Feelin' Better

i watched the new hampshire debates last night (yes...all four hours....on a saturday night... i'm pathetic, i understand) and i feel much better about hillary today.

i still think she's wounded after iowa.... but she's obviously ready to scrap for the nomination and i think the frisky voters of new hampshire will respond to this.

i've also heard a lot of concern about experience and foreign policy cred... she's got that.

it will be hard to stop the movement that has become obama... and maybe that will play out better in the general.

but we can worry about the freshness of obama vying with the experience of mccain in a general election. as hillary said in the debate: in 2000 americans voted for the president they wanted to have a beer with... well look what the fuck-up did to the country... we need someone with competence in 2009. i'm still hoping it's hillary.

but let's look at the debate, the bastards first.

the republicans
the field does not like mitt romney.... clearly. everyone on that stage attacked mitt over and over again.

now, i love to call the guy flip-flop mitt as much as the next person... but how about substance, people? not joke after joke concerning his evolution of ideas.

and when mitt said to huckleberry: "governor, don't try to characterize my position" and huckabee came back with "which one" - it was a quick and funny line. but a mean line... i think it was the first glimpse at a truer huckabee... with a bit of a temper and a mean streak. (the same happened with obama - but we'll get to that.)

clearly the GOP still want to run on the politics of fear... mccain, especially, emphasizing that "we're safer" but "still not safe."

mccain seemed mostly out of the fray... and i thought huckleberry had a nice night. but i kinda felt sorry for mitt (something i'm not prone to do) and i wonder if other's might too. he stood his ground and mostly stayed above the fray... i thought it was a nice night for mitt. but rough with all those attacks.

the democrats
it was so nice to have four serious candidates on stage. a lot of people thought everyone had a great night at the debate... but it helps when you have more time to focus on each person and you don't have to share time with 8 people (not to mention the kookiness of kucinich and the insanity of alaska mike).

it only took about 30 minutes into the debate before obama and hillary were asked to directly "dialogue" with each other. and they did... and hillary came out swinging. drawing strong contrast between the two and highlighting accomplishments she has made and how he has done little.

but most interesting... edwards seemed to defend obama against hillary. but there was a reason behind his madness.

edwards is desperate to characterize himself as a candidate of change... DESPERATE!

everything was "senator obama and myself" and "me and senator obama."

john...you're an angry hillbilly that has no chance in hell of getting the nod since you lost iowa. get over it. move on.

you're not obama and you never will be.... but it was fun watching you take every moment possible to align yourself with him. you do realize he's leading now, right? so...you're kinda making him look REALLY good.

oh...and let's backtrack to iowa for a quick second: i want to reemphasize that there was less than a percent difference between edwards and hillary.... they both received 29.something percent of the vote... but they love to round up for edwards and round down for hillary. whatever... but you rounded both mccain and thompson down to 13% for their tie. i'm just sayin' media types.

back to new hampshire: hillary had my favorite moments of the night. in no particular order:

1) ready to scrap. after edwards attacked her about being the "status quo" and not "change" she got angry. "i have made change," she said. she emphasized that they only talk about it but she's done it. a lot of people thought it was a bad moment for her... and she did get a bit shrill - but i think voters will appreciate the passion she's showing. she's willing to fight for the nomination.

oh...and she finally said the line i was hoping she would say: "i think having the first woman president is a huge change." applause! i've been waiting for that argument, thank you. i hope it's not too late.

2) when a question was asked whether or not the surge in iraq was working since we only had 23 american deaths in december compared to the 126 deaths in may... hillary said, "23 americans dying is unacceptable" when the iraqi government refuses to make progress. it was a great answer and a slam dunk.

3) when the local political newscaster quoted poll results that more people "like" obama compared to hillary...she had the best moment of the night. god, i loved this. she took a moment and said with great comedic presence: "well, that hurts my feelings." then she demurred: "but i'll try to go on." it got a huge laugh and really humanized her. she also said she agreed that obama is "very likable."

then obama let his true colors show: "you're likable enough, hillary." it was not delivered to be funny...and it was a bit mean, i thought. george stephanopoulos even said it was "small" and "peevish."

it may hurt him.

otherwise...i thought bill richardson did a lot to help hillary with his "since when does experience make you a leper" line. he continued: "we all want to change the country..but you have to know how to do it. what's wrong with experience?" he also agreed that "we need somebody who's been tested."

if it wasn't a great argument for himself...it was a great argument for hillary.

debate quick hits
--mccain and romney both expressed "gratitude" to bush for his leadership. fuck you both.
--huckleberry gave a nice answer on how he developed his principles.
--thompson seems so bored and uninterested in the whole thing, doesn't he? almost like he's above it all.
--it was a great moment when all the candidates - republican and democrats - shared the stage.
--barack is a south paw...who knew?
--the republicans need to quit with the canned jokes... PLEASE!
--hillary continues to have the best body language - always engaged.
--richardson always looks so befuddled... he's a great candidate... i wish it came with a more polished presentation.
--note to charlie gibson: when you only have about 30 seconds, don't send the question to richardson... it takes him that long to gear up.
--richardson needs to stop tapping the desk all the time. he's starting to come across like khrushchev.
--james: i'm sorry i've been mistyping mccain... it's only been a typo - sorry it bugged the shit out of you... but i'm too lazy to go back now and correct it.
--obama had NONE of the energy in the debate that i witnessed after his victory in iowa on thursday. don't bore us now.
--hillary: you're line on "words are not actions" was wonderful. keep using it.
--i like charlie gibson... he doesn't mind being tough with the candidates.
--johnny boy: you don't take lobbyist money. yeah...we get it.
--i said it once, but i'll say it again: it was nice only having four democrats.
--i think the republicans would do well to dump paul from these debates... but i know that's a sensitive subject.
--i really miss the bullet option on blogger, suddenly.

on the topic of meet the press moments
holiday time spent with the family and a severe disinterest in the guests over the past two weeks has not provided me with current quotes. but they shall return.

and so shall i... but right now. gotta run.

go hillary!

e.