Friday, April 27, 2007

Chris Cillizza picks the debate winners...

I watched the debates last night via video since I wasn't able to watch them live, and the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has made his The Fixx's picks of who he thinks "won" last night.

Personally I think Edwards should have qualified as one of the winners since I think he made some very excellent points last night but...Chris selected:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.): Clinton entered the debate with high expectations and managed to meet them -- not an easy task. She was informed, concise and under control at all times. She showed her tough side when asked what she would do in the event of simultaneous terrorist attacks against two American cities -- a question Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) initially muffed before going back to it later -- and managed to avoid any real confrontation over her refusal to apologize for her vote in favor of the use of force resolution. Clinton also got several breaks: her "elephant in the room" question was on why Republicans want to run against her next November (a hanging curveball that she belted), she was never the first candidate forced to answer one of the tougher questions (as Obama was on the terrorist attacks query), and she was given the chance to rebut several comments made by other candidates that seemed far from direct attacks on her. While Clinton didn't determine the format of the debate, she definitely benefited from it.

Sen. Joe Biden (Del.): Every debate has a "moment." Last night's came courtesy of Biden. Asked by moderator Brian Williams whether he could "reassure voters in this country that you would have the discipline you would need on the world stage," Biden responded simply: "Yes." The comment drew laughs throughout the room (and in the press filing center as well) and effectively silenced Biden critics who argue he is incapable of answering any question without a 10-minute speech. That moment symbolized Biden's evening. He was regularly one of the more quotable candidates on stage, an important trait in the TV age, and made sure voters knew of his long experience on issues both foreign and domestic. He even managed to work in a reference to his efforts to keep Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork from the bench -- a sure winner in the eyes of liberal Democrats who loathe Bork.

Chris picked the losers too, and I do have to say? Sen. Mike Gravel may have been frightened by the candidates there, but he frightens me...

4 comments:

Scott G said...

I used a very different standard in determining how I thought the debate went. I also did not watch it, so I had to use a different standard

Unknown said...

hmmm did it involve a dart board?

:-)

Scott G said...

No. I just closed my eyes and imagined what it looked like

Hooda Thunkit (Dave Zawodny) said...

That could have been equally frightening ;-)