October 2007 - Posts
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
The Edwards campaign has put together a
graphic - (Click for a larger .pdf version of the photo) highlighting the differences between Edwards and Clinton on the issues. And staying with that boxing analogy, the Edwards campaign writes, “Edwards proved again last night, beyond a doubt, that he is a true heavyweight when it comes to challenging the other candidates to tell the truth on the issues that matter most to the American people. The rest of the contenders? Well, let’s just say that even the best hype machines can’t disguise a real featherweight.”
For its part, the Clinton campaign has put together a video it is very proud of -- a compilation from last night’s debate of what they call “The Politics of Pile-On.”
From NBC/NJ’s Aswini Anburajan
If Rodney Woodill hadn’t received a call from his wife Tuesday night, asking him to come home because his two-week old baby was sick,
Edwards might have never won the endorsement of New Hampshire Service Employees Association, part of the Service Employees International Union.
Woodill, who represents 900 county and municipal employees within the state, was on his way to Concord, N.H., to participate in the second Executive Board Meeting within a week to choose a candidate for the state’s union to endorse, but turned back home after his wife called. The board voted without him, split 8-8 between
Obama and Edwards. Local 1984’s president Gary Smith cast the tie-breaking vote, handing the endorsement of 10,000-member union to Edwards.
“If I had gone straight to the meeting, there wouldn’t have been an endorsement for John Edwards last night,” Woodill said in an interview today.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Andy Merten and Domenico Montanaro
Keeping with the boxing analogies surrounding last night’s Democratic debate, AFSCME members presented Clinton with a pair of boxing gloves -- as well as their official endorsement -- today in Washington.
Later, asked by NBC News if she felt she was ganged up on in Philadelphia last night, she laughed and said, “Well, I got my boxing gloves. I’m ready; I’ll go 10 rounds.”
The Obama campaign called AFSCME's endorsement of Clinton "no surprise" because of Bill Clinton's relationship with AFSCME President Gerald McEntee, who endorsed Bill in 1992.
See Howard Fineman's piece on the Clinton connection from Oct. 23.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
McCain is up with a new 30-second TV ad in New Hampshire touting his record on stopping "wasteful spending" in Congress.
McCain is also trying in this ad to show "He's Baack" as he likes to say in New Hampshire. The ad flashes the faces of Clinton, Edwards, Giuliani and Romney when an announcer says, "All the candidates for president say they'll stop wasteful spending. One man has actually done it." This seems an attempt to wedge himself back in among the top tier.
Here's the full transcript for "Guts":
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/NJ’s Erin McPikeRomney has been upping the ante recently against his top rivals on immigration policy this morning, outlining on Laura Ingraham's show his differences with
Giuliani and
Thompson on the issue.
After his recent focus on fiscal issues, having spent the majority of October touting his record on taxes and spending, Romney's recent criticisms of his rivals -- including Giuliani, Thompson,
McCain and
Huckabee -- have centered on their records on illegal immigration.
Speaking to Ingraham this morning, Romney reiterated his accusation that Giuliani turned the Big Apple into a “sanctuary city” while serving as mayor. He also was asked to draw out his distinctions with Thompson, who has been using much the same language about the issue on the trail recently.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum and Elissa Davis
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- At the Families USA and Federation of American Hospitals Forum on Healthcare, McCain called for competition in the private sector to bring the cost of healthcare down. The Arizona Senator also said employers would still write off health insurance costs as a tax write-up and the same amount would be applied to the employees as a tax. However, individual employees would receive a $2,500 tax credit and families would receive a $5,000 tax credit.
The reason for this, McCain said, is akin to one of
Ronald Reagan's statements, "Nobody ever washed a rental car." According to McCain, when people simply get health insurance from their employers for free, their sense of responsibility is low. With the tax credit system, McCain said people would view the credit as their own money and make more responsible choices in picking their own plans.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC/National Journal’s Matthew E. Berger
BLAUVELT, N.Y. --
Giuliani said
Clinton “did something extraordinary in American politics” by taking both sides of the issue of New York drivers licenses for illegal immigrants at Tuesday’s debate.
“She did the worst attack on herself,” he said outside a diner at a hastily called press conference. “She did the one thing in a debate you never want to do.”
Giuliani also defended his own record after being criticized by
Biden. Giuliani questioned who had written Biden’s comments that Giuliani was not qualified to be president and that every sentence he utters has “a noun and a verb and 9/11.”
“Did he read that?” Giuliani said when asked by a diner. “I think somebody wrote that for him. Remember Joe doesn’t write his own material.”
He went on to reiterate his qualification, including his executive experience.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder reports that the New Hampshire SEIU voted 9-8 to endorse Edwards over Obama, “meaning the vote was very contentious and there [are] many angry folks.”
*** UPDATE *** From NBC/NJ's Mike MemoliAn Obama supporter and SEIU member, who learned of the Obama vote, claims Obama won a vote to endorse him on Oct 22. Board members claim that vote was not an endorsement vote and a later vote of the board of directors went to Edwards.
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro<
BR>The memo wars go on. The Obama campaign is circulating the following memo, with the title “Turning the Page on Secrecy, Calculation, and Caution.” It tags Clinton as a Washington insider who won’t answer questions and adds another round to “the politics of hope” tug of war.
“On issues from Social Security to Iran to being open with the America people about her record, Senator Clinton offered more of the same Washington political calculation and evasion that won’t bring the change America needs,” the memo reads. “The ‘politics of hope’ doesn’t mean hoping you don’t have to answer tough questions.”
Here’s the full memo:
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
Less than 10 hours after last night's MSNBC debate, Clinton joined First Lady Laura Bush and other leaders to discuss bipartisan legislation to ensure the continuation of historic preservation.
As First Lady, Clinton served as the founding chair of Save America Treasures. When the administration changed, First Lady Laura Bush continued the program while also creating Preserve America. Now, both the House and the Senate are working to turn the executive orders into permanent legislation. Clinton said the effort "represents the very best Washington can achieve."
Sen. Pete Domenici was optimistic, saying the bill will go through congress "rather quickly" and challenged the House to a race.
Rep. Turner agreed to the race and said if the Senate beat the House, "That would be historic."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Libby Leist
Secretary Condoleezza Rice said goodbye to Karen Hughes this morning at the State Department, ending Hughes' two-and-a-half years in charge of America's public diplomacy. Hughes will officially be off the job in mid-December.
While Hughes' record as head of public diplomacy is very mixed -- her aides insist this decision is not about any disagreement with Rice or the White House -- rather Hughes wants to return to her husband and her family, who she has been regularly commuting to see in Texas. Rice and Hughes are very close, and Hughes still advises Bush, aides say.
Rice told the assembled State Department staff that Hughes carried out her public diplomacy work in "spectacular fashion." She listed her efforts toward Muslim outreach and other public diplomacy programs like a rapid response unit to counter negative stories about America and setting up regional media hubs around the world that deployed Foreign Service officers into local communities, as successes.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell
Speaking at the Grocery Manufacturers Association meeting in Washington, the first president to do so since Eisenhower, President Bush joked about Cheney and Halloween.
The president told the audience that he spoke to the vice president today and "asked him what costume he was planning? He said, "I am already wearing it. He mumbled something about the dark side of the force."
Cheney used the Darth Vader line on himself in a speech on Oct. 21. at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Lansdowne, Va.
"In fact, most of you knew me long before anyone called me, Darth Vader,” he said to laughter. “I've been asked if that nickname bothers me, and the answer is, no. After all, Darth Vader is one of the nicer things I've been called recently.”
From NBC's Dave Forman
An AFSCME spokesperson told the NBC News Washington Desk that its board is meeting this morning in Washington, and it will hold a 1:30pm news conference at the Capital Hilton to announce its endorsement. The person receiving the endorsement will be there.
Could it be Clinton?
From NBC's Kelly O'DonnellNBC News has learned former Gov.
Ed Schafer of North Dakota will be the president's nominee for Secretary of Agriculture.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Julia Steers
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PHILADELPHIA, PA -- In the first question of the night, with all eyes on him especially after his recent New York Times interview, Obama had the, well, audacity to compare himself to Philly’s own Rocky Balboa. But then in Round 1, he didn’t seem to throw a punch, giving us the impression that he didn’t want to fight. We were wrong. Minutes later, Obama, Edwards, and even Dodd duked it out with the front-runner Clinton, producing the liveliest and most contentious Democratic debate so far of the cycle. How did Clinton hold up? She was strong early on, particularly over the issue that many thought would be THE issue last night -- Iran -- but she got weaker as the night went on. The exchange over driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants allowed her opponents to drive home a narrative that has begun to develop for Clinton at these debates: that she never actually answers the tough questions. Indeed, after last night, you might find a media more consistently fact-checking her on some specifics, which in turn will lead to a chorus of challengers accusing her of not taking a stand. This will be a critical test for her, and perhaps her final hurdle before the Chattering Class truly scores this primary as a unanimous decision for the front-runner.
*** Hillary gets cut: To stick with the boxing analogy, Clinton was still standing after all the punches were thrown. But she got cut, and everyone watching saw it. As one strategist for a non-frontrunner told First Read last night, this debate could end -- at least for now -- the inevitability storyline the press has been writing, which the strategist believes has fueled her rise in the polls. The best news for Clinton: Due to the debate’s late start, many might not have seen the driver’s licenses exchange. So far, in fact, that exchange hasn’t been replayed that much the day after. But look for that to change, thanks as much to Clinton's primary foes as well as the GOP candidates (minus McCain) who love an opportunity to talk about immigration.
***
Obama and Edwards: As we mentioned above, Obama didn’t seem at all interested in mixing it up early on. But then when NBC’s Tim Russert asked Clinton about why her First Lady papers in Little Rock aren’t available to the public, Obama found his opening and delivered what might have been his best line of the debates. The sky-high expectations put Obama in a difficult situation heading into last night, but despite his slow start, he seemed to meet them (although some pundits today disagree). As for Edwards, he might have provided a more consistent contrast with Clinton than Obama did, which his campaign was gunning for. To our eyes, it was Edwards’ best debate to date, making us remember why he was such a successful trial lawyer. If there was a downside to his performance, it might have been that he was too aggressive -- and therefore too negative for the Iowa nice crowd, something the Obama folks are pinning their caucus hopes on.
*** The rest: Once again, Biden had the one-liner of the night (re: Giuliani). If Biden wasn't known as a gaffe machine -- and if he had more money -- he'd be a bigger player in this race. Dodd had perhaps his best debate of the cycle. His back-and-forth with Clinton over the driver’s licenses (who knew Dodd would break with Democratic orthodoxy on the issue?)
was probably one of his best moments to date. He also got to talk issues he's made key to his campaign, like global warming. That said, he still talks WAY too much about legislation he sponsored, rather than about solutions he's proposing. Richardson did well on a few questions, but it was interesting that Biden singled him out -- as his campaign has done in recent press releases -- which tells us someone is truly playing for that close 4th place in Iowa.
*** Close encounters with Dennis: Speaking of having better nights, how about 'ol Dennis Kucinich? He did a great job answering the UFO question (in which he confirmed he spotted an unidentified flying object), and the guy is a machine when it comes to staying on message. The bad news for Dennis: The UFO question is turning into the punchline highlight of the night, which may, at least, up his Q rating and get him a booking on Art Bell's out of this world late-night radio show.
*** One final debate thought: Consider that Clinton's primary rivals were much tougher on her viability arguments than Giuliani's primary foes have been at their debates. Will that change?
*** Trick or treat: On this Halloween Day, the Edwards family goes door-to-door in New Hampshire -- not campaigning, but trick-or-treating. The buzz is that the Obama family, in Chicago, also will be trick-or treating. What will their costumes will be? (Obama said at last night’s debate that he’d be wearing a Romney mask, with two sides to it.) The Dodd campaign, in a press release yesterday, issued suggestion: white hair, a Constitution, and "a passion for service."
*** On the trail: Elsewhere today, Edwards -- unmasked -- holds two town halls in New Hampshire; Giuliani also stumps in the Granite State; Huckabee is all over FOX, appearing on five shows, including O’Reilly and Hannity; McCain speaks at the Kaiser Family Foundation’s health-care forum in DC, then raises money in Virginia and New York City; and Thompson fundraises in California.
Countdown to Election Day 2007: 6 days
Countdown to Iowa: 64 days
Countdown to New Hampshire: 69 days
Countdown to Michigan: 76 days
Countdown to SC GOP primary: 80 days
Countdown to Florida: 90 days
Countdown to Tsunami Tuesday: 97 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 370 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 447 days
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The
Philadelphia Inquirer: “Early and often, on Iraq, Iran and electability, Hillary Rodham Clinton was sharply criticized by her rivals during a Democratic presidential debate Tuesday night at Drexel University. This encounter was much the candidates' most contentious of the year, with the front-runner taking repeated verbal shots, particularly from Barack Obama and John Edwards.”
The
AP puts it this way: “In the City of Brotherly Love, there wasn't much for a sister. Hillary Rodham Clinton's rivals ganged up on her during a two-hour Democratic presidential debate Tuesday night, putting the front-runner on defense on issues ranging from Iraq and Iran to Social Security and whether she would be electable in the general election.”
The New York Times adds that “for all the attention Mr. Obama drew to himself coming into the debate, he was frequently overshadowed by former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who - speaking more intensely - repeatedly challenged Mrs. Clinton’s credentials and credibility, and frequently seemed to make the case against Mrs. Clinton that Mr. Obama had promised to make.”
CONTINUED >>
If language tells the story of the debate, then it's clear the Clinton campaign doesn't believe it won, since it is only trying to spin that "she survived." You don't say that if you think you actually won. Meanwhile, the Edwards and Dodd camps seemed the most fired up post-debate while the Obama folks feel good (though not great, since they know they did meet their own overhyped early expectations).
The
Des Moines Register's Yepsen scored the debate for Edwards. "Edwards came ready for the scrap and he helped his candidacy. His effort has sagged in recent polls and his tough, pointed challenges of Clinton will give his campaign a needed psychological boost at a crucial juncture. By contrast, Barack Obama seemed disjointed, unable to give good sound bites and so didn’t help himself."
Early this morning, the Obama campaign issued an email -- and
YouTube video -- to reporters with pollster Frank Luntz (R) proclaiming Obama as the winner of his focus group last night. Luntz later told First Read that “Obama's attacks are considered legitimate. Not Edwards. There is a huge difference in style. Huge. Hillary has disappointed. Her only really positive lines have been in attacking bush overtly. They did not like her illegal immigration answer." (One thing to keep in mind about focus groups, they don't like negative ads either, but that doesn't mean negative ads don't work so Edwards tougher stances may work, the question is will the attacks work for Edwards or for Obama?)
CONTINUED >>
Per NBC/National Journal’s Aswini Anburajan, here’s Obama strategist David Axelrod responding to questions that Obama was too soft: "Let me make something clear. He didn’t come here to attack anybody. He came here to talk about leadership, for the future of leadership, for change is and what that would be. And, yes, there are contrasts to be drawn and he drew them. But, yes, I know it’s the fascination of the news media to see a steel cage match. That was not his goal.”
And he even acknowledged that Edwards had a good night, an opinion shared with many in the Chattering Class. "Well, I think people are going to have to make a decision on who represents, uh what the most authentic change. I think Senator Edwards did a good job tonight, but I think people ugh have to look at what is the history over a period of time. When Barack Obama talks about lobbyists he talks about it as someone who has passed significant legislation. I’m not aware of what Senator Edwards did on this issue.”
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Clinton strategist Ann Lewis said, per NBC/NJ’s Athena Jones: "I think anyone watching this debate would have seen six candidates spend a lot of their time attacking Hillary Clinton.“ More: “She, in turn, was using her time to talk about what she was for, to talk about her differences with George Bush, to talk about how we had to go in a different direction, so I think she was talking to people about what was on their minds. I would have to say as a matter of strategy when you have so many candidates out there swinging at her, some of whom had advertised for several days that they were really going to go after her. Well, they took their best hits and missed. Nobody connected."
CONTINUED >>
The Boston Globe’s Scott Lehigh writes about the importance of New Hampshire in the GOP race: “From today's vantage point, you can divide the top four Republican contenders into two categories: Those who have to win New Hampshire and those who can survive without a victory here. Put Romney and McCain in the first group, Giuliani and Fred Thompson in the second.”
GIULIANI: Is he considering Huckabee
for veep if he wins the nomination? "I don't know about running mates, but I sure like having him at the debates, because he makes me laugh. And he has got a nice approach to life. You know, he is a man that is -- he has got a happy approach and he has got an optimistic approach to life. And then I -- you know, I have great respect for him."
On Mukasey, Giuliani
reiterated, "No one, not a single person, can find a single reason why Michael Mukasey shouldn't be attorney general -- other than pure, blatant politics."
HUCKABEE: The candidate said he'd be "surprised and disappointed" if Sam Brownback endorsed Giuliani. "Huckabee said he would be surprised because on the issues Brownback was so ‘adamant’ about during his failed presidential run, namely abortion rights, Brownback and Giuliani are ‘at opposite ends of the political spectrum.’”
CONTINUED >>
CLINTON: Any doubt that the Democratic primary campaign is taking a toll on Clinton's free trade tendencies? She's apparently not decided yet on whether to vote for a free trade agreement with Peru. Obama is for the agreement; Edwards is against.
Clinton’s big labor get? AFSCME just sent out a release saying that it will make a “major political announcement” in DC at 1:30 pm ET. Looks like Clinton will pick up the union’s endorsement…
Clinton is up in a new
New Hampshire poll over Obama and Edwards, 40%-22%-13%.
EDWARDS: The
Raleigh News & Observer looks at the Edwards ground game and how he's having to rely more on volunteers than paid staffers.
And we’re not talking college football…The Wall Street Journal has a great chart and story tracking presidential campaign spending. "In races past, candidates typically spent most heavily in the early going on the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, then had time to shift resources to larger, later states if the nomination hadn't been sewed up yet. This
campaign season is shaping up differently, especially for Republicans, where two major candidates -- Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson -- are spending their budgets most heavily on Florida. That state's Jan. 29 primary has made it for the first time a potential kingmaker along with Iowa and New Hampshire. Among Republicans, Mitt Romney is also a big spender in Florida.’
“For Democrats, the growing dominance of Hillary Rodham Clinton, challenged by a struggling but well-financed Barack Obama, has led unprecedented millions to be poured into Iowa -- twice as much as into New Hampshire. Iowa's Jan. 3 caucus has taken on greater importance for Democrats than four or eight years ago because it is the single best chance for Mr. Obama and John Edwards to stop Mrs. Clinton."
Just how serious is the condition of the Mukasey nomination? The Los Angeles Times notes, "Mukasey, adopting a middle ground on an issue that has become central to his nomination, said coercive interrogation methods, including a form of simulated drowning, were ‘over the line’ and ‘repugnant.’ But he declined to say whether he thought so-called water-boarding was a form of torture that would be illegal in all cases.”
“His position, detailed in a letter late Tuesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where his nomination to succeed Alberto R. Gonzales has stalled, fell short of assurances sought by some leading Democrats and cast doubt over whether Mukasey would be confirmed."
The
New York Times: "Mukasey noted that Congress has not explicitly banned waterboarding by the C.I.A., though it was outlawed for use by the military in the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. That left room for interpretation as to whether waterboarding or any other technique is prohibited as ‘cruel, inhuman or degrading’ treatment, he wrote.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Chuck ToddFor those looking for a contentious debate, they got their wish. This was easily the fight of the year when it comes to the Democrats. Now, who will win the post-debate spin war?
The Clinton camp has an interesting challenge in the spin room tonight. Both the Edwards and Obama camps are convinced that Clinton was off her game tonight. Was she? Eye of the beholder on this; At times, she seemed on her game but she did "let 'em see her sweat" at other times. Obviously, Edwards and Obama have the same goal tonight, make it seem as if Clinton "lost" this debate. Well, it's not clear who won it if she somehow lost it. I'm not convinced anyone has won, but it does appear that both Obama and Edwards have accomplished what THEY wanted to do tonight and Clinton's camp probably is glad that neither Obama nor Edwards outshined the other. Her best asset right now is the fact this is still a 3-way race.
As for the rest of the field, Biden, once again, had the one-liner of the night re: Giuliani. If Biden wasn't known as a gaffe machine, he'd be a bigger player in this race, I'm convinced of it. I know that sounds like a back-handed compliment but it's the burden of being Biden.
Dodd had, perhaps, his best debate of the cycle. The ending back-n-forth with Clinton on drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants was probably one of his best moments to date. He also got to talk issues he's made key to his campaign, like global warming. He still talks WAY too much about legislation he sponsored rather than talking about solutions he's proposing. The public has such a low approval rating for Congress than I'm guessing they tune out. Richardson did well on a few questions but it's interesting that Biden singled him out tonight which tells us someone is truly playing for that close4th place in Iowa.
Speaking of having better nights, how 'bout 'ol Dennis Kucinich. He did a great job answering the UFO question and the guy is a machine when it comes to staying on message.
More in the morning and later tonight on cable.
From NBC's Lauren AppelbaumTotal questions during the debate, including follow up questions:
Clinton - 21
Obama - 17
Edwards - 14
Dodd - 9
Kucinich - 8
Biden - 7
Richardson - 6
These
counts include three "down the line" questions that all of the candidates
answered and questions not directed at a that specific candidate but he
or she jumped in to respond as well.
From NBC/NJ's Erin McPikeRomney spokesman Kevin Madden responds on the debate, "If this debate was being judged on obviously scripted, weak one-liners that fizzled upon delivery, then Senator Obama had a great debate.
"Governor Romney misspoke when he mixed up the senator's name with a
similar sounding one. We made that clear and we moved on."
From NBC's Lauren AppelbaumWe
knew Hillary Clinton would be a hot topic tonight, so we counted how
many times each candidate used her name. With a total of 16 mentions of
Hillary or Clinton, there were less mentions at this debate than at
last week's Republican debate. Obama, who promised to step up his
attacks, invoked the New York Senator's name seven times while Edwards
used her name five times. Biden and Dodd each attacked her once while
Richardson stood up for her once.
Clinton, for her turn,
attacked the current administration, attacking Bush 11 times and Cheney
twice. The other Democratic candidates also used Bush as a punching
bag, invoking his name or administration a total of 16 times and
Cheney's three times. Clinton also led the pack in criticizing the GOP,
but Obama and Biden also joined in for that attack. Biden and Obama
specifically attacked Rudy Giuliani, possibly turning him into the
Republican front runner like the Republicans have done to Clinton.
From NBC/NJ's Carrie DannOuch! The Rudy camp just sent out a snarky release attacking Biden for
his slams at Giuliani. They're reaching back to Biden's failed 1987
campaign, which was derailed after allegations of plagiarism. It's
something that is very rarely brought up, at least here in Iowa.
From
Giuliani's press shop: "The good Senator is quite correct that there
are many differences between Rudy and him. For starters, Rudy rarely
reads prepared speeches and when he does he isn’t prone to ripping off
the text from others. And, Senator Biden certainly falls in to the
bucket of those on the stage tonight who have never had executive
experience and have never run anything. Wait, I take that back,
Senator Biden has never run anything but his mouth."
That smarts!
Team
Biden, for its part, issued a list of instances during the debate when
rivals complimented the Delaware senator. “The phrase most often heard
on the stage tonight was, “Joe is right,” followed closely by the
phrase, “I agree with Joe," says Biden campaign manager Luis Navarro.
*** UPDATE *** No one can accuse Team Biden of being sluggish. It only took
Biden's camp 27 minutes to react to the Giuliani release that brought
up his less-than-proud moment 20 years ago.
From Communications Director Larry Rasky:
“We
are well aware that former Mayor Giuliani will attempt to drag this
race into the mud where the Republicans like to wage their campaigns. It’s pretty obvious that they can’t defend themselves on the real
charge that Mr. Giuliani walked away from the cops and firefighters who
were waiting for the 9/11 Commission to be enacted and the Biden crime
bill to be restored.”
From NBC's Domenico MontanaroSeriously, Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, called on the government to declassify all Roswell documents. He brought it up himself when Chris Matthews was joking about Kucinich's UFO answer. He said the government hasn't "come clean" on the issue. His campaign will surely say he was joking, he has a sense of humor. But even though he was laughing in some parts of that answer, he wasn't joking about THAT.
Matthews looked on in disbelief and joked that this is shaping up to be a contest between the de-evolution party and the pro-UFO party.
From NBC/NJ's Athena JonesClinton's answer was so confusing. That exchange between Clinton and
Dodd on Spitzer's proposal to give licenses to illegal immigrants was
so confusing. She says she doesn't support it, but then defends it and
still doesn't answer it? I understand it but don't agree with it. Is
that an answer? Edwards just noted that, bringing back his double talk line.
From NBC/NJ's Aswini AnburajanDodd might not want illegal immigrants to have driver's licenses, but
he's obviously not looking very closely at his own state. New Haven, CT
introduced a bill this past year that allowed illegal immigrants to get
identification cards that would allow them to apply for things like
driver's licenses and government services. From the coverage then, Dodd never said anything against New Haven's policies.
From NBC/NJ's Carrie DannBiden's got to love the doctor ed question. He
just rolled out his health care policy last week in Des Moines, and his
speech dealt with medical education at length.
And note his
dedication to staying within the time limit. For a guy who's rarely
written about without a phrase like "notoriously long-winded," he's
really making an effort not to seem verbose and, well, too senatorial.
From NBC's Domenico MontanaroOh, boy. Kucinich is now on the record as having seen a UFO. And tried to defend it! Seriously, doesn't this UFO answer and his bankruptcy answer at the last debate disqualify him as a serious candidate and one solely for the fringes.
From NBC's Domenico MontanaroIs Clinton blurring the lines AGAIN, now on illegal immigrant driver's licenses. She said the plan makes sense, but can't commit apparently. She said she didn't say she supports the plan, when Dodd said she did. Russert tried to pin her on it, and she obfuscated again.
Edwards called her on it, evoking Bush-Cheney, saying Americans were tired of "double talk." Obama nodded and got called on and he got to chime in as well.
Does this become a problem for her? Can she directly answer a question?
From NBC/NJ's Aswini AnburajanEducation may be one of the most important issues in our country, but
it rarely comes up on the stump. Obama's choice lines on education are
enhancing pre-K education, sending out an army of teachers, and his
ofen-used stump speech line: "You can't have No Child Left Behind,
without leaving the money behind."
In terms of questions by
voters, it's also not one of top questions asked, though when it is
asked its usually by a college student asking what Obama would do to
lower tuition payments.
From NBC/NJ's Athena JonesBut he called it a
national teaching university to attract bright young teachers and
encourage them to teach in tough areas. Doesn't that already exist? It's called
Teach for America.
***UPDATE***From NBC/NJ's Tricia MillerThere are distinctions, however. As I understand it, Teach for America is for
overachieving college graduates who studied something other than
education to spend two years serving the country by teaching kids in
rural and urban schools. They then go on to work in their original
field. Edwards' National Teaching University would target young people
who want to teach as a career.
From NBC/NJ's Tricia Miller"[Hedge funds
are] an example of the extraordinary corruption that still exists in
the government," said Edwards on hedge funds. Contrary to what you'd
think, Edwards does not duck and cover at the mention of hedge funds.
In fact, he regularly talks about holding hedge funds accountable (but
he doesn't bring up his experience at Fortress on his own). Notice how
he uses the question to segue to a monologue on corruption in
government and the capability of the "strong, heroic, passionate"
American people.
From NBC's Domenico MontanaroNow that's fast. Obama's campaign already has a
YouTube video up of... this debate highlighting Obama's "Turn the Page" answer. Kind of freaky. You can watch the debate, while watching the debate.
From NBC/NJ's Athena JonesObama just said almost
verbatim what has become a key part of Clinton's stump speech. Talking
about families working hard and costs of all things, like college,
going up. It's not surprising that Obama would say such a thing;
it's just surprising how similar it was to whole paragraphs you hear
from Clinton. Just one more similarity between the candidates.
From NBC's Domenico MontanaroOn Chuck's point that Clinton needs to keep her cool, this is something her campaign has worked on. She has been very tight, on message and she has tried to appear warmier, fuzzier. But she had managed to do that at prior debates and on the stump with deflections -- whether it was Bush-Cheney rants, that laugh or her isn't-it-so-nice-to-have-all-these-men- so-obsessed with me line. Tonight, there haven't been any clever deflection lines.
From NBC's Chuck ToddCheck out Clinton's demeanor right now compared to 15 minutes ago when she was constantly under fire. She seems more relaxed than before and she handled the tax question without getting too irritated like she did in that second segment. If this campaign ever gets down to 2 or 3 candidates, these are going to be MUCH different debates and she's going to have to learn to keep her cool quicker since she won't have 15 minute breaks like she has right now.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
It's something to watch. Clinton can somehow show support for Rangel, but not necessarily be for his AMT plan. She really parses the language. It can come across as playing both sides.
From NBC/NJ's Athena JonesAnd on the matter of Edwards caring about children (per Tricia below), this sounds a lot like a Clinton line. In
stump speeches in recent weeks, Clinton has been talking about how we
can't be the first generation to leave the country in a worse place.
Plus she always talks about children and all the work she's done to
help children.
From NBC/NJ's Carrie DannObama notes his support "in states where there aren't a lot of African-Americans." As of the last census, blacks made up of 2.3% of Iowa's population, and 1% of New Hampshire's. South Carolina's black population is almost 30% ... That's the fifth highest in the country.
From NBC/NJ's Aswini AnburajanOne of Obama's favorite lines
about energy conservation is the "personal responsibility" of the
American people, and he talks about how much energy could be saved if
everyone buys energy efficient lightbulbs. Considering how much he
mentions it on the stump in response to questions on global warming,
I'm surprised he didn't take the chance to bring it up here. That's an
answer that could help the American people save money right now.
From NBC's Chuck ToddRichardson gave one of his best answers to any question he's had in a debate in some time. His energy policy specifics that he rattled off showed him to be the expert he claims to be on this specific issue. He was the Energy Secretary in Pres. Clinton's administration, after all, so this was in his wheel house.
From NBC/NJ's Athena JonesAs of 9:40 pm (around the time of the first commercial break), Clinton had answered eight questions; Obama four; Edwards four; Kucinich and Richardson had each been asked two; Neither Richardson nor Kucinich got a word in until 20 minutes into the debate.
From NBC/NJ's Aswini AnburajanObama already had a chance to answer the "swiftboating" question in New Hampshire last week. His answer tonight largely reflects that answer. Last week at a town hall in Dover, NH he said:
“We’ve
already seen this. When Romney started saying this stuff… sometimes
they may be honest mistakes, sometimes not,” Obama said. “There will
be some of that, I’m foreign, clearly I’m a black person.”
“When
people start to swiftboat you, you have to respond forcefully,
immediately, and truthfully. Don’t answer a lie with a lie, you have to
answer a lie with a truth but it has to come fast and it has to come
strong.”
He also pointed to his rise as a politician in Illinois to prove that he was a tougher candidate than he looked like.
Obama
added that he rose to become the “most popular politician in Illinois”
not through working with the Chicago political machine, but by standing
on his own. “I rose to the top of the political heap without once
compromising my integrity,” he said, “I’m tough.”
