Notes on the Nevada Democratic Debate

The more the pool of NBC-sanctioned candidates shrinks, the more tragically boring the debates get. I'd write a mathematical equation, but let's just say that this one sucked the most so far.

Short summary: Kucinich was punked, Everybody loves each other, no one has a true weakness, Hillary uses ninja attack once, and Chris Matthews is still an asshat.

Let's itemize, shall we?

• Kucinich drama summary: NBC says "Hey, join us!" then says "Oops, hey forget about that thing we said." Dennis sues and appeals court says "Heck yeah you should be there" and minutes before the debate the Nevada Supreme Court says "No dice." NBC should be ashamed; the American people (and maybe the other candidates?) should at least act like they care.


• Everyone plays nice: the media-spewed race issue is no longer an issue. Yay! But toned-down issue foreshadowing of excitement level of rest of 2 hours. Boo.


• The people will elect whomever will effect change and says No to lobbyists and everyone on stage likes each other and "I agree" and "I respect" and - can we cut the damned oral sex daisy chain and maybe discuss why one of you is better than the other?


• Obama started the debate with his signature "Uhm"s but softened it towards Hillary's "ah" pronunciation by the end.


• Edwards was dang proud of flapping his arms to conjure up the word "fervently." It was tremendous.


• Edwards states that thousands of Americans come to Nevada every day to find the Promise of America. Gambling on a shot at unearned cash winnings is the American Dream? He later claims he meant people looking for work, moving to Nevada, but if population growth from 2000 to 2006 is any indication, daily average increase was a little over 200 people. So he was wrong, or he meant gambling. Or hookers.


• John Edwards constantly wears an obnoxiously large black K-Mart watch that, in its enormity, refuses to be hidden under his clothing. What the hell?


• Obama's greatest weakness is that he has a messy desk, Edwards cares too much, and Hillary pushes too hard. Were these answers given at a job interview, the interviewer would've replied "Okay, thanks. We'll let you know." Wait; this is a job interview.


• Hillary takes a double whack at Obama and Edwards on Yucca Mountain, attacking like a ninja; Obama is afraid to hit a girl; Edwards attacks, but amidst cries for relevance, appears to be tossing cream pies. Yes, I just called John Edwards a clown. And yes, he amuses me.


• Hillary is "against illegal guns." That's probably a good thing. For all things that are illegal.


• Post debate: Chris Matthews exploded onto the screen declaring Hillary the hands-down winner, amazed at her performance, talking like she's already the Democratic candidate, and "playing on the varsity team." The rest of the MSNBC team tried to calm him down, to no avail (at least poor Olbermann didn't have to be in the same room with him this round). Why is this disaster still on television?

I was bored. I was tired. And nothing happened. As soon as one candidate picked up on a topic, the others picked up and agreed. Iraq was equalized between them on nuance, everyone's for the economy, against the current administration and all the Republican candidates. So how to decide?

Personally, I think I'm still pushing for Dennis through the primary (Kate and I are voting on the same day - how fun!), but you've got three choices.

1. Stick to your original, gut reaction, even if they're not going to win the primary in your state.


2. Base your choice on experience, once you define for yourself what type of experience matters and how much of that experience each candidate has.


3. If you're looking for most presidential, while the misguided, obnoxious rantings of Matthews were unprofessional, he was not entirely off base: last night, Hillary looked and spoke like the leader, flanked by her seconds.


4. Base your choice on the woman, the African-American, or the rich white guy who was poor as a kid.

Cheers!

Notes on the Democratic Debate

The CNN/YouTube Democratic Debate was, well, watchable. It spurred debate between myself and Mrs. Shambles, for sure. CNN's Headline News this morning has been pissing all over itself with joy of the wondrous success it was.

The following are notes I collected during the watching. For the most part, they're in chronological order. The first note is what made me realize I was going to have some serious feedback on the event:

• Obama: Did the only African-American candidate for president just come out in favor of "Separate but equal" for the treatment of homosexuals and marriage? I do believe he did. Irony hash mark so flaming it need not be commented upon. Shit. My first thought:
  [alt audio link]


• Edwards: Video: Hair? Not funny. While watching, drinking our Miller Lite, we'd like to forget how much you paid to have your ears lowered, and that song hearkens back to a time of revolution and innovation; you embody neither.


• Hillary: Video: Intermittently readable. Note to CNN and Hillary - not everyone has a 72" Plasma.


• Biden: I know you heard it from U.S. military officials in Europe, but do you really think 2500 U.S. troops could fix Darfur?


• Biden: 1 year most probable for actual pullout. NOW is nice, but that makes a lot of sense.


• Kucinich: "Text Peace" - You have a great message; stick to it. As Anderson said, "Yes, we'll see your video."


• Obama: Did troops in Viet Nam die in vein? Blub-u-blub-a-blubba


• Edwards: Should women register for Selective Service? Question dodged, Anderson skipped callout.


• Hillary: Women in Muslim countries. Of course leaders will listen; they already do. Good answer. Stupid question.


• Obama: General - get with the speech coach; the "ah"s are painful, like focusing on the breath intake of a news anchor, and you sound uncertain in everything you say.


• Richardson: Scrap NCLB! Yay!


• Dodd & Obama & Hillary: Elbow-whored their way into the public school question; we want to hear about public school kids (Yay Kucinich!), not why private school was necessary or unavoidable.


• Kucinich: Energy reformation - total revamping, good show.


• Richardson: Apparently supports "touchtone" voting. Those crazy newfangled kids and their touchtone voting. "Stop chewin' my shorts and let's go to the rave music fest," he quickly added.


• Biden: Video: Isn't the purpose of this format to not show traditional campaign videos? For shame.


• Kucinich: Video: Text PEACE. Okay. It happened a little quickly and maybe I should've had a do-over. I get the idea, it's innovative, but is that the best format for this? Um, universal health care?


• Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate for 2008 that supports universal not-for-profit health care for life, yet as the only candidate with a real, non-corporate, non-insurance stance, he was completely excluded from the health care discussion. More like Anderson Pooper. Sorry. That was poor.


• Gravel: At any point in the evening: Shut up! Okay, "follow the money," but the disheveled hair, the sometimes-spittle that fired past the mic, the man is like the infirm, drunk "you don't know me!" uncle at the family reunion. And we're all a little embarrassed.


• Biden: Gun control: Dude. I know we were all thinking that the guy who called his big-ass gun his "baby" was a little nutty, but you called him "mentally imbalanced" and then quipped "hope he doesn't come lookin' for me." There's a reason the phrase "gunnin' for 'em" exists. Faux pas, voter block alienation on insult, not principle.


• Richardson: Final comment: Any of these candidates would do great in the White House...as my VP. Snap!


• Edwards: Final comment: I liked Hillary's jacket. Dick.


• Biden: Final comment: "Dennis, the thing I like best about you is your wife." Did you actually just say that?


• Kucinich: Final comment: Used opportunity to lash at Anderson, missed opportunity at "right hand man/woman" quip.

That's about it, the stuff that stuck, anyway. I missed about 12 minutes in the middle because I hit the channel up instead of the volume up and killed the DVR cache from potty breaks, etc., but I think it went well.

Hillary's a strong candidate, and I didn't have much to say about her, but I was impressed overall. For as much speaking time as she got, it was all done professionally.

I had Obama on the back burner until last night; he's a little blubbery and the "separate but equal" really killed him in my mind.

Kucinich not enough, Gravel too much, and the rest: meh.

I support a drastic overhaul of the system. I support an uprooting of corruption. I support universal not-for-profit health care. I support Dennis Kucinich.

UPDATE: In slo-mo replay of the "Who came in a private jet" question I caught during the still-ongoing CNN circle jerk, we had some "Hell yeah"s, some "Um, I don't know, Sean Hannity might make fun of me"s, and a single, chuckling Kucinich in the foreground, his hand decidedly DOWN. Hell yeah.

Kucinich 2008

I'm getting more and more focused on the beauty of the Kucinich campaign, the real confrontations on the real issues, the "look at the root" as opposed to the dance-around and "let's treat the symptoms" talk, the anti-monarchy mentality that, well, Clinton and Edwards exhibit so wonderfully here (h/t to Blue Gal for this gem):



I've added a banner on my left (your left too) to nail home the point.

Put Kucinich on your list. He doesn't get off on this stop. We need him.

"I'm the kind of guy who believes I can win a rigged game."

You go, Dennis.