Live-blogging the Democratic debate
Because I feel compelled to do one of these….. 7:58 PM: Yep, even two minutes of Lou Dobbs Tonight is painful. 8:02 PM: Wow, Clinton dominated the walking-out-on-stage part of the debate!! 8:06 PM: Jesus, there have been seventeen debates?!! 8:07 PM: From the opening statements, a clear advantage that Clinton has over Obama in ...
Because I feel compelled to do one of these..... 7:58 PM: Yep, even two minutes of Lou Dobbs Tonight is painful. 8:02 PM: Wow, Clinton dominated the walking-out-on-stage part of the debate!! 8:06 PM: Jesus, there have been seventeen debates?!! 8:07 PM: From the opening statements, a clear advantage that Clinton has over Obama in these formats is the latter's hesitancy in his voice -- which plays into the belief that he's inexperienced. Hillary, on the other hand, does not lack in confidence. This will impress the commentariat, at least. 8:12 PM: Clinton just gave the GOP one guaranteed YouTube clip to use if Obama wins the nomination -- about how their policies are really so similar. This is not a new thought, but to have Hillary say it right next to Obama will make for a great ad. 8:17 PM: I like Obama's reply on the mortgage crisis.... and he's definitely winning the "kiss John Edwards' ass" contest. 8:24 PM: Clinton's response on the political realities of health care makes her sound like George W. Bush: neither of them will negotiate with themselves. 8:27 PM: Obama's "broadcast health care dialogue on C-SPAN" seemed like a deft comparison to Clinton's 1994 health care fiasco... until Wolf Blitzer made it overt. 8:28 PM: K-Lo on the debate: "Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney makes you feel good about America. McCain vs. Hillary makes you stressed." 8:30 PM: Andrew Sullivan: "They are not disabusing me of the notion that discussing the details of healthcare policy is really boring." 8:34 PM: GEORGE!!!!! Jason Alexander is in the house! 8:36 PM: As a former employee, it's worth pointing out that Hillary Clinton's claim that the RAND Corporation is "far from liberal" is a bit rich. If memory serves, they're actually pretty liberal on health care . 8:40 PM: I don't know if it will win him any votes, but Obama's refusal to blame immigration on inner-city unemployment was the right answer 8:48 PM: Clinton gets a point for bringing up the fact that she was co-sponsoring immigration legislation in 2004 8:50 PM: Is there any issue Clinton does not feel personally? 8:53 PM: We're almost at the halfway point... and my card-carrying Democratic Party life partner wife gives the edge to Clinton. 9:03 PM: A Bradley Whitford sighting... our long national nightmare is over. 9:06 PM: Wow, Hillary's wants to let me use my own crieria to evaluate my choice for president?!!! That's the most libertarian thing she's ever said. 9:11 PM: Pierce Brosnan in the house... is he an American citizen? 9:13 PM: And now I see Diane Keaton and Rob Reiner... thank God this audience is truly representative of America. 9:19 PM: One of the problems with watching too many of these debates is that many of these lines have been repeated seventeen times. 9:20 PM: America Ferrara and Alfre Woodard in attendance.... it's good to see Hollywood looking more like America. 9:23 PM: Hillary is proud to have Maxine Waters endorse her? Man, that's sad.... 9:27 PM: Topher Grace looks intense. 9:32 PM: Official Blog Wife on Hillary's answer on her Iraq vote: "Is this her 'I did not inhale' moment?" 9:33 PM: Hillary claims that no one could forsee that President Bush was bound and determined to go to war in Iraq? Um, really? That was pretty obvious to the entire blogosphere in the fall of 2002. UPDATE: And Obama makes exactly this point. 9:39 PM: Lou Gossett Jr. sighting. The first Oscar winner. UPDATE: And Spielberg as well... Garry Shandling did not win an Oscar. 9:46 PM: Good Lord, Hillary Clinton has the worst, most annoying laugh ever. 9:52 PM: Maybe they're good actors, but there seemed to be genuine affection between the two of them at the end of the debate. 9:53 PM: From the Blog Wife -- she gives a thumbs up to the earth-tones of Hillary's brown suit with the turquoise jewelry, but Obama's tie exuded cool. FINAL ASSESSMENT: I thought Clinton did marginally better on the nitty-gritty of policy, but Obama did better on everything else. More importantly, given his past debate performances, Obama did much better than expected. Thumbs up to Doyle McManus as well... and thumbs down to Wolf Blitzer.
Because I feel compelled to do one of these….. 7:58 PM: Yep, even two minutes of Lou Dobbs Tonight is painful. 8:02 PM: Wow, Clinton dominated the walking-out-on-stage part of the debate!! 8:06 PM: Jesus, there have been seventeen debates?!! 8:07 PM: From the opening statements, a clear advantage that Clinton has over Obama in these formats is the latter’s hesitancy in his voice — which plays into the belief that he’s inexperienced. Hillary, on the other hand, does not lack in confidence. This will impress the commentariat, at least. 8:12 PM: Clinton just gave the GOP one guaranteed YouTube clip to use if Obama wins the nomination — about how their policies are really so similar. This is not a new thought, but to have Hillary say it right next to Obama will make for a great ad. 8:17 PM: I like Obama’s reply on the mortgage crisis…. and he’s definitely winning the “kiss John Edwards’ ass” contest. 8:24 PM: Clinton’s response on the political realities of health care makes her sound like George W. Bush: neither of them will negotiate with themselves. 8:27 PM: Obama’s “broadcast health care dialogue on C-SPAN” seemed like a deft comparison to Clinton’s 1994 health care fiasco… until Wolf Blitzer made it overt. 8:28 PM: K-Lo on the debate: “Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney makes you feel good about America. McCain vs. Hillary makes you stressed.” 8:30 PM: Andrew Sullivan: “They are not disabusing me of the notion that discussing the details of healthcare policy is really boring.” 8:34 PM: GEORGE!!!!! Jason Alexander is in the house! 8:36 PM: As a former employee, it’s worth pointing out that Hillary Clinton’s claim that the RAND Corporation is “far from liberal” is a bit rich. If memory serves, they’re actually pretty liberal on health care . 8:40 PM: I don’t know if it will win him any votes, but Obama’s refusal to blame immigration on inner-city unemployment was the right answer 8:48 PM: Clinton gets a point for bringing up the fact that she was co-sponsoring immigration legislation in 2004 8:50 PM: Is there any issue Clinton does not feel personally? 8:53 PM: We’re almost at the halfway point… and my card-carrying Democratic Party life partner wife gives the edge to Clinton. 9:03 PM: A Bradley Whitford sighting… our long national nightmare is over. 9:06 PM: Wow, Hillary’s wants to let me use my own crieria to evaluate my choice for president?!!! That’s the most libertarian thing she’s ever said. 9:11 PM: Pierce Brosnan in the house… is he an American citizen? 9:13 PM: And now I see Diane Keaton and Rob Reiner… thank God this audience is truly representative of America. 9:19 PM: One of the problems with watching too many of these debates is that many of these lines have been repeated seventeen times. 9:20 PM: America Ferrara and Alfre Woodard in attendance…. it’s good to see Hollywood looking more like America. 9:23 PM: Hillary is proud to have Maxine Waters endorse her? Man, that’s sad…. 9:27 PM: Topher Grace looks intense. 9:32 PM: Official Blog Wife on Hillary’s answer on her Iraq vote: “Is this her ‘I did not inhale’ moment?” 9:33 PM: Hillary claims that no one could forsee that President Bush was bound and determined to go to war in Iraq? Um, really? That was pretty obvious to the entire blogosphere in the fall of 2002. UPDATE: And Obama makes exactly this point. 9:39 PM: Lou Gossett Jr. sighting. The first Oscar winner. UPDATE: And Spielberg as well… Garry Shandling did not win an Oscar. 9:46 PM: Good Lord, Hillary Clinton has the worst, most annoying laugh ever. 9:52 PM: Maybe they’re good actors, but there seemed to be genuine affection between the two of them at the end of the debate. 9:53 PM: From the Blog Wife — she gives a thumbs up to the earth-tones of Hillary’s brown suit with the turquoise jewelry, but Obama’s tie exuded cool. FINAL ASSESSMENT: I thought Clinton did marginally better on the nitty-gritty of policy, but Obama did better on everything else. More importantly, given his past debate performances, Obama did much better than expected. Thumbs up to Doyle McManus as well… and thumbs down to Wolf Blitzer.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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