Well, the self described "best" team of political commentators on CNN said Hillary Clinton had the best night in the Democratic Presidents debates in Las Vegas just concluded, but I disagree.
Hillary was indeed excellent, and did have memorable lines - most notably that the other Democratic contenders are ganging up on her not because she's a woman, but because she's ahead - but I thought the best line belonged to Obama, and certainly has the most important meaning for the future:
Pressed by Wolf Blitzer about energy choices - in particular, the problems of disposing nuclear waste - Obama insisted that he and the American people not be bound by the confines of current technology. Obama challenged Blitzer to think big, and have an open mind as to what we could do to technologically improve our energy situation in the future.
Maybe it's because I'm an historian of technology, maybe it's because I'm a science fiction writer, but I found Obama's point very profound and indeed crucial to improving our future.
Meanwhile, in general, the debate was about the strongest we've seen among the Democrats, so far. And, although I don't agree with some of Hillary Clinton's positions - especially her Senate vote declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard "terrorist" (the last thing we should do is give the Bush administration any more license for military action) - I was moved by what she said about what her election would mean for women in America. It is long since time that a woman was President of this country, and, although Hillary Clinton is far from perfect, her election would be revolutionary and healthy if for no other reason than she is a woman.
So perhaps Hillary Clinton did slow Barack Obama down a bit tonight. Debates are clearly not Obama's medium - he gives much better speeches at rallies than answers at debates. Edwards and the other Democratic candidates were fine, as usual, but did not light any new fires. Kucinich can indeed lay claim to being against the war, and on the best side of the important issues, from the very beginning. In a better world, he would be at least among the top three candidates running for the Democratic nomination for President.
2 comments:
I thought Kucinich was the only person on that stage that made any sense. The only line of the whole smorgasborg of personalization biasing that grabbed me was when Kucinich was reminded by Wolf Blitzer that he was the only person on the stage who had a chance to vote on the Patriot Act and voted agaist it. He said,"That's because I read it."
He also didn't shy away from pointing out the hypocrisy in the voting records of the other candidates when compared to their current stances saying, "Imagine what it will be like to have a president of the United States who's right the first time. Just imagine."
Edwards is right to criticize Hillary Clinton about her lobbyist ties and her membership in the corporate Democrats wing of the Party. He got booed by the audience when he said something about it, and I had to shake my head at how stupid some people are. Why boo him. It's true. Look how much money she has in her coffers. It came from somewhere. If you do a simple internet check of her campaign contributors, most of the money comes from lawyers, pharma lobbies, agri lobbies, military lobbies and the like. The people booing are either okay with that, which they have every right to be, or they are blind.
For the record, I don't think John Edwards is clean of corporate ties or has a sparkling record. I like what he stands for in this presidential campaign and I like his work on poverty, but I'm equally suspicious of his underlying motivations for this campaign. But booing him for pointing out one of the most critical facets of American politics? Bizarre.
These things are just a lot of hot air from the CNN people and their flashy sets. They are called debates, but there is no real debate at all. Each person makes a token swipe at the questions, and then proceeds to dedicate the rest of their monologue to talking points. It's almost like the regular CNN political coverage on steroids. Maybe someone will send Wolf Blitzer to jail with Barry Bonds.
Hi Prof :)
The debate was indeed excellent and extremely exciting! What I want is a President that I can respect and look up to - a person of integrity and non-violence - in short, Congressman Dennis Kucinich. ;) :)
As a woman I wish Hillary possessed these qualities (deep sigh)as I would really love to say that I was able to vote a woman into the highest office in the United States. :)
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