I didn’t get a chance to watch the debate last night but read through the liveblog that was hosted at FA and you can get a little bit of a feel for it. And even better feel is scrolling through Memeorandum and viewing the wails and cries from the left about how “unfair” the ABC moderators were for asking tough questions.
In perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years, ABC News hosts Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous focused mainly on trivial issues as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in Philadelphia. They, and their network, should hang their collective heads in shame.
And there ya have it. “Trivial issues”…..lies and questions of character are NOT “trivial.”
David Brooks from the NYT’s has a more thoughtful analysis of the debate:
The journalist’s job is to make politicians uncomfortable, to explore evasions, contradictions and vulnerabilities. Almost every question tonight did that. The candidates each looked foolish at times, but that’s their own fault.
We may not like it, but issues like Jeremiah Wright, flag lapels and the Tuzla airport will be important in the fall. Remember how George H.W. Bush toured flag factories to expose Michael Dukakis. It’s legitimate to see how the candidates will respond to these sorts of symbolic issues.
Second, Obama and Clinton were completely irresponsible. As the first President Bush discovered, it is simply irresponsible statesmanship (and stupid politics) to make blanket pledges to win votes. Both candidates did that on vital issues.
Both promised to not raise taxes on those making less than $200,000 or $250,000 a year. They both just emasculated their domestic programs. Returning the rich to their Clinton-era tax rates will yield, at best, $40 billion a year in revenue. It’s impossible to fund a health care plan, let alone anything else, with that kind of money. The consequences are clear: if elected they will have to break their pledge, and thus destroy their credibility, or run a minimalist administration.
The second pledge was just as bad. Nobody knows what the situation in Iraq will be like. To pledge an automatic withdrawal is just insane. A mature politician would’ve been honest and said: I fully intend to withdraw, but I want to know what the reality is at that moment.
The third point concerns electability. The Democrats have a problem. All the signs point to a big Democratic year, and I still wouldn’t bet against Obama winning the White House, but his background as a Hyde Park liberal is going to continue to dog him. No issue is crushing on its own, but it all adds up. For the life of me I can’t figure out why he didn’t have better answers on Wright and on the “bitter” comments. The superdelegates cannot have been comforted by his performance.
And Ed Morrissey believes this debate should answer the question on when the nominee will be decided:
The last Democratic debate has finally concluded, and perhaps the last chances of ending the primaries early. Thanks to a surprisingly tenacious set of questions for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton from ABC moderaters Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous, Barack Obama got exposed over and over again as an empty suit, while Hillary cleaned his clock. However, the big winner didn’t even take the stage tonight.
The first 45 minutes of the scheduled 90-minute debate (which went 15 minutes over) wound up focusing on the series of gaffes and stumbles from both candidates. Hillary more or less defused the Tuzla Dash by admitting she essentially lied about it, trying at one point to use the “sleep deprivation” defense. Obama, however, never did figure out the First Rule of Holes. Once again, he described religion as a refuge people use when government doesn’t work — a fatal misreading of religious faith in America. He not only came up with bad answers, he looked lost and tentative throughout the entire period.
Hillary didn’t let him off the hook, either, not when it came to Crackerquiddick or on the Wright Stuff. Noting that “you choose your pastor, not your family,” Hillary once again pounded Obama for not doing anything about Wright when he had the chance. She also jumped at the chance to note that former Weather Underground terrorist William Ayers was more than just a “neighbor”, as Obama described him. Hillary pointed out that Obama and Ayers worked on a foundation together for years, even after 9/11, even after Ayers said publicly that he didn’t regret his terrorism.
And what was Obama’s response? He compared Ayers to Senator Tom Coburn, who opposes abortion. Of course, Coburn hasn’t bombed abortion clinics, but Obama can’t tell the difference between a Senator and a terrorist. That won’t help him in Middle America either, and Coburn may have a few words for Obama after this night.
He describes Obama has being lost and upset towards the end of the debate and Hillary stumbled through much of it. In the end Ed thinks McCain was the big winner of the debate:
The winner of this debate? John McCain. Both Democrats came out of this diminished, but Obama got destroyed in this exchange. If superdelegates had begun to reconsider their support of Obama after Crackerquiddick, they’re speed-dialing Hillary after watching Gibson dismember Obama on national TV tonight.
The focus group after the debate strengthens this position. Check out 3:45 minutes into it:
I’ll end with this Andrew Sullivan take on the debate:
It was a lifeless, exhausted, drained and dreary Obama we saw tonight. I’ve seen it before when he is tired, but this was his worst performance yet on national television. He seemed crushed and unable to react. This is big-time politics and he’s up against the Clinton wood-chipper. But there is no disguising the fact that he wilted, painfully. Clinton has exposed herself in this campaign as one of the worst shells of a cynical pol in American politics. She doesn’t just return us to the Morris-Rove era, she represents a new height for it. If she somehow wins, it will be a triumph of the old politics in an age when that is exactly what this country cannot afford. But Obama has also shown a failure to be resilient in this grueling process….
And so this was indeed a huge night for the Republicans, and the first real indicator to me that Clinton is gaining in her fundamental goal at this point: the election of John McCain against Barack Obama. How else will she rescue the Democrats from hope?
Wish I had seen the debate now….must of been fun!
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Obama’s core supporters are Stalinists.
I realized this about 5 months ago.
ABC just exposed the fact.
It was fun, watching these two stumble around shows there is still hope for America. They both lost. Stalinist, Marxists, Communists, socialist, and Obama favorite collectivists — they are all the same.
Gun control is going to finish off the Democrats.
Now if only the Republicans had a real candidate instead of a liberal stand-in.
@bill-tb
“Now if only the Republicans had a real candidate instead of a liberal stand-in.”
Yes, but given what they have running against him, he may just win in spite of that. And, again, given whats running against him, one certainly hopes he does.
Both of them want to use diplomacy to “restore the U.S’s prestige in the world,” yet they can’t seem to talk to the domestics coherently. Both are going to end up being seen as submisives.
Let’s say NAFTA turned out to be a bad idea and really did need to be changed. Would Canada and Mexico even listen to Clinton and Obama? Probably not unless they carried massive carrots which would cause more problems than whatever problems there were with NAFTA.
Unfortunately, that’s true yonason!
I think Obama got hit HARD last night and all I can say is IT’S ABOUT TIME!
If the media had been doing it’s job instead of cheerleading for Obama and reporting the number of people who swooned at his campaign rallies (talk about TRIVIAL reporting) then last night’s debate would not have been necessary.
The media has been hiding Obama’s dirty laundry and it was only because his character flaws are SOOO egregious that they have been forced, finally, to cover them.
“Hillary more or less defused the Tuzla Dash by admitting she essentially lied about it, trying at one point to use the “sleep deprivation” defense.”
Uhhh … remember sleep deprivation is considered to be torture? 🙂
“Obama, … [O]nce again, he described religion as a refuge people use when government doesn’t work — a fatal misreading of religious faith in America. He not only came up with bad answers, he looked lost and tentative throughout the entire period.”
Can you say, “idiot?”
Obviously, this pair showed why they do not deserve to be elected president, let alone serve in the Senate.
And, I forgot to add that Hamas endorsed Obama for president, today. It must have been that sterling performance last night that cinched it.
“Uhhh … remember sleep deprivation is considered to be torture?” — David
LOL
Oh, no! Then it really IS our fault for making so many demands of her rather than just succumbing to the inevitable?! And she lied to protect our widdle feelings by blaming the enemy instead of us? What a gal! Ohhhh, I am so ashame-ed. Do you suppose she will ever forgive us? Better to not elect her, just in case.
_____________________________________
@Mike’s America
I didn’t watch it, though now I’m wishing I had. Sounds like good entertainment. Also, what I’m hearing now sounds better than what I read last night. According to a few reports the press kept throwing softballs at Obie without asking any really tough questions, but maybe the reports were referring to “tough” by real-world standards, not “journalistic.”
It’s pleasing to see that the MSM may (and I emphasize MAY) be turning away from BHO; this election’s equivalent of Howard Dean. Early charisma, and slick online fund raising, aided by the MSM covering their flaws, could only cover up their radical cores for so long. Now, like the “Dean Scream,” BHO’s associations with racists like Wright, and his clear low opinion of those who “cling to guns and religion” (what you and I might call hard-working Middle America), finally is coming to light.
With luck the MSM will abandon BHO’s campaign like rats from a sinking ship. On the other hand, the Presidential Election is too important to just assume BHO is done for and switch our sights onto Hillary. Let the blogosphere continue to pile it on until BHO comes to an ignominious end at the DNC convention this summer. Then onward to a McCain victory in November!
I also saw that ABC’s debate was getting bashed for bringing up so-called trivial issues. However, I think it is important to expose these candidates for who they really are. Especially Barack Obama. Truly, we really didn’t know much about Obama early on. However, we are getting a better picture of who this guy is, especially in the last few months. I had a chance to catch a little more than half of the debate and it was entertaining watching him squirm.
Boomer
Right Wing Squadron
http://www.rightwingsquadron.com
@David
“And, I forgot to add that Hamas endorsed Obama for president, today. It must have been that sterling performance last night that cinched it.”
I don’t think it hurt that his cult, uh, church likened the Hamas charter to our Declaration Of Independence, or that they published it in their weekly propaganda rag.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=59456
Hamas may be evil, but they aren’t as stupid as a lot of leftists. They value consistency of performance above empty rhetoric, unless of course that empty rhetoric is designed to obscure consistency of one’s pursuit of evil.
Also, from that WND article above, we have…
“…a recent WND article quot[ed] Israeli security officials who expressed “concern” about Robert Malley, an adviser to Obama who has advocated negotiations with Hamas and providing international assistance to the terrorist group.”
And we thought Carter was bad!
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/04/killing-carter.html
UPDATE: More on how Hamas Hearts Hussein O’Bomber, and the Islamic evil all the Left thinks they can “dialogue” with them about.
Yes, MAY. It’s cute to see how little some conservatives understand the media world. I guess that’s what happens when you convince yourself that the “Drive-by Media” is some dark cabal bent on speading “socialism” throughout our great country. Most outlets lead with Hillary’s (forced) statement that she believes Obama can win in the fall so I’m guessing they haven’t abandoned him yet…
As far as his actual chances, even as a supporter I wouldn’t give it more than 50-50. Still, what does it say about McCain as a candidate when our country can be subjected to 72 straight hours of “God Damn America” rants and he still is neck and neck with Obama?
You guys should find this funny. Here’s an article by someone at Obama’s SanFran fundraiser. While it does give more context to the statements made, referencing Rashomon dosn’t exactly downplay the elitist part…
I’m not a big fan of Charlie Gibson, he’s an sonorous wet-blanket flecked in mildew with all his gloom and doomsaying.
I guess he couldn’t take a happy-pill and hide that natal aspect from Barak Jingleheimer Obama, or Hillary Rodham Clinton. I imagine that with George Puppy Stephanopolus ABC might have felt they had an antidote to the daily-dismal…but noooo.
So good!
I didn’t see the debate, but have heard lots about how the left is complaining about the questions asked Obama.
What a bunch of crybabies.
If they think this is rough, what do they think will happen if he’s actually elected president? That the White House press corps will throw softballs? That they’ll always only talk about “substantive” issues?
And if he can’t handle a few journalists, how does he expect to handle Putin or Ahmadinejad? I’m sure he’s read nothing of the times when Eisenhower or Nixon met with Khrushchev, and had to deal with the latter’s ranting and raving.
Obama supporters think that we’re all just supposed to accept their guy being carried to glory on their shoulders, that he’ll be annointed the new Messiah, and heaven forbid anyone rains on their parade.