Predictably, the key issue at Sunday’s Democratic presidential debate in New Hampshire was the Iraq war. Regrettably, candidates spent too much time jockeying over who most opposed to the war four years ago and too little seriously discussing how to responsibly end the debacle now. And the "me, too" talk of health care plans wasn’t very helpful. In the end, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seemed to strengthen their standing, while John Edwards began to look panicky. Bill Richardson did nothing to erase his embarrassing recent performance on "Meet the Press." It was also striking how persuasive and presidential back-of-the-pack Joe Biden and Chris Dodd sounded — when they managed to get the mike.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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43 Comments
What’s with that one old coot? He’s so out there it makes my head spin…and I’m a DEMOCRAT!
Why didn’t the get the tough evolution question! What a joke! Discuss what’s important to Amerika.
Different strokes.
I love Barak Obama, but the clarity of thought and inspiration he brings with his oratory makes his “thinking on his feet” seem hesitant and weak.
John Edwards, on the other hand, brings his sincerity, intelligence, and vision to the fore in this kind of forum.
Hillary is a policy wonk and, perhaps, the smartest person in the room. People hate the smartest person in the room.
I feel the 2008 election will be more about vision and leadership than the nuts and bolts of passing legislation. I think Hillary best serves this nation as a Senator.
Bottom line: most Democrats I know would be pleased with any one of the 8 candidates at the top of the 2008 ticket. (Gravel, not so much, maybe. And Kucinich isn’t gonna make it, but his message is clear and worth listening to). Most Republics I know are disappointed with the 10 or 11 clowns vying for the GOP nomination.
40% of the Republic Party’s evangelical base think Mitt Romney worships a satanic cult. Rudy Giuiani’s support of gay and abortion rights is a non-starter for the reactionary right. McCain has a reasonable approach to immigration policy; another non-starter for the GOP rabble. The also-rans among the Republic Party field merely embarass politically-active conservatives because Tantero and Brownback and Huckabee and Paul really *believe* the talking points the GOP has been spewing since the days of Reagan. Everyone knows those hot-button issues that sway elections are distractions. There always has been abortion, there always will be. Stem-cell research will progress and cures will be developed in spite of “every sperm is sacred” rhetoric. America has always been a nation of immigrants and nothing’s gonna stop it, even if it involves brown people.
“Conservatives” can still proclaim they favor smaller government and a balanced budget and no nation-building, etc., but they had their chance for twelve years in Congress including six years with the presidency on their side. How’s that worked out?
Any Democratic candidate is better than all of the Republic Party’s potentials put together. But the Republic Party is split, discredited, diminished, and destined to become the 21st Century No-Nothings.
I’m already tired of the single candidates of both parties. Get to picking running mates early, that’s the TWO who could run the next White House, people have to start imagining.
Hillary got NY gov Eliot Spitzer support, he’s a perfect Vice President to me. The White house does appoint SEC heads. Every federal agency spending would get his look and they need it.
Somebody has to take on the lobbyists affecting Congress, they can’t police themselves.
Obama could still try to get him as running mate. He is off balance responding to some questions but time to still fix that comeback ability.
Go back to Reagan who spoke haltingly and with jokes during debates. Not the place to be argumenative about policy.
Hillary/Richardson seems to be the pairing for them.
Republicans still have to figure out who best leads them. Guilani has issues. McCain will look too old. The actor, already in third over Romney.
Brownback could be someone’s V.P.
Brownback/Tiahart, has two from one state every run for the White House like that? That tandem will have no chance, but they pal around and do that just for fun and to make campaign money.
Spitzer would be a lousy choice for Hillary to pick for VP. Two from the same state? NO. I think there is a constitutional prohibition. He might, however, be an interesting choice for Obama to take.
Richardson is still my first choice for President; however I think he woula also make a great VP choice for any of them.
As for the GOP side … I love it!
http://pff.hostkansas.com/pffimages2/drivingmisshillary.jpg
Ooops! Sorry! Re-do
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/Soonerpsycho/drivingmisshillary.jpg
Hey PM,
Your post is a good example of one of the reasons this old conservative still has hope for ‘08.
You and others seem pretty ambivilent about Hillary as a president. Many in your party don’t particularly like her.However, she will be your nominee and she will motivate the republican base.
The fact that you think the republican party is ’split, diminished and destined. . .’ also gives me hope. You underestimate them at your peril!
On the other hand, I’ll admit that the rebulicans don’t show me much. The conservative candidate hasn’t entered the race yet.
Hank
The conservative candidate hasn’t entered the race yet.Posted by: Hank Price | June 04, 2007 at 03:43 PM
Right. The Republican field is dominated by left-wing, almost-communist liberals like Brownback, Huckabee and Tancredo.
::eyeroll::
lol…’conservative’
Dear Tom,
I realize now that I wasn’t real clear.
I’ll admit that Brownback, Huckabee and Tancredo are a little on the conservative side.
What I meat was that the eventual candidate will be a conservative and that he hasn’t entered the race yet.
Hank
meat+meant,
Before all you BLOGers of substance pounce on me.
LOL I wouldn’t have jumped on you for that Hank, you don’t mistype everything you put out there.
But I do have a question…were you responding to something I wrote?
Hank – your fumble-fingers getting you again?
;^)
No dear,
It started out to be a response to PM, then it kinda went general. I’m at work and I only get a few minutes here and there to post.
By the time I get to the end of a post I’ve forgotten my original thought!
Hank
Hey Ben,
It’s kind of a long story but my fumble fingers are a result of a hearing problem in my younger days.
Hank
Hank – think Thompson with be that candidate?
I’ll have to get that ears-fingers story from you someday! ;^)
Man I don’t know. He’s got conservative principles and he’s going to announce in July but. .
Any hopeful with a chance will need to raise 100 million by the end of the year. I’m not sure that Thompson is starting soon enough to raise the money required.
He does have something none of the other candidates have shown much of. . . charisma.
Hank
Thing is Hank … who else?
My only problem with Thompson running is that then I don’t get to see his L&O episodes.
I heard him do a good PSA on the radio this morning saluting American soldiers. I think he is beginning his stealth run.
Those trying to paint him as only an ‘actor’ need to remember that he was a prosecuter and Senator BEFORE he became an ‘actor’; I’m not sure how good an actor he really is since he really just plays himself in the series.
Bear in mind that Thompson had lymphoma treated with chemotherapy. I saw him on TV last week, without knowing he had cancer, saw the top of his head, and immediately realized, “That sure looks like chemo hair.” Which a quick google confirmed.
Chemotherapy takes a lot out of a person, especially an older person. Non-Hodgkins lymphoma typically stays in remission for a long time, but it nevertheless can recrudesce. I would say that with the crises our world faces, we need somebody with better health and more vigor for our President.
The pundocricy is forgetting the lessons of the past once again.
You don’t win primaries with moderates. You don’t win elections by crapping on your base.
Here’s my prediction–no Democratic candidate will emerge a clear leader going into Iowa and New Hampshire.
Then President-in-Exile Al Gore will step into the race and sweep aside the also-rans like Grant took Richmond.
I could be mistaken, and if I am, I’ll say what no Republic has ever said on this blog: “I was wrong.”
But I’ll tell you this much for sure. I like our chances much better than the RepubliCONs’.
Gore and Obama . . . man, that would fire up the base AND appeal to moderates.
Hell, yes!
Capn – a ‘cold one’ says you are wrong!
The conservatives presently have an unanounced candidate. I have a feeling that if Hillary gets the democratic nominnation his negatives compared with Hillaries will make it a wash. He will run on ideas not against the democrats. I think it will make him look pretty attractive.
Here is his “Contract for the Twenty First Century”
I.Defend America and our allies from those who would destroy us. To achieve security, we will develop the intelligence, diplomatic, information, defense, and homeland security systems and resources for success.II.Transform the Social Security system into personal savings accounts that will enable every worker to have higher retirement incomes from their own work and avoid the need for financial support from their children.III.Recenter on the Creator from Whom all our liberties come. We will insist on a judiciary that understands the centrality of God in American history and reasserts the legitimacy of recognizing the Creator in public life.IV.Establish patriotic education for our children and patriotic immigration for new Americans. To achieve this, we will renew our commitment to education about American citizenship based on American history and an understanding of the Founding Fathers and the core values of American civilization. We will insist that both our children and immigrants learn the key values and key facts of American history as the foundation of their growth as citizens.V.Meet the triple economic challenges of an explosion in scientific and technological knowledge, an increasingly competitive world market, and the rise of China and India by implementing:1. A new system of civil justice to reduce the burden of lawsuits and to incentivize young people to go into professions other than the law.2. A dramatically simplified tax code that favors savings, entrepreneurship, investment, and constant modernization of equipment and technology.3. Math and science learning equal to any in the world and educating enough young Americans to both discover the science of the future and to compete successfully in national security and the economy with other well-educated societies.4. Investing in the scientific revolutions that are going to transform our world—particularly in energy, space, and the environment.5. Transforming health care into a 21st Century Intelligent Health System that improves our health while lowering costs dramatically. In the process, American health care will become our highest value export and foreign exchange earning sector.VI.Work to include every American in a system of patriotic stewardship so every person has a real opportunity to pursue happiness as their Creator endowed. Prepare for the aging of the baby boomers and their children so we can have active healthy aging with the best quality of life, the longest period of independent living, and the greatest prosperity. We will:1. Develop a system in which those who wish to stay economically active are encouraged and incentivized to do so because active people live longer and healthier, have a greater opportunity to pursue happiness, and are less of a burden on their fellow citizens;2. Develop a system of independent living and assisted living that increases the years in which people can be on their own and in most cases enables people to live their entire lives with freedom and dignity;3. Develop a new model of quality long-term care in which both the care and the quality of life are compatible with a twenty-first century American expectation of progress and innovation;4. Use the new technologies and new scientific knowledge to turn disabilities into capabilities and change government regulations and programs to help every American achieve the fullest possible ability to pursue happiness.VII.Change the mindset of big government in Washington by replacing bureaucratic public administration with Entrepreneurial Public Management so government can operate with the speed, effectiveness, and efficiency of the information age.VIII.Balance the federal budget and insist on a lean government, low tax, low interest rate economy to maximize growth in a competitive world.IX.Insist on congressional reform to make the legislative branch responsive to the needs of the 21st century.X.Ensure an election process that is honest, accountable, accurate, and free from the threat of illegal votes or subsequent litigation.
Hank is being coy, his man is that paragon of virtue, Newt Gingrich. He has said it many times before. But as Hank’s wise son prophesizes Newt does not have a chance. Bring him on…
Even Hilliary could beat the Newtster. Surely you guys got better than that old tired philanderer…
Newt? That would be interesting. Very intelligent but feet of clay; ironically similar to Bill Clinton’s.
but, maybe not…
As far as Hillary being the smartest person in the room, in the debate, it could be true. But she’s not that smart. She didn’t get into Stanford. She could have gone to Cornell, and possibly Penn, but decided to avoid male competition. So she went to Wellesley, then a training ground for wives-to-be of America’s movers and shakers.
(The movie “Mona Lisa Smile” is dated in the 50’s, but it’s accurate for the period preceding Harvard, Yale and Princeton’s switch to coeducational admissions in 1969.)
Hillary is acting conciliatory now, but she has a chip-on-her-shoulder combative and vengeful personality. Shortly after graduating from law school, she decided to get in on the Nixon “killing”. You either see things her way, or your wrong, and if you’re a subordinate, you’re toast.No discussion, she takes challenges to her authority as personal. (Bush does too, which is why he surrounds himself with loyalists, rather than top-talented people, not a good predisposition for any president.)
Hillary is a good student–an excellent one–in studying and prepping for routine stuff. But she isn’t a deep thinker. She has a classic “know it all” ego, which is to say having people around her who are smarter than she is threatens her ego.
Jimmy Carter was really smart–educated in nuclear physics and engineering. He inherited both the debilitating Vietnam War debt, and the OPEC-conspired oil-shortage crisis. Most people do not remember this, but Carter started the alternative-energy programs in wind and solar power, as well as the domestic extraction of North American unconventional oil reserves that are now coming back to the fore.
There’s a great article in this month’s Business 2.0 about large-scale solar-generation projects being set up in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Canada. Several of these enterprises’ leaders cut their eye teeth on Carter-administration research projects, and the technologies being implemented today got their start then.
The Carter administration also addressed energy-efficiency, promoting R&D in this sector. Energy costs plummeted in the 80’s and 90’s, and these things became, for a time, seemingly irrelevant, but they are going to be crucially important for this century.
The Carter administration created the Department of Energy. You can read all the shut down this or that useless department you want, but NOBODY is saying SHUT DOWN DOE. Conservative or liberal.
When we get free of our addiction to other nations’ oil, history is going to look back at the Carter administration with a lot more respect than it enjoys now for taking the crucial steps to begin to free us from that addiction and fundamentally lay the groundwork for a 21st century energy revolution. We don’t appreciate him, but our great-grandchildren will.
I think Hilliary is smart enough, and may be the smartest amongst the Democrats, but I oppose her nomination for the simple fact, we have had enough Clintons and with GHWBush we had way too many Bushes. I don’t like the idea that someone gets our highest office based upon who they are related to. This latter problem is what helped us get into the very regretable mess we are now in.
I know, I know, we at Harvard, do not end our sentences with propositions so it should read…”mess we are now in, asshole.”
To supply the set up for my punch line above: When God and Alah conspired together one day – lo and behold, outlander, from a small town in Northeast Kansas (I think I remember that correctly) was admitted to Harvard University with a full scholarship.
The first day of school, outlander, anxious to get to his studies heads to the library. He was not able to find it, but saw a tweedy looking professor, so he went up to him and asked, “Where is the library at?”
The professor pontificated: “We at Harvard do not end our sentences with prepositions [note correct spelling this time], care to try again?”
Outlander, looking bewildered for a moment, smiled and asked “Do you know where the library is at, asshole?”
Coy? Yep, that’s me, coy.
Every one that knows me well all know I’m coy.
Hank
Gore/Obama…….unbeatable. Period. It would not matter who the GOP rolled out……game….set…..match!
Ah, Albert Arnold Gore Junior and Barack Hussein Obama. The GOP dream team!
Hate to disappoint you Mike but the Goracle is not strong enough to have a running mate like Osamabama. He needs a butt boy like Lieberman to make him look good.
Furthermore, Obama wouldn’t allow himself to be second fiddle on a Gore ticket.
Gore still can’t win his own home state and he needs a running mate that will help him win the rest of the south. Obama doesn’t fill that bill.
Sorry.
No, I’m really sorry. I’d love to see Gore get the nomination again!
Hank
MPS – are you aware of the fact that during the late 60s Wellesley had come into its own as a high-quality academic institution? Wellesley students could also take classes at the other colleges in the Boston area.
Oh, this could be fun…
If Gore does jump into the fray, how will he be able to reconcile his stated views on Iraq now with what the stated views of the Clinton administration were at the time, namely that Iraq was attempting to get WMDs and Sadam needed to be removed. He hasn’t had to deal with it yet because he has his Global Warming sideshow keeping people busy. If he jumps in, the question will be asked. Hmmmmmm…
Kilroy – he will simply note that the policies put in plave succeeded in preventing Saddam from getting such weapons.
There’s no contradiction, Kiljoy.
Everyone WANTED regime change in Iraq.
Only Bush was willing to do it with an armed invasion and occupation.
Big difference.
But then you already knew that . . .
It’s like if you say, “gee, I’d do anything to lose some weight.”
So then I cut off your leg.
“You SAID you wanted to lose weight . . . “
Kilroy,
Read this, or listen to audio. And note the date.
Al Gore – September 23, 2002IRAQ AND THE WAR ON TERRORISMhttp://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/02/02-09gore-speech.html
Tip Toe on bye…tip toe on bye…
Clinton and Obama emerge strong!
Even Clark would look big next to Tiny Tim or Mighty Mouse.
Ya, but Clintoma be the ticket!
Got a new nic, Tiny Tim? Were you Nathan in a former life? JM? RepubliKhan? Eier?
Nathan has been known to troll to take cheap shots at others, as have Repub and a few others.
What it boils down to is – who cares?
Obviously YOU do Clarkie.
Tip toe on by, tip toe on byyyyyeee…….