Think of this as the 'Cliffs Notes' version of the first DNC sanctioned Democratic presidential primary debate. This is what you wind up reading after you decided to watch re-runs of Friends on TBS instead of being civic-minded and involving yourself in the democratic process.
Last night's Democratic debate was... well... it was many things. Interesting. Provocative. Different. The same.
I must admit - I enjoyed the YouTube aspect of this debate. I really felt like the questions that were asked had a real resonance with the American public. I was especially moved by the question from the father of a fallen soldier. The gentleman had not one, not two, but THREE flags behind him. One for his grandfather, one for his father - and one for his SON. That was a powerful image. Here's the clip:
Overall, I think that this was the best debate (of either party) so far. I think there was a great balance of serious questions and answers, evened out by some witty and funny questions - and responses. One of my favorites:
I simply adored the responses by the candidates - especially Barack Obama. "We, we don't have Mitt Romney money, but..."
Hilarious.
However, I still felt that the low point in this debate - like the others that preceded it - was the unfair balance of time. Mike Gravel even made light of his situation several time, and got applause for it. And, as crazy as he occasionally sounds (and last night was no exception), he makes a good point: the format for these debates is skewed to serve the so-called-frontrunners. The so-called second and third tier candidates get left in the shuffle to fight for the proverbial table scraps.
Speaking of the non-frontrunners, I really thought that several of them stood out last night.
Joe Biden BLEW me away. I never really gave him a second-look before last night, but he really did impress me with his experience, knowledge - and most of all his candor. All too often it seems that candidates - for any office, not just the Presidency - will dance around issues and 'sugar-coat' their rhetoric. Biden wasn't doing that last night. For example, when talking about troop withdrawals from Iraq, Biden simply said (and I'm paraphrasing) look, there's no way that you can get ALL American troops out of Iraq in less than one year. Logistically, it's just not possible to move that many troops in such a short amount of time. So, as much as I hated to hear that fact, Biden raises a good point: all of the candidates who say that they are going to bring the troops home - that job is going to take a lot longer than they are saying it will.
And, I also must admit that for the first time since I started following politics... Dennis Kucinich looked and sounded presidential. I'm not saying he's going to win the nomination - hell, I'm not sure that he could beat Mike Gravel - BUT the way that he commanded the podium during the little time he had to speak was quite impressive.
Finally, Chris Dodd - the "guy with the white hair" - absolutely took the award for the best 'YouTube style ad'.
Nice. Humorous - but with a point. I may not agree with all of Dodd's views, but he is also a qualified candidate who is struggling to get out of the shadow of the frontrunners.
In the end, there were many, like myself who were growing weary (already) of debates for the 2008 presidential election. Personally, I felt that this debate - and it's format in particular - recharged my 'presidential debate batteries'. I'm all psyched up for the Republicans in September.
Really. I am.
No joke.
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Photo: Reuters
Bert McBrayer - Founder/Editor
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