Four Hours of Debate During the NFL Playoffs

It was a tough choice, but I decided to forgo the (good) Steelers game in order to tune in to the debates in New Hampshire. I know, painful.

In any event, the GOP debate was on first. My first thoughts on the program was that Ron Paul kept getting cut off by the other candidates and the moderators, and it's a shame that he was much too polite to interrupt others because what he has to say is really important. I'm tired of Republicans (or Fox News) censoring Ron Paul, and it's not because I particularly agree with him, but it's because his positions are legitimate ones and should be freely discussed. They treat Congressman Paul like someone who needs to be restrained. I also thought Romney was the butt of too many jokes; it looked as though John McCain and Mike Huckabee were about ready to pat themselves on the back after making some of the quips they made. For example, Mitt Romney stated, "Don't mischaracterize my position" to Huckabee, who childlishly grinned and responded "Which one?" Romney sure left himself open to that one, and Romney's constant changing of positions should be scrutinized, but it's not okay to take cheap shots. And Romney took a lot of 'em.

Rudy Giuliani made arguments about the experience necessary to be president. I think it's particularly interesting that he has the most to say about it, considering that being Mayor of NY isn't exactly the kind of experience we think of for being ready to go to the White House. And certainly, there were more people beside him who had relevant experience. So why bring it up? I think relevant experience matters. I'm not sure why he's not attacked more for being inexperienced, since I believe he's even less experienced than Obama-- as mayor, your purview concerns things like crime, homelessness, potholes, and broken street lights. I know September 11th gave him the opportunity to show his strength in disaster management, and maybe he would be a good FEMA head? But as mayor, you never have to deal with leaders of other countries, or have to carry out important negotiations, or ever really need to reach over the aisle, because ideological divides don't hinder a mayor's ability (personal connections do). I know this because as much as I idolize Mayor Newsom here in San Francisco, and worked for him, he isn't prepared to be president, either.

I should disclose, before discussing the Democratic Debate, that I endorsed Obama a month ago and contributed to his campaign.

The debate between the Democratic candidates also had a few interesting moments as well. I sure felt that John Edwards had Barack Obama's back a few times. I felt that Bill Richardson genuinely was the most disgusted about the war in Iraq (as evidenced by the sour look on his face after he finished talking about the mistakes in Iraq). Hillary Clinton appeared shrill in an exchange with Edwards... and I was sort of shocked and annoyed by the way she handled his comments. She yelled over the moderator and started yelling at Edwards some more. Again, I was just thinking "how could she do that" rather than listen to what she was screaming about. I don't particularly want to see her lose the election, and I certainly don't want her to lose her grace in the process. From a campaign standpoint, having lost in Iowa a few days earlier, she needed to look like how she did during the speech she gave after the Iowa caucus. She looked as though everything was under control and that the loss didn't particularly phase her. Instead, by yelling like she did tonight, she looked more like a candidate who was flailing on the way down.

Barack Obama was caught up on one question about his legislation on lobbyists. He pointed to the fact that his legislation did a lot to reduce the lobbyists influence on Washington, by making it so that lobbyists cannot buy meals for legislators any longer. The moderator pointed out that the legislation would still allow for lobbyists to buy meals for legislators if they're not sitting down and eating. Barack Obama seemed to lose his footing on the question, in which Edwards quickly rescued by joking, something to the effect "If they're standing up, they're eating less." Obama could have pointed out that those are the types of compromises that are necessary to produce a bill that has bipartisan support, and that while it's not perfect, it reduces the way in which lobbyists can comfortably interact with legislators (legislators have so much to do, that they can only meet lobbyists during meal time. So a trade off for giving time would mean the lobbyist would buy meals. I doubt legislators would let lobbyists spoil meals they had to pay for themselves). And I'm sure Clinton and Edwards would have loved to pounce at Obama during this, but I'm sure that they probably have had to make stupid compromises in their pieces of legislation, too.

I guess it's a legitimate question for why I think Giuliani doesn't have enough experience, and yet I'm supporting Barack Obama, who has been epotimized by the media as the picture of inexperience. First of all, Obama's 11 years in the Illinois State Legislature is HIGHLY downplayed, and it's VERY relevant experience. I've worked in the California State Assembly for more than a year, and I have a personal understanding for the work that state legislators have to do. Legislators in general are work horses. And that's why I'm very proud of the fact that Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and Senator Edwards are front-runners-- as president, they will certainly have respect for Congress, which is needed after the way George W. Bush looked to Congress for nothing more than a rubber stamp. And I also don't quite believe in Clinton's famous "I've worked for change for the last 35 years..." line. I believe Bill Clinton has for about that long, but being a politician's wife doesn't automatically confer experience. I think her political career started in 2001, being a Senator of New York. In that respect, I know she's seen a lot, but I don't think she's being honest (either with us, or herself) about the amount of experience she has. If it's true that as first lady, she gained executive experience and had to make decisions, then she also has to take responsibility for Rwanda, where 800,000 people died in about 4 months time, Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, where gifted servicemen are let go on the basis of their sexual identity, or the lack of a clear vision for the United States at the end of the Cold War. And in that respect, Edwards has been a bit disingenuous in labelling her the status quo candidate as he did tonight. And while I acknowledge that Barack Obama may not have all of the answers, I have confidence that he's intellectually gifted enough to figure it out, or appoint the right people. His judgement on matters has been impeccable-- back at the end of 2002, when I was a Sophomore in High School, my friends and I had the sense that the war Iraq wasn't a good idea for a number of reasons (including that we haven't caught Osama), and I often wondered why my representatives in Congress couldn't have that judgement a couple of 15 year olds had. At that time, leadership was sorely needed, and Clinton didn't provide it. Obama, too, was against the war from the start, and I know that it has been a cliche of sorts, but he had the correct judgement, and I know it wasn't a lucky guess on his part.

But really, the winner of tonight was Edwards, who really did come out swinging, and ended up looking charming by the end of it. Obama had an over all solid performance, and it was nothing different from what he's done other debates. Clinton appeared a little over confident, and tried to take out Obama in the beginning. When that wasn't going over so well, she was able to articulate her thoughts. I don't think it suits her to go negative. She was clearly uncomfortable, and it seemed sort of far-fetched (even for her) to liken Obama to George W. Bush. She was best when she was speaking about her own positions. And Richardson? Well, I just think he takes too much time in answering his questions, and I doubt that people are listening to him anyway.

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