Hillary Clinton Strong in Second Democratic 2016 Presidential Debate

Well, first of all, I have to say that it was good to have a dose of sanity in the second Democratic debate just on CBS - sanity in comparison to much of what we've been seeing in the GOP debates.

As to who on stage did best and worst, and when -

• Hillary came out strong on what happened in Paris yesterday.  Bernie, in contrast, quickly segued to economics, which seemed beside the point in the shadow of the ISIS attack.  Again, later, Bernie stood by the claim he made in the last debate, that the biggest threat to our national security is climate change.  That's a little too clever, especially on the day after people were gunned down in Paris.  Climate change, uncontrolled, may kill us eventually.  ISIS is out to kill us now, and needs an immediate response.
• Also on this issue, O'Malley's correction of Hillary that the fight against ISIS is not "solely" American was unnecessary and supercilious - that's obviously what Hillary meant when she said this is an American fight.   (His critique of Hillary for using the "boots on the ground" phrase was similarly much ado about little.)
• But if was good to hear O'Malley call out Trump again as a "carnival barker".
• In the best exchange of the debate, Bernie attacked Hillary about being too close to Wall Street. Hillary's response, which in effect pointed out that Wall Street is part of America - and indeed was attacked on September 11 - was unexpected, powerful, and to the point.
• On gun control, whatever Bernie now says, he shouldn't have voted against even one gun control bill - and Hillary was 100% right to call him out on this.
• Hillary and Bernie were both strong on black lives matter - but Hillary was better in citing some of the many African Americans who have lost their lives to guns, and Bernie was especially strong in calling out cops who murder innocent people.

So, all in all, it was an excellent debate for Democrats, especially for Hillary Clinton.

The Good Wife 7.6: Hillary, Trump, and Alicia

An excellent episode 7.6 of The Good Wife last night.  It's been great all season - I don't miss Will at all - and it's been especially cool in picking up the prevailing winds and managing to stay current in the 2016 campaigns for President.

I don't know when last night's episode was written or recorded, but it talked about Hillary Clinton (not surprising) and Donald Trump (a little more surprising).   What would The Good Wife do if Carson surges even more in the pools, and Trump, unhappy with being in second place, throws in the towel?

That's unlikely, I think - that Carson will surge more, and that Trump will leave if he does - but the uncertainty and excitement of real politics has given The Good Wife a real edge this season.   Peter's announcing his run for President actually makes sense in our reality.   Martin O'Mallley is at three percent in the polls, which means there's a lot of room between him and Bernie.

Alicia likes that possibility, too.  The best scene in the episode is the look in Eli's eyes when he sees Alicia standing next to Peter on that announcement stage.  Eli realizes how much Alicia is enjoying and inhabiting the moment.  Peter and Alicia on stage have been iconic heralds of where the narrative is going from the very beginning and throughout the series.    Just about every time there's a major moment in their lives, Alicia on that stage has set the agenda with her expression and nonverbal tone.

And now she's setting the agenda again.  She's contemplating what it would be like to be First Lady, and she likes it.   Apropos Hillary, Alicia knows just where that could lead - she could be announcing a run for the White House someday, too.

In a way, The Good Wife has always been another retelling of the Bill and Hillary story.   But there's still a long way to go.   Peter can't win the Presidency in an election on television, in which Hillary, who's running in real life, is also a character who's running for President.   But, until Hillary in real life actually chooses a VP running mate, that fictional path is open to Peter.

Hey, I'm hoping we'll see Hillary herself have a conversation with Peter and Alicia.   Impossible? Not at all - equivalent things have been happening on The Good Wife and throughout the history of television at least as far back as Walter Cronkite putting in an appearance on the Mary Tyler Moore show.

See also The Good Wife 7.1: Shake-Up

And see also The Good Wife 6.4: Run-up to Running ... The Good Wife 6.10: Cary's Fate ... The Good Wife 6.11: Kalinda for Cary

See also I Dreamt I Called Will Gardner Last Night

And The Good Wife 5.1: Capital Punishment and Politicians' Daughters ... The Good Wife 5.5: The Villain in this Story ... The Good Wife 5.9: Reddit, Crowd Sourcing, and the First Amendment on Trial ... The Good Wife 5.11: Bowling Bowls and Bogdanovich ... The Good Wife 5.13: NSA on Television ... The Good Wife: 5.15: Stunner! ... The Good Wife 5.19: Tying Up Loose Ends ... The Good Wife Season 5 Finale: Musical Chairs

And see also The Good Wife 4.1 Meets Occupy Wall Street ...  The Good Wife 4.2: Reunited ... The Good Wife 4.3: "Template-Based Link Analysis Algorithm" ... The Good Wife 4.5 Meets The Sopranos ... The Good Wife 4.20: Anonymous ... The Good Wife Season 4 Finale: Good Twist!

And see also The Good Wife 3.1: Recusal and Rosh Hashanah ... The Good Wife: 3.2: Periwigs and Skype ... The Good Wife 3.7: Peter v. Will ...  Dexter's Sister on The Good Wife 3.10  ... The Good Wife 3.12: Two Suits  ... The Good Wife 3.13 Meets Murder on the Orient Express ... The Good Wife 3.15: Will and Baseball

And see also  The Good Wife Starts Second Season on CBS ... The Good Wife 2.2: Lou Dobbs, Joe Trippi, and Obama Girl ... The Good Wife 2.4: Surprise Candidate, Intimate Interpsonal Distance ... The Good Wife 2.9 Takes on Capital Punishment ... The Good Wife 2.16: Information Wars 

#SFWApro


                                   the Sierra Waters trilogy

Hillary Soars in First Democratic 2016 Presidential Debate

Hillary Clinton was outstanding in the CNN Democratic Presidential Debate (the Democrats' first) - better than she was in any of the 2008 Democratic debates, far better than Bernie Sanders on just about every issue tonight, and easily better than the other three candidates on stage.

On gun control, Hillary was much stronger than Bernie, who needed to renounce his opposition years ago to the Brady Bill, and other gun control legislation, in order to gain any kind of equal ground on this with Hillary.   Bernie was also wrong when he said that going to war in Iraq was America's worst war decision - the Vietnam War, with 50,000+ American soldiers killed, started with no previous attack on America at all, surely was worse.

Bernie's best moment was when he lashed out at the GOP for its obsession about Hillary's emails. He was also excellent in his attacks on Wall Street, and domestic policy in general.   But in foreign affairs, he seemed over his head at times.  He cited "climate change" as the greatest  threat to national security - it's a threat, to be sure, but not involving what is usually meant by national security. Hillary's response to this question - nuclear proliferation - was much more on target.  Bernie was strong on domestic not foreign policy; Hillary was strong on both.  My hope: President Hillary Clinton appoints Bernie Sanders Secretary of Health and Human Services.

I didn't agree with everything Hillary said - complete agreement with any candidate is the stuff of fantasy in politics.  She thinks Edward Snowden should be tried for his crimes.  I think he should be brought home as a hero - for unmasking illegal activities of the American government. Lincoln Chafee was the only candidate with this view - though Bernie was a little better on this than was Hillary.  Bernie was also a little better than Hillary on the legalization of marijuana.

Hillary, Bernie, and Martin O'Malley (who was more impressive than Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee, for whatever that's worth) were all excellent on the black lives matter question - they stressed the often deadly injustice that African-Americans are accorded by American police.   Jim Webb's answer that all lives matter missed the point (and Lincoln Chafee wasn't given a chance to answer).

Hillary's very best moment - and there were many - came in her impassioned support of family leave, and her apt denunciation of the GOP for opposing government spending, except for programs and policies they support.    Such attacks on rife hypocrisy are what successful campaigns are made of.

There's still a long way to go, but Hillary was poised, powerful, relaxed, and in charge tonight.   It's hard to see how anyone else could do a better job than she of getting the Democrats into the Oval Office again, even if Joe Biden does enter the race.