| A primary debate isn't like a general election, with one clear winner; lots of people can help themselves in a primary debate. And I think that's the story of tonight's debate.
Daily Kos straw polls are in no way scientific, and they only tell us about Daily Kos readership, but if we compare tonight's debate poll with the regular straw polls, Hillary Clinton and Mike Gravel emerge as the major winners, going up by 9 and 10 points, respectively.
Edwards, the consistent winner in the regular Daily Kos straw polls, was a loser in this debate, garnering only 19% as opposed to his recent 42%, and Richardson also slid substantially. Aside from Richardson, all of the lower-tier candidates improved on their straw poll performances - Gravel most notably but Biden, Dodd, and Kucinich as well.
There doesn't appear to be a consensus in the traditional media; as Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny write in the New York Times,
By the end of the night, none of the eight appeared to have distinguished themselves in any appreciable way with the kind of statement or dramatic moment that they might have hoped for; that said, none appeared to have made any campaign-altering mistakes either. |
| Time concurred:
No hits, no runs, no errors. The much-anticipated first "debate" of the 2008 Democratic candidates Thursday night at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C., was a polite event - and not a particularly enlightening one....
The top three contenders - Clinton, Obama, and Edwards - did little to hurt or help themselves. That made it a wash for them. None of the so-called "second tier" - Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson - managed what they were hoping for, which was a badly needed breakout moment.
But, of course, there are a lot of opinions floating around about who did what.
I'm inclined to agree with gradysdad (and the pundits he cites) that Hillary Clinton did very well, possibly distinguishing herself the most of the top-tier candidates. That said, she's the one candidate I haven't seen in person, and some who have seen her, like nhcollegedem, felt they were hearing the same old thing from her.
The Blue State Blog declared John Edwards the winner, saying:
Most straight-forward in his answers. Clearly came off the best. He had a lot riding on this debate, and came up big.
I felt he was much more subdued than when I've seen him in person, and the sense of humor that he frequently displays in interactions with audience members was nowhere in evidence. He didn't gaffe, and he seemed professional and prepared, but he didn't stand out.
To me, Obama and Richardson's overall impact suffered from their trouble keeping to their allotted time. Richardson, of course, needed the debate as an opportunity to break out and display the advantages of his experience. From that point of view, this was a wasted opportunity for him.
Obama didn't need this as badly, but I at least was left with the sense that he should have been better prepared, not for the subject matter but for the form. However, he distinguished himself on a few answers, as when he called out Brian Williams' use of an out-of-context quote about Palestinians - he responded firmly and with great control, leaving viewers in no doubt that the question had been unfair without coming across as overly abrupt or defensive.
Biden clearly scored the one-liner of the night, with his answer of "yes" to the question of whether he had the discipline necessary for the job. He and Dodd both probably helped themselves (quite a bit, Mike feels) simply by appearing credible and articulate (heh) and getting themselves onto more people's radar screens. |
