Post debate thoughts

Last night was the final Democrat debate of this season, and thank God. Catching every one of these is like touring with a rock band. The only difference is that the rock band would probably be more fun. To be honest, we weren't too impressed with any of the debates this cycle, be they Republican or Democrat. The format is all wrong. Candidates can't squeeze an answer into a thirty-second soundbite. Too many also-rans stayed in for far too long, and then there was the debacle of including Alan Keyes in only one debate, and treating him like he was a third fiddle. (The schoolmarm debate, as we call it, was a disaster that had Keyes chastising the moderator for skipping him entirely, or cutting off his time.) So yes, we're grateful there will be no more debates.

So how did they do? Well, neither one had their "A-Game" going last night. They were both terrible on the issues of taxes, guns and foreign policy. The red meat of the debate seemed to focus around the candidates verbal gaffes and missteps over the past month, or so. Hillary was called on her Tuzla Dash lie; a lie she admitted, said she was embarrassed about it, and tried to spin one more time with the whole "I was tired" schtick. (Memo to Senator Clinton: "It's 3 a.m., baby, and if you're too tired to remember a simple detail, I don't want you handling national security.")

But that came after Obama was hammered long and hard about Jeremiah Wright, subject he believed he'd laid to rest. But moderators Gibson and Stephanopoulos were most adamant about him needing to be forthright on the issue. Their follow-ups had much to be desired, and they only did a couple. They let him squirm on the Wright affair, but in the end he did what he always does, which is spin. But afterwards, the viewer could clearly see he was a tad angry at such pointed questions. Then came the relationship with William Ayers; another touchy subject that he's been evading. And he evaded it again last night claiming that they weren't such good friends, and that this was basically a non-issue.

The Leftosphere agreed. The Huffington Post was in full snide/snarky mode last night after the debate. They wanted heads to roll, and accused the moderators of purposefully picking on Obama. (Hey, if the guy can't take the heat, then get the Hell off the stage.) Their questions were fitting as Obama clearly hadn't been forthright about his relationship to Jeremiah Wright, to William Ayers, or about the snobbish behavior of insulting Heartland America.

After the debate a couple of sites held informal polls asking who won. Predictable as it was, I was curious. On Drudge's site, Obama won. On ABC's site, Obama won. Seeing that I started to wonder if the Obama-bots were taking a page from the Paul-nuts. "Get your supporters to flood and overwhelm the poll heavily in your favor." Not a hard thing to do, if you have the time and patience to do so. But, just because your minions say you did great doesn't make it so.

Obama was clearly leaking blood after the tough questions. He looked and acted confused, lost, or just completely off his game. That's not the image you want to present to Pennsylvania voters right before the primary. They needed to see a leader, and neither one gave that impression. The only image either one presented was of a pair of candidates caught lying and deceiving voters; being overly defensive and evasive.

Today, Obama is still reeling. However, Hillary didn't help herself much. She didn't deliver the knockout punch. If you want the real winner of last night's debate, it was the man who wasn't there.

Publius II