Clintonth-Obamillionth Debate live blog
February 26th, 2008Debate summary: A win for Obama.
It was the best of the debates and both candidates were on top of their games. Obama had the two top lines of the night with describing Hillary as a “facilitator and enabler” of President Bush and describing the decision to start the Iraq war as driving a bus into a ditch. The latter metaphor was an important one to help illustrate to people the different states of affairs for his Senate votes. Obama was anti-war before and after the war was authorized but it nicely shows why he would necessarily have to vote differently once Clinton and congress handed Bush (who has a history of drinking and driving I believe) the keys.
Obama also took on a crazy line of questioning from Russert regarding Louis Farrakhan and still came out looking good. It was still very awkward.
Overall, the debate did nothing to slow Obama’s momentum. He still has ground to cover in Ohio and Texas is still a virtual tie. Seven days to go.
The complete live blog is continued after the jump…
10:34pm ET: Good closing arguments from both of them. Barack being amazingly presidential. Hillary going for the fighter line again. Meh.
10:24pm ET: If Obama could’ve pulled the name of Putin’s successor out of his butt and pronounced it correctly, he would have been declared the undisputed victor tonight. He answered the foreign policy questions pretty well it seemed.
10:22pm ET: Russert asks Clinton what she knows about Putin’s successor in Russia. She doesn’t seem to know his name. She didn’t. Russert helped her out.
10:20pm ET: Back from a commercial break. Williams asks Obama about his rating as, “the most liberal Senator” and “more liberal than Senator Ted Kennedy.” He pokes a few holes in the rating system and then rejects the labels citing more independent and Republican support.
10:14pm ET: Obama responds to Russert’s bizarre Israel/Jewish community question. Obama’s answer was good enough to be turned into a new rap song. Hillary is trying to show her strength of character. She’s even parsing her attack on Obama. Soooo lame. Barack even undercuts her Clintonion lameness with settling what the definition of “reject” is.
10:08pm ET: Russert asking Obama about Louis Farrakhan’s support of him. Obama handles it very well. And Obama shuts Russert up before he recites a ton of Farrakhan hate-quotes.
10:07 pm ET: During the commercial break, someone told Clinton to smile more and be less angry. She’s a different person.
10:05pm ET: Russert getting Clinton on the tax returns. Excellent. This is a big question. She’s not answering. She dodges baaaadly.
10:03pm ET: Russert getting Obama on the public financing question. He’s giving some good answers but Russert will press further. He’s not committing to Russert’s binary equation.
9:59pm ET: Someone I’m watching the debate with points out that Hillary keeps naming Ohio cities but has not mentioned any Texas cities at all. Is that an internal campaign concession showing?
9:56pm ET: Hillary asked about her comments. Says it was just a bit of humor. I personally thought it was a great dig on Obama and handled very well. She’s now on a rant about being a fighter - that is the same losing strategy that Gore and Kerry employed.
9:53pm ET: MSNBC flubs and asks Barack to respond to the wrong clip - the one where Hillary is mocking Obama’s hope speeches. Obama appropriately laughs at it and compliments her delivery. Hillary laughs and nearby horses flee in terror.
9:51pm ET: Coming back from the commercial. Hillary needs a better second half than the first one.
9:48pm ET: Hillary tries to talk over the commercial. That will piss off the Verizon phone dude.
9:45pm ET: Hillary slaps Russert for posing a fearful hypothetical. Her main complaint is probably that it’s her schtick.
9:44pm ET: Russert is unwilling to let Clinton talk over them. Blowhard vs. blowhard.
9:43pm ET: I blame CNN for the last debate being so terrible. This one is great.
9:40pm ET: Obama defends his Senate voting record regarding the war and he knocks it out of the park. He calls Hllary an enabler of W and refers to the decision to invade Iraq as driving a bus into a ditch and once it was done, there’s only one way out. Very good answer. Obama is on the top of his game.
9:38pm ET: This is the “kitchen sink” approach people were talking about today. She’s throwing a ton of garbage at Obama. Sooo many distortions. It’s just creepily sad.
9:36pm ET: What is with MSNBC’s “The Democratic Candidates Debate” font? It looks like it’s from a saloon. I hope this means a brawl will break out.
9:34pm ET: Brian Williams asking Obama about Hillary’s comparisons of him to George W. He does whant you’d expect, turns it into a question about authorizing the Iraq invasion.
9:32pm ET: Russert asking Hillary how she plans to create 5 million new jobs when she promised new jobs in upstate New York when she ran for Senate and the state a lot of jobs. Tough question.
9:29pm ET: Obama deftly handles the NAFTA question. Very calm, cool.
9:25pm ET: Russert nailing her on NAFTA citing quotes which clearly contradict her. She is angry. If looks could kill…
9:22pm ET: Just another thought on the SNL bit. The CNN debate was NOT easier on Obama. To cite that as evidence is sooooo stupid and willingly distorting things. But she is playing to the meme that she’s paranoid.
9:21pm ET: Hillary throwing a lot of distractions for two minutes then saying she’d like to debate the topic she was asked. Barack is winning on tone.
9:18pm ET: Wow. Hillary cites Saturday Night Live (!?! - welcome to crazy town) saying she gets the first question a lot. Queue TalkingPointsMemo to create a video showing all the times Barack is asked the question first.
9:15pm ET: She just seems so desperate. He’s winning the health care argument for the first time.
9:11pm ET: Hillary keeps calling her health care plan “universal” even though independent people have said she’ll leave more uninsured than Barack’s plan.
9:09pm ET: Obama gives Hillary a pass on the Drudge photo - he handled it very well. Obama also gives his best support of his health care plan.
9:06pm ET: Clinton arguing for accuracy after distoring Obama’s health care plan.
9:04pm ET: Williams wasting no time going right after Clinton’s Jeckyl and Hyde routine. Interesting use of video clips - they replayed Clinton’s “shame on you” rant - which may mean more Ohio folks saw it tonight than had seen it previously.
9:00pm ET: Putting the inking brush aside… and we’re off. Let it be said that MSNBC has the best campaign theme music. It’s a testament to how good it is that I’m not sick of it yet after hearing it soooo many time.
MSNBC suckered me with their ads. 8pm ET is just their pre-game show. It gives me more time to get today’s strip posted. I’ll be back at 9pm.
– Steve
Stumble it!
February 27th, 2008 at 10:53 am
You could try to appear a little less biased against Clinton. It would make your arguments more credible.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Nonsense, I saw the same debate. Steve got it right.
Clinton and Obama are very similar policy-wise, but she’s always lacked the ability to inspire. It’s not fair, and there’s the uncomfortable high-school analogy here, that of the studious girl being swept aside by the last-minute cool kid.
But there it is. If this ends for her soon, I hope she bows out gracefully. I think America could benefit by seeing more of her.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Inspiration is fine, as far as it goes. Speeches will not get the Republicans to stop opposing the Democrats, hold hands and sing cumbaya. I hope Obama turns out to be a great president, but he has not shown that he has the experience or judgment to run the country. I would have preferred Joe Biden or John Edwards to Clinton, but at least she knows how Washington D.C. works. Obama is just a one term senator that has no achievements to show. Were is his record of bipartisanship and of bringing people together in the Senate? Obama’s fans are giving him a free ride because of his oratorical skills. I am afraid that oratory alone isn’t going to better our economy or stop the war in Iraq. We need actions not mere words.
By the way, Hitler gave great speeches too. So much for nice speeches.
February 29th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
You can’t dismiss oratory. It’s Obama’s skills there that will keep GOP voters on the couch in November; they feel he will work with them. Hillary will get them out in force. They hate her worse than Bin Laden. Again, not fair.
And Obama has plans and policies, just as she does. It’s not “oratory alone.” But on that note, Kennedy, FDR, Reagan and Lincoln were known for powerful speeches. Hitler didn’t have a monopoly.
The biggest difference between the candidates is Obama favoring open government. He wants transparency for taxpayers. Currently there is no transparency in Washington, and it’s corrupt through and through.
When asked about transparency, Clinton looks confused as to why anyone would want such a thing. This does mean that she knows how Washington works. Unfortunately.