4.28.2007
Debate Scorecard: They're No Jack Kennedys (NYObserver.com)
Barack Obama and John Edwards may have squandered their first opportunity to make headway against the notoriously scripted Hillary Clinton. But it's early yet.
By Steve Kornacki Published: April 26, 2007
Next February 5, when approximately 83 states are scheduled to hold primaries and caucuses that cumulatively figure to determine the party’s presidential nominee, chances are no one will remember anything from the lead-off Democratic debate.
There were no sharp attacks, no memorable exchanges, no gotcha moments. No one was asked about the hypothetical rape and murder of Kitty Dukakis; no one accidentally declared Poland liberated; and no one foolishly compared him or herself to Jack Kennedy.
The closest any candidate came to eloquence was when Mike Gravel randomly offered up an excerpt of Ronald Reagan’s 1984 put-down of Walter Mondale, saying that he wouldn’t hold his opponents’ youth and inexperience against them.
No one really won this debate. Which makes it a default victory for Hillary Clinton, the only Democrat who stands to win simply by not losing.
Hillary’s performance itself was serviceable, the equivalent of a quarterback completing 13 of 25 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown. She likely benefited from lowered expectations, after months -- if not years -- of critical attacks on her supposedly tight, frigid and over-scripted public personality.
(More ... New York Observer > Politics)
By Steve Kornacki Published: April 26, 2007
Next February 5, when approximately 83 states are scheduled to hold primaries and caucuses that cumulatively figure to determine the party’s presidential nominee, chances are no one will remember anything from the lead-off Democratic debate.
There were no sharp attacks, no memorable exchanges, no gotcha moments. No one was asked about the hypothetical rape and murder of Kitty Dukakis; no one accidentally declared Poland liberated; and no one foolishly compared him or herself to Jack Kennedy.
The closest any candidate came to eloquence was when Mike Gravel randomly offered up an excerpt of Ronald Reagan’s 1984 put-down of Walter Mondale, saying that he wouldn’t hold his opponents’ youth and inexperience against them.
No one really won this debate. Which makes it a default victory for Hillary Clinton, the only Democrat who stands to win simply by not losing.
Hillary’s performance itself was serviceable, the equivalent of a quarterback completing 13 of 25 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown. She likely benefited from lowered expectations, after months -- if not years -- of critical attacks on her supposedly tight, frigid and over-scripted public personality.
(More ... New York Observer > Politics)
Labels: 2008 election, New York Observer
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