It's debatable....
Greetings, from the All-American girl munching on corn dogs and sipping a glass of cheap American Rose wine! (I almost feel an urge to "yeehaw!") It's another late night for me, but won't be as it has been. I've been absent the past few days - partly because I've been in the grips of a brutal case of insomnia. I finally managed to get a couple of hours' sleep this evening after getting about an hour or so a night for the past three nights. Even that little bit seems to have worked wonders, and I believe I'll be able to break the cycle tonight.
I wish I could have gotten some sleep sooner. I'd love to get really deep into tonight's Democratic debate, but unfortunately, I just don't have the presence of mind or strength to do it. I can't resist making a few comments though.
First of all, I thought the clear "winner" in this debate was Obama, although I believe that Clinton held her own. She had some serious weak points, but I think she's still the likely winner in the upcoming Pennsylvania primary. I don't agreed with it - of course - but purely objectively speaking, I think she will win it still, even with Obama's debate win tonight. That's just Pennsylvania, by the way. I still think Obama will win the nomination. Hope so. I've got a history of picking winners in these things, ya know. Stick with me. :) (Now on sports - that's another story....I'm a sports curse.....)
A few points I have to note from tonight's debate:
I knew going in that each of the "big" issues and controversies that have come up over the past six weeks would be addressed in this one - that includes Hillary's Bosnia sniper landing statements, Obama's Rev. Wright issues and Obama's more recent "bitter" and "clinging" comments, among others. The time that's passed has certainly given both of them time to figure out the best way to address these so-called issues, and I felt that played out fairly predictably tonight.
On the Bosnia thing, I've said it before - she lied. Either you're being shot at or you're not - and you don't "misremember" something like that. You don't get confused. She said she was being shot at and was in fear for her life - the facts have been shown otherwise. As definitive as that is, I suppose she did the best she could with it tonight. She's apologetic - of course not saying outright that she lied about it (I wouldn't expect her - or any presidential candidate - to come right out and say, "ok - I lied") - but there was only so much she could do here. I never trusted her sincerity - many more don't now - but there's not really all that much she can do to change that on this particular statement, anyway.
Obama reiterated well on the Rev. Wright scandal, yet again. This dead horse has been sufficiently beaten, I believe. He brought up a nice point about the old-school politicking that's been going on, and I think he nicely positioned himself above the pettiness of it. On the flag-pin non-issue too - opting for genuine demonstrations of his love and respect of country rather than relying on silly symbolism, he stood strong.
On the bitter and clinging controversy, he pulled that one out as well. It seemed clear to me what he was saying from the beginning, but of course it was spun out of control by the petty politicking of others. Small town Americans are bitter with the government. Yep. They don't believe that the federal government will solve their economic problems anymore, after being told time and time again that help was coming, while things just kept getting worse for the little guy. Yep - right again. Because the small town folks don't trust ANY politicians on those things, they opt instead to base their votes on OTHER core issues they believe in - like religion and gun rights and abortion and such - the things that they think might ACTUALLY be affected by their choices. I got that. Barack backed it up well tonight, and though Hillary continued to try to cling to her spin, she didn't pull it off.
There's more I'd like to go into - especially regarding Iraq and general election prospects, but I don't have the strength tonight. Maybe tomorrow if I'm still so inclined. For now, my pillow beckons......
I wish I could have gotten some sleep sooner. I'd love to get really deep into tonight's Democratic debate, but unfortunately, I just don't have the presence of mind or strength to do it. I can't resist making a few comments though.
First of all, I thought the clear "winner" in this debate was Obama, although I believe that Clinton held her own. She had some serious weak points, but I think she's still the likely winner in the upcoming Pennsylvania primary. I don't agreed with it - of course - but purely objectively speaking, I think she will win it still, even with Obama's debate win tonight. That's just Pennsylvania, by the way. I still think Obama will win the nomination. Hope so. I've got a history of picking winners in these things, ya know. Stick with me. :) (Now on sports - that's another story....I'm a sports curse.....)
A few points I have to note from tonight's debate:
I knew going in that each of the "big" issues and controversies that have come up over the past six weeks would be addressed in this one - that includes Hillary's Bosnia sniper landing statements, Obama's Rev. Wright issues and Obama's more recent "bitter" and "clinging" comments, among others. The time that's passed has certainly given both of them time to figure out the best way to address these so-called issues, and I felt that played out fairly predictably tonight.
On the Bosnia thing, I've said it before - she lied. Either you're being shot at or you're not - and you don't "misremember" something like that. You don't get confused. She said she was being shot at and was in fear for her life - the facts have been shown otherwise. As definitive as that is, I suppose she did the best she could with it tonight. She's apologetic - of course not saying outright that she lied about it (I wouldn't expect her - or any presidential candidate - to come right out and say, "ok - I lied") - but there was only so much she could do here. I never trusted her sincerity - many more don't now - but there's not really all that much she can do to change that on this particular statement, anyway.
Obama reiterated well on the Rev. Wright scandal, yet again. This dead horse has been sufficiently beaten, I believe. He brought up a nice point about the old-school politicking that's been going on, and I think he nicely positioned himself above the pettiness of it. On the flag-pin non-issue too - opting for genuine demonstrations of his love and respect of country rather than relying on silly symbolism, he stood strong.
On the bitter and clinging controversy, he pulled that one out as well. It seemed clear to me what he was saying from the beginning, but of course it was spun out of control by the petty politicking of others. Small town Americans are bitter with the government. Yep. They don't believe that the federal government will solve their economic problems anymore, after being told time and time again that help was coming, while things just kept getting worse for the little guy. Yep - right again. Because the small town folks don't trust ANY politicians on those things, they opt instead to base their votes on OTHER core issues they believe in - like religion and gun rights and abortion and such - the things that they think might ACTUALLY be affected by their choices. I got that. Barack backed it up well tonight, and though Hillary continued to try to cling to her spin, she didn't pull it off.
There's more I'd like to go into - especially regarding Iraq and general election prospects, but I don't have the strength tonight. Maybe tomorrow if I'm still so inclined. For now, my pillow beckons......
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