Philly debate: Afterwards
The highlight of the debate tonight will be Hillary's repeated efforts to use an electability argument as the basis for sharp attacks on Obama over Bittergate, Wright and 1960s radicals.
It was a tactic geared as much to superdelegates as to Pennsylvania voters, and Obama was not as sharp as he could have been in response. He seemed surprised sometimes, irritated others, and misspoke at least once (about disowning Wright, which he quickly corrected). So, if you're scoring the debate like a prizefight, she wins a couple more rounds. But no game-changing moments.
The NYTimes: Clinton "went on the attack against Senator Barack Obama on a variety of issues during a contentious debate Wednesday, warning that he would be deeply vulnerable in a general-election fight if he won the nomination."
The Washington Post's Fix: The first 45 minutes were Barack Obama's toughest time in any debate. He came under withering assault from the moderators (and Hillary Clinton) on a whole host of issues....Time and again, Obama dismissed the questions as part of the politics of the past, something that he was running to change. Given both the number and nature of the questions he fielded, it would have been impossible for him to shine in those first 45 minutes. He survived -- at least as of this writing -- without making any more adverse news, which is an accomplishment in and of itself."
Ambinder at the Atlantic: "Keeping the score card, there's no way Obama could fared worse. Nearly 45 minutes of relentless political scrutiny from the ABC anchors and from Hillary Clinton.... But Hillary Clinton has a Reverse-Teflon problem: her negatives are up, and when she's perceived as the attacker, the attacks never seem to settle on Obama and always seem to boomerang back on her. So it would be unwise to declare that Hillary "won" the debate in the dynamic sense just yet."
From flags to Weathermen to Wright to bitter to affirmative action, not everyone was, let's say, real impressed by Gibson and Stephanopoulos. TPM: "I don't watch a lot of nightly news. Is Charlie Gibson usually this bad? ...9:31PM ... This is awful. 9:35 PM ... Are there any questions in this debate that aren't based on Republican attacks? Is affirmative action a major issue in this campaign? Did I miss that?"
The New Republic's Stump thought Obama benefited....
by seeming taken aback: "Obviously, the choice of questions isn't doing Obama any favors--bittergate, Wright, William Ayers!--but he's doing a decent (if low-energy) job not getting dragged into the fray,* and Hillary is coming very close to over-reaching by rubbing his nose in it."
But, Andrew Sullivan, a pro-Obama blogger: "It was a lifeless, exhausted, drained and dreary Obama we saw tonight....He seemed crushed and unable to react....Clinton has exposed herself in this campaign as one of the worst shells of a cynical pol in American politics....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?"
Obama tried a few times to pivot off the attacks by saying they were small-p political issues, not the things that mattered to voters, but Politico thought he stumbled when claiming that his campaign hadn't used the same type of attacks in trying to push the Hillary-in-Bosnia story.
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Comments (5)
A debate between "BITTER" and "MISSPEAK" two peas in the same pod,
No wonder McCain is doing so well. McCain wants to make America and the World a "BETTER" place to live, by being up front with the voter, and not by "MISSPEAKING".
McCain? Doing so well?
He's behind Obama nationally and he's not even out there on television getting pounded every day. Plus, you still have 1 in 5 Obama and Clinton supporters saying they'd switch to McCain if their candidate were not the nominee -- that ratio won't continue forward to November.
I don't know what world he's doing so well in, but if we're not 9 trillion in debt there, I'd like to join you.
Yes he is doing "So WELL", You need to learn how to read the polls. Look at the cross tabs. and what "BLUE" states are in play.
RE: VJ
If "misspeaking" was as telling and serious as you claim, McCain wouldn't even know Al-Qaeda relationship to Iran. This is a man who publicly called Clinton's daughter "ugly" when she was 18 and his own wife words I will not speak out loud. A man who sings songs about bombing Iran. A man who claimed the Iraq war was going to be quick and easy. The truth is they all misspeak and say stupid things to claim otherwise is pure partisan hackary.
No they all do not 'MISSPEAK" HILLARY SOPANO has 35 years of 'MISSPEAKING' behind her.