoney storylines.

McCain's night, to be sure.

Watching this party trade accusations about 60s radicals, however, was a low point. I thought often of Wilson's beautiful play, FIFTH OF JULY. "The country we almost made for you..." came down to this? A white baby boomer woman and a younger black man splitting hairs over Weathermen? This is where the left ended up? As for the impact of last night.. Winner? Loser? Anyone in either camp who feels like gloating this morning, well, all I can say is, enjoy.

McCain can start working on his Innaugural speech.

What I loved most: the cutaway reactions shots to Chelsea, in a beautific warm glow, in stark contrast to most of the rest of the house bathed in subdued and anonymous blue. I guess she just picked the right seat, huh?

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Salon.com nailed it. Lots of gotcha politics, little substance.

"Maybe it is just as well that these over-hyped battles behind dueling lecterns should come to an end after 22 (count them!) Democratic face-offs. Even though the candidates had not debated since Feb. 26 in Cleveland (another date that has been etched in history), they could not muster a single new argument between them. It would be one thing if this prolonged race were a titanic clash of ideologies or a desperate struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party. Instead, either candidate could have easily given Clinton's answer on Iraq: "So the bottom line for me is: We don't know what will happen as we withdraw. We do know what will happen if we stay mired in Iraq." In short, Obama versus Clinton has become a variety show without the variety."
The Fizzle in Philly

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Updated On: 4/17/08 at 09:08 AM

But can a candidate with a 54% negative, and a 38?% trustworthy "walk through fire?"

And is "the fire" not being stoked by the walk?

The gloating over a perceived triumph last night delivers ... what, ultimately? What is the goal here, a win in November, or a revenge on a biased media and a "duped" Democratic party? I thought the grand design was on leading a fractured, dispirited nation, unifiying a split party and a society addicted to internecine warfare, not proving that Chris Matthews is a sexist pig who can be trounced in his own mud, and that Obama supporters are naive idol fans. So Hillary Clinton triumphs, proving her opponent entirely unworthy of the nomination. She then moves on to ... conquor MSNBC? To rub the noses of everyone who voted for Obama in the resulting detritus?

I don't want to whine, I want my country back. I want to see a reversal of the brutalizing power-grabs of the past 7 years. Watching lines fed from Sean Hannity, and flag-pin lapels being debated, and ancient radicals' endorsements offered up as evidence of un-American values ... I see no step toward any kind of transcendence of the nasty climate we've weathered too long. Just more of the same.

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what a great night of television.

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"Worst. Debate. Ever.

The blogosphere is unanimous in declaring ABC's Democratic debate an absolute stinker
April 16, 2008 11:30 PM

Almost a year since the Democrats had their first debate of the presidential campaign, and what did we get in the latest one? A stinker, an absolute car crash - thanks to the host network ABC. It was worse than even those debates last year with 18 candidates on stage, including crazy old Mike Gravel.

It took almost 50 minutes into the debate before the first question came that resembled something to do with policy, rather than warmed-up campaign sniping phrased as questions, and which ran the gamut from banal to inane. At the end of the debate members of the crowd appeared to be booing moderator Charlie Gibson.

The blogosphere was not happy. Not happy at all...."


From the Guardian Unlimited.

Hillary actually thinks Fox is fair to her.

I'd swear PalJoey was actually Howard Dean.

Actually, I think Howard Dean and Donna Brazile should be put on trial for election tampering.

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pj is not howard dean. i would not buy howard dean drinks.

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Conceding that she did better in the debate, in my opinion, she needed even more. She needed him to blunder badly, and while he is not as polished a debater as she, he didn't muck up anything. I don't think she benefited from rehashing flag pins or Rev Wright. I think she could have benefited from more time on actual issues. I thought she did very well there, and could have had a bigger win with more focus on specifics.

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"The height of elitism (applying today's meaning) are those that think that we supporters of Obama are too goddamned aloof from reality and ill-informed to back a candidate based on his or her merits. "

Guess that makes me the height of elitism.

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