Some observations as I watch. These may not be completely ordered, and I’m typing as I watch, so I’ll surely miss some stuff.
Edwards came out swinging, and was quite powerful at least until the 0:33 minute mark (when I type this). I am so far very, very impressed with him and what he’s saying. The admission that he was wrong about Iraq was striking in comparison to all the others sidestepping the issue or saying “If I knew then what I know now…” which is code for “I was wrong, but I’m afraid to admit it, so I’ll confuse you with lots of words.” He’s also not backing down from criticiszing (and complementing) other candidates where appropriate from his point of view. He’s really differentiating himself and he’s the first one who got a major bit of applause.
Edwards also admits that to grant universal healthcare, you have to raise taxes. Even if he’s wrong (and who knows, he might be) I’m loving the way he’s not pulling his punches or trying to weasel his way out of admitting the potential negatives of his proposals. Not seeing any “Read my lips, no new taxes” moments from him.
Wow. He just helped Obama by pointing out they shared key points on universal healthcare. They work together well against Clinton. Edwards-Obama ticket or vice-versa? I’m seeing foreshadowing here.
Kucinch just proposed non-profit, public sector universal healthcare. While I agree with him completely, in our current political climate I’m afraid anything that could be construed as socialized medicine will be a non-starter. We still hear about doctors in Canada griping because they’re told when and where and how they’ll work, and they’re not happy with their wages. I’ve always thought no one should get into medicine for money anyway.
Hilary had some interesting points on English as official language (why it’s a bad idea), but Obama trumped everybody when he called the question out as being purposefully (and needlessly) devisive. Nice.
Hillary refuses to drop the War on Terror terminology, even though most of her colleagues agree that it’s a political term. She just lost some points with me … this is the same reason I distrust Guliani. She’s also still saying we’re safer now than we were before the war. Not really sure what she’s thinking, especially in primary season.
Richardson’s got some great points on illegal immigration, and he’s certainly got the most authoritative position as a border governor. His thoughts on why the current proposal is a good start (though requiring some changes…such as not splitting up families) are interesting, as he comes across as an expert willing to explain his point rather than just saying “I’m right, do what I say.”
Love hearing how eloquent everyone is being about ending the Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell Policy. It’s really making a difference, I think, in how much they’re all willing to say now that it’s coming out that the government is booting gay soldiers out by the thousands when we need them the most, including scores of highly specialized Arabic and Farsi translators. Bill Richardson had the best worded answer here, by framing the issue as a logical extension of fighting hate crime.
Bill Richardson: Bill Clinton as Sec. General of the UN. I love that someone running actually admits to supporting what talk show pundits have been rumormongering about for months. All of them are talking about using him as an agent for foreign policy. It’s very interesting how President Clinton is seen as the Superman of Foreign Policy by all of them, especially when you remember he set out to be a strictly domestic president. Nevertheless, it’s a reputation earned.
Hilary: “I believe in using former presidents.” Meaning, all of them, not just the Democrats. Nice bit of bipartisanship there. Except for the George W Bush slam. Though that’s quickly becoming bipartisan, isn’t it?
Dodd wants to collect cap all profits on oil companies so that they can only keep the money until things hit 40 dollars a barrel. Beyond that point, it should all go back into research or customer rebates. Gravel goes a step beyond this and suggests we all “grow up” and realize we need to move beyond oil. He’s got a great point. Richardson has a plan for 80 percent reduction by 2070 (I think he said that…I’m not sure).
All of them are coming out against price gouging and super-profiting oil companies. Great to hear.
Very lively debate…probably one of the most contested and tough I’ve ever seen, despite the occasional complement.
Obama and Edwards are actually beating up on each other a lot more than I thought they would. Interesting. At this point, I’m loving Edwards ’cause he seems to have the most fire on every issue he talks about, though others outshine him on their one or two chosen issues. His aggression is forcing everyone else in the debate to in turn be more aggressive themselves, which probably accounts for the level of differentiation efforts their making and detail work they’re doing.
Thoughts on the Audience’s Questions:
Those asking questions are of course democrats and those independents likely to vote in the democratic primary in New Hampshire.
Kucinich wants to cut military spending by 25 percent. Given how much we spend compared to social services and other countries, this couldn’t hurt, and it’d probably be great for freeing up money for healthcare and other things. Gonna be a hard sell, though.
Obama agrees with Kucinich to a large degree but emphasizes caring for veterans. Dodd and others are discussing weapon systems that don’t make sense in a post Cold War climate. Again, excellent things to hear but I’m not sure how feasible it is given the money and politics involved in feeding these sorts of boondoggles.
I’m starting to sound really cynical about this sort of thing, aren’t I?
Richardson: Hero’s Health Card veterans can use to get healthcare at any hospital. (He said other stuff about the VA, too, but this really stuck out with me.)
Mike Gravel just admitted to “getting his meds” from the VA. I’m not sure that was the best choice of words. He’s probably just talking about antibiotics or something, but he might leave people wondering. It’s left me wondering.
Oooh. Iran time.
Hilary: Current Iran diplomatic efforts too little, too late. Contrast with how the US maintained open channels with the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. “Iran having a nuclear weapon is absolutely unacceptable.” Also the inevitable Vice President bashing: “occasionally the even send Dick Cheney, which is hardly diplomatic in my view.”
Edwards: “Extraordinary opportunity” and “very clear path.” Wants to use European banking system to pressure them, and give them uranium for fuel that they cannot themselves control.
In terms of threats, economic sanctions would be the alternative. And of course, “no options are off the table.”
And Pakistan…
Hilary’s willing to call the ruler there out on being anti-democratic and failing to adequately assist in tracking down terrorists, and calls it a “difficult, thorny problem.” I don’t really think she said what she’d do about it, though.
Kucinich: “I don’t believe in assassination politics.” He also thinks Osama should be brought before an international court of justice. Obama agrees but wants to blow bin Laden up, should he be found. The cloak and dagger folks at the CIA must just love hearing that.
Whoa. Everyone just blasted the moderator for allowing the “would you bomb bin Laden if innocent civilians would be killed?” question to be asked. There wasn’t enough information to give a full and complete answer, and bravo to them all for calling the moderators out on that. Hilary managed to get a good zinger in at the end, too.
Obama makes the point that getting rid the dictator of Pakistan could lead to an unknown, possibly chaotic and dangerous replacement government. Why didn’t anyone drive this point home before Iraq? And again, I applaud them all for being willing to point out the shades of grey in these sorts of things.
Richardson wants to lean on China to force them to take action in Darfur (where they are very influential) and to threaten them with losing the Olympics. Very nice. Dodd thinks it “goes to far.” How does making a statement by withholding a bunch of sports players “go to far?” It’s completely non-violent, and has amazing economic implications for China. It’s perfect. Edwards agrees with Richardson, and everyone else either disagrees or doesn’t want to get into it.
Edwards: “America has lost the moral authority to lead in the world.” Obama agrees by framing the issue as one of legitimacy. THe interplay between these two continues to be highly interesting.
On mandatory service…
Gravel: For every one year of service, four years of college for free.
That’d be incredibly popular and it’d probably get a lot done, but where does the money come from?
Dodd and others are talking about a Kennedy like idea of fostering service. Commendable, but it didn’t exactly work as well as everyone thought it would in the sixties. Dodd does mention helping pay for education. This could be awesome if a president actually picked it up.
Obama on what is considered rich (in terms of who is not qualified for tax relief): 250,000 dollars and up.
Nothing I haven’t really heard before on earmarking, special interest groups, and balanced budgets. Standard Democratic positions.
Edwards: Single greatest responsibility of the next president in the first 100 days is to restore America’s image and moral authority in the world.
Others are talking about great initiatives, but Edwards is the only one who picked something (a diplomacy mission) he could accomplish a good bit of in 100 days. None of them can really speak on concrete policy objectives without knowing the congressional makeup in 2009. Kucinich gets this, too, but he’s still throwing a lot of flashy ideas out.
Final Thoughts
I came away from this liking everybody for certain things they said, but in almost all cases not liking at least one thing they said. Edwards and Obama were at each other more than I thought, and to a lesser degree Edwards and Clinton, and Edwards, I think, came off the best against both of them because he kept them on the defensive. After this debate, Edwards is my preferred candidate. He’s got the fire, he stands something, he’s polite and stern at the same time, and he admits when he’s wrong. Kucinich is the ultimate left-wing candidate, but he couldn’t survive a general election. Hilary lost points with me for the items mentioned above, and unless something changes, I don’t see her getting them back. So unless something changes, I’m now an Edwards man.
[tags]democrats, democrat, presidential debate, new hampshire, primary, new hampshire primary, chris dodd, barack obama, john edwards, hilary clinton, dennis kucinich, joe biden, mike gravel, bill richardson[/tags]