Yesterday's debate (D)
Posted: Monday, August 20, 2007 9:12 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Democrats
The Washington Post: “Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) drew fire from his rivals for his relative lack of political experience, but amid subtle digs from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson over his approach to foreign policy, he calmly took the heat.” Also: “The candidates touched on the subject of whether Clinton was too polarizing to win the general election, as outgoing White House adviser Karl Rove postulated last week and reiterated on three Sunday talk shows.”
VIDEO: Presidential hopeful Barack Obama on opponents questioning if he’s ready to be president.
The Boston Globe says the Democrats “battled yesterday over how they would direct the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq in a debate … that largely stayed clear of personal attacks.”
The New York Times on the subdued nature of the debate: "But even in their disagreements, their voices came across as far more subdued and measured, particularly compared with side-by-side appearances earlier this month. As one sign of this, Democrats pointed to the performance of John Edwards as a reflection of a calculation that the kind of spirited attacks that won applause at a labor debate at Soldier Field this month in Chicago might not sit well on a Sunday morning with Iowa Democrats."
The Los Angeles Times adds, "Whether it was the early hour -- the local starting time was 8 a.m. -- or the churchly sanctity of a Sunday morning, the session was among the tamest of the campaign season. Much of the 90-minute program was dominated by the two front-runners, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, both as participants and as topics of discussion."
Fox News commissioned Frank Luntz to hold a focus group of Iowans to react to the debate. Obama was the big winner, according to Luntz, while Clinton seemed to lose ground.
Des Moines Register's Yepsen gave the debate to Obama. "He was in the cross hairs for much of the early part of the session and he stood up well to the scrutiny over his foreign policy positions and questions of whether he¹s qualified to be president."
So did The Politico’s Roger Simon. “[W]hile the debate pretty much stayed at sea level for all 90 minutes, there was a high point or two and I thought Barack Obama did the best in advancing his message. His campaign accurately has identified his greatest weakness — lack of national experience — and has devised a strategy to turn it into a strong point.”
The AP's Fournier notes how the debate underscored the change vs. experience sub-primary taking place between Obama and Clinton.
The New York Times’ Phillips was critical of the lack of attention the candidates and the organizers paid to the mortgage crisis.
And the Des Moines Register’s Beaumont leads his dispatch with Edwards, saying he “worked carefully” to paint Clinton as a “Washington, D.C., insider.”
