First 2008 Dem Debate tonight
The first Democratic debate will be held tonight at 7 p.m. on MSNBC. I will be out having cocktails with friends so I'm going to miss most of it. But I'm sure it will be repeated and I will catch it at that time.
This may be one of the only debates to include lower tier candidates like Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former U.S Sen. Mike Gravel, since there have been comments in the past about excluding them. So look for them to try and score some points - which isn't hard to do in 60 second soundbites. Kucinich will probably be flailing around, attacking Hillary for her war vote, but will get some red meat flesh for being the only guy on the stage actually trying to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. If Gravel can look presidential - or just offer some out-of-the-loop ideas - he might gain some traction and at least be allowed into future debates. Let's hope so: The guy deserves it.
The MSNBC Web site has a whole bunch of stuff on it worth looking at, including Chuck Todd and Mark Murray's Dos and Don'ts list, as well as comments by Chris Matthews about what he will be looking for tonight.
The WSJ this morning published one of its silly little national polls showing Obama gaining on Hillary with Edwards running third but gaining traction. The poll is meaningless, as I've stated ad nauseum. But it is worth listing the article in order to look at some of the things the public is sensing about Iraq and the Republicans: ["Obama Narrows Gap With Clinton"].
Speaking of polling and MSNBC, its Web site has a "Rate the Candidate" interactive poll, featuring clips and other footage. At around 5 p.m. this afternoon, here is how the Dems were fairing, with positive, neutral, and negative numbers [71,312 participating]:
Obama: 48%P, 28%N, 27%Neg
Edwards: 38%P, 32%N, 30%Neg
Hillary: 27%P, 25%N, 48%Neg
Richardson: 25%P, 40%N, 35%Neg
Biden: 16%P, 40%N, 44%Neg
Kucinich: 10%P, 38%N, 52%Neg
Dodd: 7%P, 45%N, 48%Neg
Gravel: 3%P, 44%N, 53%Neg
It is clear that people who are filling out the interactive poll have very high opinions on both the positive and negative sides. Obama and Edwards are getting pretty high positives while Hillary, the D.C. insiders Biden and Dodd, and lower tier candidates, are getting pretty high negatives. In other words, no surprises here. However, Richardson is kinda in the middle, which is interesting. Everyone is predicting he will be the dark horse in this field. If he can climb into the top tier, the campaign could get a little feisty.
Thanks to all the folks who visited the blog today. I know I've been off it for awhile. However, a couple of other blogs picked up some of my new content and posted it, which led to a slew of new viewers over the past 24 hours. I appreciate your time. Thank you for reading.
If I feel the need to comment on the debate later tonight, I will. I also hope to blog a bit about the excellent Bill Moyers special which aired last night, "Buying the War," and a couple of other things.
The first Democratic debate will be held tonight at 7 p.m. on MSNBC. I will be out having cocktails with friends so I'm going to miss most of it. But I'm sure it will be repeated and I will catch it at that time.
This may be one of the only debates to include lower tier candidates like Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former U.S Sen. Mike Gravel, since there have been comments in the past about excluding them. So look for them to try and score some points - which isn't hard to do in 60 second soundbites. Kucinich will probably be flailing around, attacking Hillary for her war vote, but will get some red meat flesh for being the only guy on the stage actually trying to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. If Gravel can look presidential - or just offer some out-of-the-loop ideas - he might gain some traction and at least be allowed into future debates. Let's hope so: The guy deserves it.
The MSNBC Web site has a whole bunch of stuff on it worth looking at, including Chuck Todd and Mark Murray's Dos and Don'ts list, as well as comments by Chris Matthews about what he will be looking for tonight.
The WSJ this morning published one of its silly little national polls showing Obama gaining on Hillary with Edwards running third but gaining traction. The poll is meaningless, as I've stated ad nauseum. But it is worth listing the article in order to look at some of the things the public is sensing about Iraq and the Republicans: ["Obama Narrows Gap With Clinton"].
Speaking of polling and MSNBC, its Web site has a "Rate the Candidate" interactive poll, featuring clips and other footage. At around 5 p.m. this afternoon, here is how the Dems were fairing, with positive, neutral, and negative numbers [71,312 participating]:
Obama: 48%P, 28%N, 27%Neg
Edwards: 38%P, 32%N, 30%Neg
Hillary: 27%P, 25%N, 48%Neg
Richardson: 25%P, 40%N, 35%Neg
Biden: 16%P, 40%N, 44%Neg
Kucinich: 10%P, 38%N, 52%Neg
Dodd: 7%P, 45%N, 48%Neg
Gravel: 3%P, 44%N, 53%Neg
It is clear that people who are filling out the interactive poll have very high opinions on both the positive and negative sides. Obama and Edwards are getting pretty high positives while Hillary, the D.C. insiders Biden and Dodd, and lower tier candidates, are getting pretty high negatives. In other words, no surprises here. However, Richardson is kinda in the middle, which is interesting. Everyone is predicting he will be the dark horse in this field. If he can climb into the top tier, the campaign could get a little feisty.
Thanks to all the folks who visited the blog today. I know I've been off it for awhile. However, a couple of other blogs picked up some of my new content and posted it, which led to a slew of new viewers over the past 24 hours. I appreciate your time. Thank you for reading.
If I feel the need to comment on the debate later tonight, I will. I also hope to blog a bit about the excellent Bill Moyers special which aired last night, "Buying the War," and a couple of other things.
No comments:
Post a Comment