Yeah, Time For Political Posts, Get Used To It Or Skip
Hey, I liked tonight’s debate.
Mike Gravel’s a crazy old coot who’s never going to be on another debate (maybe he and Ron Paul can debate each other outside the next ones — Alan Keyes can be the moderator), but unlike Paul, he’s a fun crazy old coot. And he had a point about Vietnam War casualties dying in vain, staying on topic cleanly. Meanwhile everyone else fell all over themselves making sure everyone knew that *they* wanted to end the Iraq war, as opposed to every other Democratic candidate, much less the Republicans, who have been threatening to fly over and kill terruh-rists themselves. In Mitt Romney’s case, with his bare hands.
Speaking of posturing, I’m sorry, but Dennis Kucinich is an enormously tiresome sloganeering pedant. Yes, you’re the bad boy of the Democrats, we get it. You’re completely unelectable, we get it. STOP POSTURING ALREADY. I half expected him to start his 2004 chant “US OUT UN IN!” repeatedly on stage in lieu of actually taking a question.
Kudos to Barack Obama for having the temerity to point out what a silly exercise it was with wealthy people like Hillary Clinton and John Edwards piously claiming they’re willing to work for the minimum wage.
The stage got pretty grim when the parade of people victimized by the health care system came on. Good.
Joe Biden got the best line of the night when, in reaction to a caricature of a gun wacko who caressed “his baby”, an assault rifle on camera, as opposed to the other candidates who tiptoed around the spectacle sneered that “if that’s his baby, he needs help.” Five minutes later Joe Biden got the worst line of the night when, in reaction to a feel-good closing question asking each candidate to say something nice about the guy on your right, sneered that “this is a ridiculous exercise.” Lesson: Biden needs to develop lockjaw.
InstantRecap Analysis:
Most Presidential: Barack Obama
Most On Message: Hillary Clinton
Most Annoying: Dennis Kucinich (Chris Dodd was close, though)
Winner: Clinton, because she was already in the lead and didn’t goof, and Obama didn’t hit any home runs.
Loser: John Edwards, who didn’t make any impression at all; for someone in 3rd place not a good place to be.