First Democratic Presidential Debate

Last week MSNBC aired the first debate of the 2008 presidential campaign, among 8 Democrats who are vying for their party's nomination next year.  I just got around to watching the video online (check for it here if you missed it).

A little about my political background:  I started my voting life as a Democrat, switching to the Republican party after several years.   I recently changed to a non-affiliated voter when I registered in Nevada.  I've supported both Democrats and Republicans throughout my life, crossing party lines as needed to vote for the best candidate at the time.  I'm generally not happy with the Republican party right now, but neither do I think that the answer to Republican problems is Democratic solutions.  So the 2008 election should be very interesting, with wide-open fields on both sides.

Anyhow, here's my impressions of the 8 folks involved in that debate:

Hillary Clinton:  I don't much like her, and I don't think she can win a general election if she's the Democratic candidate.  But I must say that I think her debate performance was fairly solid.  She didn't say anything that scared the crap out of me.  She's a serious contender, and she's got the "establishment" behind her.  Activist Democrats generally oppose her, so that's a plus in my book.  I'm not as opposed to her as I have been in the past.

John Edwards:  I really liked this guy in 2004, and he comes across as a bit more sober this time around.  I suspect that he'd have the broadest appeal in the general election, and the Republicans will be in real trouble if he ends up with the nomination.  I'm not generally keen on anybody who will admit he plans to raise taxes, but I'll have to read more on the details of his policy plans.  Overall I think he did the best job in the debate (though it was apparent to me that Brian Williams was most deferential to him, so it was a bit easier for him to come off looking good compared to other candidates).

Barack Obama:  He strikes me as a bit of a lightweight.  Sure he's got this grassroots support, but it seems that when you press him on the details, there's not much substance there.  He can talk platitudes with the best of 'em, but I think he needs a few more years on the national stage before he's really ready for prime-time.

Bill Richardson:  I like the idea of this guy, as a Western governor with common-sense, moderate-to-conservative views.  I like that he's unabashedly pro-2nd Amendment, when all too many Democrats would prefer to pick and choose the parts of the Bill of Rights that they think are important.  I don't know that he's smooth enough to win over a lot of voters in a general election, but I think he's probably right on many of the issues.  I could definitely support an Edwards-Richardson ticket from the Democrats.

Dennis Kucinich:  Gotta love the whacko nut-job leftist fringe candidate.  He's absolutely insane and he doesn't care.  Good for him.  Not a chance in hell of getting the nomination, or of being taken seriously.  Ever.  The very best thing about him, though, is that he helps identify the leftist fringe nut-jobs in your own circle of acquaintances.  Anybody you know who supports this guy should be watched.  Carefully.

Chris Dodd:  I honestly don't get why this guy is running.  Is he just bored with his Senate gig?  He doesn't have a prayer of generating anything like traction, he's just a bland politician with nothing new to say.  I don't think he'll still be in the race by 2008.

Joe Biden:  He's been at this before, and he's quite a bit more charismatic than Dodd (wow, is that a strong endorsement).  He's actually a pretty decent national leader, but there's just something about him that doesn't quite come off as "Presidential".  Probably also out of the race by 2008.  He did have by far the best answer of the evening, though, in response to a question about whether he could assure the American people that he would have the discipline to restrain his verbosity and tendency to make gaffes when speaking.  His answer:  "Yes."

Mike Gravel:  Who?  No, seriously...  WHO?  I can honestly say I'd never heard of this guy before tonight.  And I know some pretty obscure names from political life.  He's the Tom Tancredo of the Democratic candidates -- a guy with ZERO national name recognition.  But he's kind of a cantankerous old coot, so good for him for being invited to participate.

So, wow... this is what the Democrats have offered up so far?  Nothing to get too excited about, but there's some potential here.

It'll be interesting to see what's going on with the other side of the aisle -- Thursday, May 3, the GOP candidates will debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Comments

[gary]

Interesting (and funny) analysis. You mentioned that you know some pretty obscure names. Perhaps you didn't know the name Gravel because you haven't found this resource...

http://www.ExpertVoter.org

This is my own "wrapper" over the candidate youtube videos.

gary

[David B. Wright]

Thanks Gary... I updated your comment to make the link active. Your site looks very interesting, and it's a great resource for quick comparisons between candidates on the issues!