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Thursday, April 26, 2007
I know this is a movie blog, but since I haven’t been watching any new movies lately I thought I would comment on another topic that I keep a close eye on. This evening, MSNBC hosted the election season’s first Democratic Presidential debate.
Honestly, I didn’t think any of the candidates had sufficient time, given that there were eight of them on the stage, to really separate themselves. Moderator Brian Williams also allowed a pair of fringe candidates (and that’s a generous term) to turn it into a circus at certain points.
I look forward to a time when the four leading candidates in the polls (HRC, Obama, Edwards & Richardson) can have the stage to themselves, but until then I will rank all eight on how I believe they performed.
1. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Personally, I’ve listed her as a distant second for my allegiance. But tonight, she significantly closed the gap. She had all the right answers and came across as very personable (which is a viable, if completely unfair, concern). She also quelled many concerns I had that she would struggle in a general election.
2. Bill Richardson: I am rooting for this man to be our next Vice President. I might have ranked him number one had he not completely flubbed the Cuba question. Given the star-power of this election I know that he has very little chance of achieving the Democratic nomination, but I think his expertise in foreign affairs, governing and energy as a former diplomat, cabinet member and current governor will be an excellent boost to any campaign in the general election.
3. Chris Dodd: Came across as very intelligent and relatively tempered in his positions. Though his extensive inside-the-beltway history and northeastern liberal background make him virtually unelectable.
4. Joe Biden: I like Joe Biden. I think he would be a terrible President, but I really like him. I wish that more people had made this distinction in 2000.
5. John Edwards: As someone who already has an “Edwards ‘08” sticker on the bumper of his car, perhaps I have just heard his stump too many times. While he is the most polished candidate, he did nothing to distinguish himself in this debate. It was inexcusable to stumble through the softball question of “who his moral role models are” the way he did.
6. Barack Obama: Senator Obama had the most to gain from this debate. Tonight furthered my concerns that the media is projecting upon him a lot more than he really is. I saw the movie ‘Bobby,’ and you Mr. Obama, are no Bobby Kennedy.
7. Dennis Kucinich: I consider myself to be a pacifist, yet even I found myself thinking, “you really need to grow a pair." However, he had the best line of the night: [On what his biggest mistake was]: "When I was mayor of Cincinnati, on Good Friday I fired the chief of police on the six o'clock news." For some reason this slayed me.
8. Mike Gravel: I consider myself to be pretty well informed, especially in current American politics, but until the start of the debate I found myself asking, “who the hell is Mike Gravel.” To borrow from the Scottish play, it was a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
Possible coming posts:
I'll try to offer the same rankings for the first Republican debate. Or, I'll go see and review Grindhouse.
Honestly, I didn’t think any of the candidates had sufficient time, given that there were eight of them on the stage, to really separate themselves. Moderator Brian Williams also allowed a pair of fringe candidates (and that’s a generous term) to turn it into a circus at certain points.
I look forward to a time when the four leading candidates in the polls (HRC, Obama, Edwards & Richardson) can have the stage to themselves, but until then I will rank all eight on how I believe they performed.
1. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Personally, I’ve listed her as a distant second for my allegiance. But tonight, she significantly closed the gap. She had all the right answers and came across as very personable (which is a viable, if completely unfair, concern). She also quelled many concerns I had that she would struggle in a general election.
2. Bill Richardson: I am rooting for this man to be our next Vice President. I might have ranked him number one had he not completely flubbed the Cuba question. Given the star-power of this election I know that he has very little chance of achieving the Democratic nomination, but I think his expertise in foreign affairs, governing and energy as a former diplomat, cabinet member and current governor will be an excellent boost to any campaign in the general election.
3. Chris Dodd: Came across as very intelligent and relatively tempered in his positions. Though his extensive inside-the-beltway history and northeastern liberal background make him virtually unelectable.
4. Joe Biden: I like Joe Biden. I think he would be a terrible President, but I really like him. I wish that more people had made this distinction in 2000.
5. John Edwards: As someone who already has an “Edwards ‘08” sticker on the bumper of his car, perhaps I have just heard his stump too many times. While he is the most polished candidate, he did nothing to distinguish himself in this debate. It was inexcusable to stumble through the softball question of “who his moral role models are” the way he did.
6. Barack Obama: Senator Obama had the most to gain from this debate. Tonight furthered my concerns that the media is projecting upon him a lot more than he really is. I saw the movie ‘Bobby,’ and you Mr. Obama, are no Bobby Kennedy.
7. Dennis Kucinich: I consider myself to be a pacifist, yet even I found myself thinking, “you really need to grow a pair." However, he had the best line of the night: [On what his biggest mistake was]: "When I was mayor of Cincinnati, on Good Friday I fired the chief of police on the six o'clock news." For some reason this slayed me.
8. Mike Gravel: I consider myself to be pretty well informed, especially in current American politics, but until the start of the debate I found myself asking, “who the hell is Mike Gravel.” To borrow from the Scottish play, it was a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
Possible coming posts:
I'll try to offer the same rankings for the first Republican debate. Or, I'll go see and review Grindhouse.
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