am i the only one still watching debates?
if so, here's the report from tonight's Larry King-hosted affair in LA...
Supposedly this was going to be the debate where Edwards was going to get "more confrontational" with Kerry (per his campaign). Cool! Dem deathmatch!
But when it came, it was pretty weak. Edwards said, I've won independents. Kerry said, no, I have (Kerry's right, everywhere but Wisconsin). Edwards said, I can win in the south. Kerry said, um, I won in Virginia and Tennessee, aren't those near the south, dipstick?
I mean, it was hardly sporting.
The most interesting episode for me was when Edwards alluded to the $100k that Kerry's taken from registered lobbyists. Kerry said, half of edwards' money comes from one interest group (knife in back), but I would NEVER suggest they have any influence over him (smiles up front). Brutal, beautiful, and presumably a demonstration for us dems that he'll play rough with Dubya too.
So what i'm saying is, Kerry won, easily, Edwards barely laid a glove on him.
Meanwhile Sharpton was auditioning for a role as Kerry's new best friend -- thanking him (justifiably) for being included in the debate, snapping at edwards a few times, trying to intercept questions and generally chewing up the clock.
Shit, if Kerry could somehow figure out how to get Sharpton included in the debates with Dubya, we'd have this thing locked.
Larry King is an idiot and a prick (who also kept making bizzare loud coughing noises into his mic), and was particularly mean to Kucinich, who did his best to challenge the Kerry/Edwards consensus and to be a meaningful participant, to no avail, while Sharpton kept saying how great it was to have their progressive viewpoints included and how no one needed to vote for Nader since it's all coming out in debates like this.
I mean, geez.
Meanwhile I predict that the Deaniacs are looking at and listening to Kerry for the first time ever from a position other than across enemy lines. And i'll bet they are starting to like what they see.
Kerry is going to lose to Bush. That's the problem.
the hardcore deaniacs dont like kerry, i believe (daily) kos called him a spineless ass today, and dean himself tacitly endorsed edwards. and im glad kerry is being aggressive in his countering of repug attacks but he still casts an uninspiring shadow.
i'm not saying deansters are going to go from hatred to love overnight -- just that they're going to start warming up to kerry more and more. especially after the NY debate sunday night.
kos is in edwards-fantasy-land, he'll come out of it in a few weeks.
it's funny to see dean progressives rallying to edwards, who's actually more conservative than kerry. i bet if edwards were the guy who had won 16 out of 18 primaries they'd be trying to rally to kerry.
i'm not saying kerry's bill clinton. i think this still looks pretty good for bush.
but let's not kid ourselves. bush would destroy edwards easily.
Americans in swing states believe we're at war. if the 2000 election were held now, Gore would win easily -- because Bush's inexperience in foreign policy would seem like an instant disqualifier.
Meanwhile Edwards makes Bush look like freakin' Churchill. Zero foreign policy experience. Zero executive experience of any kind. And as charming as he may seem now, it wouldn't take too much of the $100 million to make him look like a slick lawyer trying to pull a fast one -- Clinton without the substance.
At least with Kerry his flaws and weaknesses are obvious (even if it's painful to see). I think he gets better and better the more you see of him.
Yeah, I'm partisan. But I don't think all these Democratic primary voters are media-duped idiots; I think there's a there there.
Now if he would just talk more about energy and the environment....
EDIT: a quick stroll through blog for america suggests that the trend with deaniacs is that edwards is losing his luster as a kerry alternative... representative quote: "Edwards looked less like a running mate, and more like a damned debutante."
but i also did see a few posts grudgingly admitting that kerry did well, or better than in the past.
UPDATE - NY DEBATE SUNDAY 2/29
Uh oh.
Kerry looked like shit and sounded tired,disengaged, and sometimes just plain incoherent.
I'm worried.
He seemed absolutely uninspiring.
Now, I think Kerry's smart enough to do one thing at a time -- he's still working on the nomination, and the smart thing to do is keep running out the clock.
But he has to bump his game up a TON for the general.
Eek.
The big news seemed to be that Edwards finally showed some fire. I thought his likeability dipped a little when he did it, though -- and Edwards minus likeability ain't too hot of a package.
Meanwhile Kucinich is doing a truly admirable job of fighting to keep in the conversation and to raise the debate to one of core values and principles.
Sharpton is doing a good job of fighting with the moderators (Elisabeth Bumiller lost control of the table at one point, and only Dan Rather was able to straighten things out) and delivering soundbites.
There CAN'T be many more of these...
Nice wrap up, thanks. I agree, especially about Sharpton and Kucinich - they are both helping I think.
I think Kucinich got MBs vote in the primary.
Maybe Kerry will pick up some of Edwards personality the more they do stuff like this.
Congrats to the Kerry folks. I'll admit I am warming up to him a little bit. Almost seems like he might get up in Bush's face. But whatever happens, he's our man. Tough times ahead, against a mountain of cash. Let's, ummm, do this thing.
i like toms "helmet head" thing, but i think it needs short lil arms and legs and a voice bubble.
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- big jimmy 2-27-2004 6:41 am
if so, here's the report from tonight's Larry King-hosted affair in LA...
Supposedly this was going to be the debate where Edwards was going to get "more confrontational" with Kerry (per his campaign). Cool! Dem deathmatch!
But when it came, it was pretty weak. Edwards said, I've won independents. Kerry said, no, I have (Kerry's right, everywhere but Wisconsin). Edwards said, I can win in the south. Kerry said, um, I won in Virginia and Tennessee, aren't those near the south, dipstick?
I mean, it was hardly sporting.
The most interesting episode for me was when Edwards alluded to the $100k that Kerry's taken from registered lobbyists. Kerry said, half of edwards' money comes from one interest group (knife in back), but I would NEVER suggest they have any influence over him (smiles up front). Brutal, beautiful, and presumably a demonstration for us dems that he'll play rough with Dubya too.
So what i'm saying is, Kerry won, easily, Edwards barely laid a glove on him.
Meanwhile Sharpton was auditioning for a role as Kerry's new best friend -- thanking him (justifiably) for being included in the debate, snapping at edwards a few times, trying to intercept questions and generally chewing up the clock.
Shit, if Kerry could somehow figure out how to get Sharpton included in the debates with Dubya, we'd have this thing locked.
Larry King is an idiot and a prick (who also kept making bizzare loud coughing noises into his mic), and was particularly mean to Kucinich, who did his best to challenge the Kerry/Edwards consensus and to be a meaningful participant, to no avail, while Sharpton kept saying how great it was to have their progressive viewpoints included and how no one needed to vote for Nader since it's all coming out in debates like this.
I mean, geez.
Meanwhile I predict that the Deaniacs are looking at and listening to Kerry for the first time ever from a position other than across enemy lines. And i'll bet they are starting to like what they see.
- big jimmy 2-27-2004 6:50 am [add a comment]
Kerry is going to lose to Bush. That's the problem.
- jim 2-27-2004 7:23 am [add a comment]
the hardcore deaniacs dont like kerry, i believe (daily) kos called him a spineless ass today, and dean himself tacitly endorsed edwards. and im glad kerry is being aggressive in his countering of repug attacks but he still casts an uninspiring shadow.
- dave 2-27-2004 7:40 am [add a comment]
i'm not saying deansters are going to go from hatred to love overnight -- just that they're going to start warming up to kerry more and more. especially after the NY debate sunday night.
kos is in edwards-fantasy-land, he'll come out of it in a few weeks.
it's funny to see dean progressives rallying to edwards, who's actually more conservative than kerry. i bet if edwards were the guy who had won 16 out of 18 primaries they'd be trying to rally to kerry.
i'm not saying kerry's bill clinton. i think this still looks pretty good for bush.
but let's not kid ourselves. bush would destroy edwards easily.
Americans in swing states believe we're at war. if the 2000 election were held now, Gore would win easily -- because Bush's inexperience in foreign policy would seem like an instant disqualifier.
Meanwhile Edwards makes Bush look like freakin' Churchill. Zero foreign policy experience. Zero executive experience of any kind. And as charming as he may seem now, it wouldn't take too much of the $100 million to make him look like a slick lawyer trying to pull a fast one -- Clinton without the substance.
At least with Kerry his flaws and weaknesses are obvious (even if it's painful to see). I think he gets better and better the more you see of him.
Yeah, I'm partisan. But I don't think all these Democratic primary voters are media-duped idiots; I think there's a there there.
Now if he would just talk more about energy and the environment....
EDIT: a quick stroll through blog for america suggests that the trend with deaniacs is that edwards is losing his luster as a kerry alternative... representative quote: "Edwards looked less like a running mate, and more like a damned debutante." but i also did see a few posts grudgingly admitting that kerry did well, or better than in the past.
- big jimmy 2-27-2004 8:47 pm [add a comment]
UPDATE - NY DEBATE SUNDAY 2/29
Uh oh.
Kerry looked like shit and sounded tired,disengaged, and sometimes just plain incoherent.
I'm worried.
He seemed absolutely uninspiring.
Now, I think Kerry's smart enough to do one thing at a time -- he's still working on the nomination, and the smart thing to do is keep running out the clock.
But he has to bump his game up a TON for the general.
Eek.
The big news seemed to be that Edwards finally showed some fire. I thought his likeability dipped a little when he did it, though -- and Edwards minus likeability ain't too hot of a package.
Meanwhile Kucinich is doing a truly admirable job of fighting to keep in the conversation and to raise the debate to one of core values and principles.
Sharpton is doing a good job of fighting with the moderators (Elisabeth Bumiller lost control of the table at one point, and only Dan Rather was able to straighten things out) and delivering soundbites.
There CAN'T be many more of these...
- big jimmy 2-29-2004 9:00 pm [add a comment]
Nice wrap up, thanks. I agree, especially about Sharpton and Kucinich - they are both helping I think. I think Kucinich got MBs vote in the primary. Maybe Kerry will pick up some of Edwards personality the more they do stuff like this.
- jim 2-29-2004 9:06 pm [add a comment]
funny you should say that.
- big jimmy 3-01-2004 2:45 am [add a comment]
Congrats to the Kerry folks. I'll admit I am warming up to him a little bit. Almost seems like he might get up in Bush's face. But whatever happens, he's our man. Tough times ahead, against a mountain of cash. Let's, ummm, do this thing.
- jim 3-03-2004 6:30 pm [add a comment]
the more you see of him, the more you'll like him.
- big jimmy 3-06-2004 9:31 am [add a comment]
i like toms "helmet head" thing, but i think it needs short lil arms and legs and a voice bubble.
- bill 3-03-2004 7:27 pm [add a comment]