CNN Democratic Debate Thread (7/23/07)

[TheresNoMoney]

I thought everyone did fairly well. Obama was pretty solid. Clinton was excellent in the first hour, but not as strong in the second. Edwards had a few moments. Gravel was entertaining as always.

Strangest answer of the night was Kucinich on the reparations question. Funniest comment of the night was Biden saying that Kucinich's wife was the best thing about him.

[TheresNoMoney]

Tom Brokaw isn't too awful, but yeah, basically the rest of the talking heads can't ask a decent question to save their lives.

Pundits like to focus on the most irrelevent, "gotcha"-type crap.  At least most of the questions tonight was fairly relevent to people's lives and came from the mouth's of everyday people.

[bullmoose88]

Good debate! I really liked the fact that regular people asked 95% of the questions. The less we have of pundits asking their idiotic, biased questions, the better.

Tom Brokaw isn't too awful, but yeah, basically the rest of the talking heads can't ask a decent question to save their lives. Most of them shouldn't have been given a journalism degree.

How many of them actually have a journalism degree? I'm curious more than anything.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Good debate! I really liked the fact that regular people asked 95% of the questions. The less we have of pundits asking their idiotic, biased questions, the better.

Tom Brokaw isn't too awful, but yeah, basically the rest of the talking heads can't ask a decent question to save their lives. Most of them shouldn't have been given a journalism degree.

How many of them actually have a journalism degree? I'm curious more than anything.

Beats me... But whichever High School graduated Bill O'Rielly is a total joke.

[Alcon]

I like CNN's masturbatory "we're awesome for pulling this high-fangled technomologly together" coverage.

[Eraserhead]

I like CNN's masturbatory "we're awesome for pulling this high-fangled technomologly together" coverage.

lol. Wolf seems to be yearning for Anderson Cooper...

[Reaganfan]

Terrorism wasn't mentioned once...

[TheresNoMoney]

lol. Wolf seems to be yearning for Anderson Cooper...

Wolf Blitzer is among the worst of the non-Fox News pundits. I don't ever want to see him near a Democratic debate again.

[Alcon]

So, here's a question:  What did people think of the debate format?

[Reluctant Republican]

So, here's a question:  What did people think of the debate format?

I was pleasantly surprised by it. It was fast paced, the time seemed more evenly spread out [Kucinich in particular, looked to benefit from this.] and it was a bit more lively then prior debates.

[7,052,770]

If anyone has a link to a full video of the debate (I don't have a TV at all anymore), I'd appreciate it.

[Boris]

So, here's a question:  What did people think of the debate format?

I liked it a lot. Having actual people ask the questions seems far more personal than having a news anchor asking a bunch of softballs compiled by the CPD. It'd be nice if they could use the same format in the actual 2008 Presidential Debates. It probably would at least increase viewership and interest.

[poughies]

Good debate style.. I like it.

[Alcon]

I really liked the format too.  I think some of the questions could have been chosen better.  The debate was already pretty good to start with.  I'm sure if they had a pool of over 3,000, they could have done a bit better than that.  But I thought it made things less stuffy, and despite the new technology, this seemed to be the debates with the fewest screw-ups.

I hope they do this more.

[StateBoiler]

I really liked the format too.  I think some of the questions could have been chosen better.  The debate was already pretty good to start with.  I'm sure if they had a pool of over 3,000, they could have done a bit better than that.  But I thought it made things less stuffy, and despite the new technology, this seemed to be the debates with the fewest screw-ups.

I hope they do this more.

I think it's good as a once in the awhile thing, not as a everytime thing.

[TheresNoMoney]

The debate format was great, 100 times better than having that neocon blowhard Wolf Blitzer asking retarded questions for 2 hours.

[Keystone Phil]

The debate format was great, 100 times better than having that neocon blowhard Wolf Blitzer asking retarded questions for 2 hours.

You struggle to stay away from hackish comments, don't you?

[Rob]

Didn't watch, don't plan on watching. I hope someone makes a Gravel reel, though.

[Eraserhead]

The debate format worked a lot better than I expected it to. Still I wouldn't want every debate done in this style.

[poughies]

I think something key about this was that not every candidate answered every question... it made it "flow"......

[Ebowed]

If anyone has a link to a full video of the debate (I don't have a TV at all anymore), I'd appreciate it.

^^^^

What made Biden a jerk tonight, BTW?

[skybridge]

Gravel rocks, Biden is an idiot.

Yep.

^^

If anyone has a link to a full video of the debate (I don't have a TV at all anymore), I'd appreciate it.

You can find most of the debate here so far:

http://youtube.com/user/Politicstv

Or if you prefer chronology:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Hobobob10

I like the new format. Sure, some questions were silly, but the vast majority of them were better than anything the "professionals" asked in any debate. In my humble opinion, Edwards started off really well and improved my perception of him. Hillary did alright, but dodged too many questions. Her initial approach to dynasticism was alright, but she turned it into an excuse to elude the question. Richardson improved, he tried to distinguish his executive experience from the others serving in the legislature. I liked his video too. I'm never really sure what to make of Biden. He seemed upset about not receiving any legislative credit, but he continued as by far the most hawkish Democratic. I'm still curious if that might appeal to those trained to deny Democrats' national security credentials, but polls don't seem to show so. I don't mind his passion, nor his take on the gun issue, but he contradicts himself too much. Dodd was clearly given more time to speak, but, even if what he says it all agreeable, nothing he does stands out. Kucinich also received more time than usual. But, as usual, Gravel was sidelined. He got the silly questions and he repeated everything I had heard him say before. However, his furious "The only thing that's worse than a soldier dying in vain, is more soldiers dying in vain" was a TRUE highlight! Obama did alright. He seemed particularly concerned about Gravel's fundraising charges. I thought he produced the best video--by far--as well.

[Rob]

Didn't watch, don't plan on watching.

Okay, I lied. Thoughts:

* Clinton is trash. "Liberal has come to mean Big Government instead of freedom ... progressive is a good American word..." What the fuck? This is what passes for progressivism in the US?

* The audience seemed to be exasperated with the candidates' religious conservatism. Highlight of the debate was Edwards getting owned for opposing gay marriage... by a minister, no less!

* Biden is a dickhead, but that's hardly news

Gravel and Kucinich were the only reasonable people on the stage. The rest of them are out of touch with the base, and I suspect the country at large.

[Ebowed]

I lovedd Kucinich getting applause for coming out in favor of same-sex marriage.  Dodd asks how he'd want his children to be treated if they were gay, but then says he can't go far enough to support gay marriage!  Grow some balls, gentlemen.

[Ebowed]

Terrorism wasn't mentioned once...

We're going back to a 9/10 world, thankfully.