Pacific Views

The Candidates' Debate

Bill Richardson sounds like he already is the president. After Dean's two terms, he should seriously consider running. But on to the people who are running this time around.

At this early stage in the debating game, Gebhardt seemed to have the strongest delivery and the most attachment to a tagline (maybe he's not used to getting that much applause.) Lieberman let out with the only candidate-on-candidate attack, and in doing so, gave Dean a chance to respond and in what I thought was his most outstanding and spontaneous comment of the night. Edwards committed the cardinal crime (I will never have a career as an elected official for this very reason) of laughing at his own joke. Graham was, you know, alright. Carol Moseley Braun sounded very coherent, and it's unfortunate that for whatever reasons, she hasn't had a larger voice in national politics. Kucinich has cemented himself firmly as the 'shrill' candidate, but introduced the Green ideas into the debate, and for that I'm glad he was there. And Kerry was passionate here and there, but the only proper word to describe him seemed to be stentorian.

The above paragraph is of course, overly long, and it all kind of blends together. Just like the debate. It's hard to stand out when you're on stage with seven other people, and in a case like that the things that usually stand out most are embarassing gaffes. Like Kucinich's permanent crank, and Lieberman's desperation. Some of these people need like heck to drop out.

But the thing that impressed me most about it was that there was no mistaking this for the Republican party's debate. They sounded like liberals, many times like progressives.

It's in that aspect that Dean's influence shows most. The candidates (with the one noted exception, and btw, boo) directed their ire at the real opponent, the Bush administration. None of them appeared to be worried about what Grover Norquist thought about them.*

Even Lieberman felt it necessary to describe his stance going into the war, "not one inch" difference from Bush, as having been a position of supporting the troops instead. I have a strong feeling that without the success of the Dean campaign, we would have heard a very different message. A very cowed message. And probably a lot more internal sniping.

Instead it was a good start for a conversation about the Democratic party's vision for the country, and it turns out that it's a pretty optimistic one. There were a lot of good answers and good ideas. A lot of genuine problems discussed, not just the phony issues that politicians come up with that frighten the voters into running to them for protection from manufactured boogeymen.

And that definitely makes tonight's debate a Dean victory, a victory for liberals and progressives, and a victory for the Democratic party.

The Immediate Coverage:

Democrats Debate, Slam Bush - Seattle PI: Okay summary, a few quotes.

Bushies, Launch the Dean Counterattack - Larry Kudlow, KC Star: Even we Republicans see Dean as the guy to beat, and we need to beat him with the facts.

Rival debaters unable to dent Dean's momentum - USA Today: Dean's low-key tone was a good tactic that left him unscathed, better summary.

Dean's Passion and His Problem Krauthammer, WA Post: Dean will drive Dems over a cliff & doesn't play well on TV. Pick Kerry, a revisionist whom I will relentlessly trash while pointing out what a blueblood he is.

Democrats Turn Harshest Attacks on Bush - Reuters: This Lieberman guy spent a lot of time attacking Dean, and btw, the debate will be rebroadcast with a Spanish translation on Univision.

Democrats Seeking Presidency Denounce Bush Iraq Policy - NY Times: The Democrats have figured out who they're running against, Dean most fluent Spanish speaker. Good recap.

Democratic Debate Likely to Benefit Dean - Fournier of AP, Newsday: Not much news here, but I'll tell you about it anyway.

Democrats take aim at Bush in debate - AP, CNN: The Democrats dislike Bush, like immigrants, and disagree on trade and taxes.

Democratic contenders line up for debate - Guardian: Other candidates are afraid of turning off Dean supporters.

Democrats in Debate Rip Bush on Iraq - ABC News: Eight out of eight Democrats agree, Bush has failed in Iraq.

US Democrats attack Bush record - BBC: There are Americans who disagree with Bush. And among other things we weren't aware of, Americans aren't paying attention to the presidential race this early in the game.

Democrats hammer Bush on Iraq - MSNBC: They attack Bush, they're cordial to Dean, they 'nod' to the Hispanics, they don't agree about everything.

Wrong Turn At Albequerque Suellentrop, Slate: Love the way Lieberman beat up on flip-flopper Dean.

And after reading all of these late at night, wondering what the heck I'm doing sitting at the computer at his hour, only one question remains in my mind: Is it really news that Carol Moseley Braun is the only woman in the race? I mean, is it necessary to mention that every single time she gets quoted? Really.

* Grover Norquist on a cable news show this evening described the candidates as having "declared war on Mexico" through their trade stances. Unfortunately, more people will probably hear the spin than heard the debate. Here's Dean's response to Lieberman on trade:

"...We do have to have trade relations which rely on equality of labor standards throughout the world. They don't have to be American standards, could be international labor organizations'. I believe Mexico will do that. I believe that Mexico wants open trade relationships with the United States. And I believe, given the reform that's gone on under Vicente Fox, that we will, in fact, be able to negotiate with Mexico the same labor standards, the same environmental standards over a period of time. And I think we need to do that.

"We cannot continue to ship our jobs to countries where they get paid 50 cents an hour. With no occupational safety and health, no overtime, no labor protections, and no right to organize. ..."

If he can hold that thought, it'll be a good thing indeed. America has prospered because of better labor standards, other countries should have that chance also. And we might, mercifully, not have to always be the consumers of last resort.

Posted by natasha at September 5, 2003 04:20 AM | TrackBack