27 February 2008

Dem Debate Didn't Disappoint; Huckabee In State Also

Updated: Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008, 4:36 pm -- Time magazine has weighed in with its scorecard on last night's Cleveland debate. It gives Obama a B+and Clinton a B-.

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Well, the big debate among the two leading democrat prez nominees last night, held a mere two hours away from my home base, didn't disappoint. Hillary came out swinging, as I (and many others) predicted. She had to. Ohio is too critical. Texas, too, for that matter.

Stephen Green drunkblogged the event (armed with Chianti and gin martinis) and his stuff is entertaining reading. He also has a wrapup, and in the end he calls the matchup the great "Chinese Food Debate." Why? "An hour later, I remember there being a lot of stuff on the table, but all I feel is empty inside.”

Stephen has a liver that won't quit. He cracks me up.

Hillary didn't disappoint. She charged hard to prove she's the candidate who can win in November. She repeated her allegations that Barack Obama has distorted her positions on health care and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in mailings to Ohio dem voters. I did get one thing wrong. Neither uttered much of anything about Sen. John McCain, the republican front-runner for the presidency. It was a love-fest, however, or hate-fest on George W. Bush. The left loves to hate the president.
Oh, and nary a word about firearms. Not a peep. The new third rail of democrat politics?

He actually came across as calm and didn't punch back much, fending off her attacks much like a fencer. The Columbus Dispatch this morning says he avoided a damaging misstatement, "illustrating his growing skill as a debater in the 20th and perhaps defining debate" of that party's race.

I agree. He came out and attempted to let her appear angered and fired up, while he was calm, cool and collected. An interesting strategy. We'll see whether it works next Tuesday when voters in Ohio go to the polls, along with democrats in Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont.

While all attention was on the Cleveland debate, GOPer Mike Huckabee was in Columbus. He urged republicans to remember this is "not a coronation but an election."

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