Thr Univision Debate: What my parents and I thought.

[Colobo]

Mom- She felt Obama and Clinton sounded pretty much the same, and she feels the Clinton/Obama ticket makes a lot of sense. She also felt Edwards had a strong showing, and for her the three of them were tied as winners of the debate. She thinks Obama's best answer was the health care answer, Edwards shined on immigration and Clinton closed very strongly with the "Hispanic contributions" question.

Dad- For him, the three best were Edwards, Clinton and Obama, in that order. Dad liked Edwards a lot, and felt Clinton and Obama were solid; they didn't hurt themselves. He recognizes Obama has a real shot. He felt Clinton tried to steal the show at the end, and she might.

Me- I agree with my parents that the top tier remained strong tonight, with Edwards having an excellent night and Clinton and Obama looking solid and pretty similar. I would say Obama didn't hurt himself, but probably didn't win many votes tonight among Hispanics, who are not very supportive of him in the first place. He did score in the health care answer, and Clinton closed strong as well.

Mom, dad and I believe Kucinich, Gravel and Dodd are wasting time and space, and the BIG loser tonight was Bill Richardson.

[chimpymustgo]

1. Thanks for your honest appraisal!

I didn't get to see it, so any info is much appreciated.

[illinoisprogressive]

2. let your mom down easy. Obama and Clinton cannot stand each other

it is like gore and Clinton.
I was hoping you would do a post on it. Frustrating to not understand a thing.

[Colobo]

4. Obama could have done a bit more to separate himself from Hillary

but he was very cordial, and the questions didn't let him do so. He did a bit on health care, and that was his shinning moment.

[emilyg]

19. Watch them become best friends if that's what it takes to win. Politics.

[lostnotforgotten]

3. Will Only Vote For Kucinich Myself

Will never vote for Hillary ever.

Why, she voted for the Bush's war.

I'd rather see another Republican in office than vote for her in the general.

[rurallib]

20. You would rather see Freddy or Wilber or Rudi as pres

rather than take a chance on Clinton? I mean really, is she that bad???

[lostnotforgotten]

22. She Voted For The Iraq War - That Makes Her An Ineligible Democratic Candidate

'nuff said!

[polichick]

5. What did Richardson do to be the big loser?

Or not do, as the case may be?

[Colobo]

7. Several things

-He tried to challenge Jorge Ramos (the moderator) on the use of Spanish. He went on a tirade against Univision because of the debate rules forbidding Spanish, even though he had agreed with those rules when he decided to show up. It was an obvious attempt to win the sympathy of the crowd and it didn't work. Jorge Ramos called Richardson on that and it was the beginning of a long night for Bill.

-Every single time the cameras showed him, he looked completely annoyed. With what? Who knows, but he was annoyed and it showed. His facial expressions made it hard to take him seriously.

-His answers were too long and quite often he missed the point of the question. He just went on and on and on rambling. He would say something brilliant about the topic and then kill it with his pointless rambling.

-He couldn't answer what was the greatest contribution of Hispanic to this country. That question was not very important, but the fact that Richardson, a Hispanic, couldn't say anything coherent about Hispanic contributions to the country (I remember him mentioning illegals who are fighting in Iraq and that was nice, though) was a major turn off.

[polichick]

8. Yikes, poor Bill...

Thanks for the update!

[jillan]

6. What I am thinking

is I wish I would have paid more attention in Spanish 101!

[Clintonista2]

9. I would agree with your mom

[Colobo]

10. Of course; it helps Clinton to say Obama is just like her.

I think Mom and you are wrong on that.

[Clintonista2]

13. Well, there's a problem with your logic

If Obama is so popular that it "helps Clinton to say Obama is just like her", then why does Obama trail Clinton by double digits in the polls? They have the exact same views on most issues, the reason Obama trails Clinton is because of his huge naivety and inexperience.

[Colobo]

16. No problem with my logic, and the inexperience meme is bullshit.

I don't think we will ever agree on our candidates. You don't like mine, and I don't like yours. I think mine is better than yours in every aspect, and vice versa. So, let's not go on with a fruitless discussion.

[Clintonista2]

17. Putting aside our obvious bias, I just need you to explain the logic of your statement

Really, how does comparing herself to Obama help Clinton in any way? She has a massive lead over Obama in virtually every poll. If I were running a campaign, I wouldn't think it too wise to try to compare myself to my vastly less popular opponent.

[Colobo]

18. It helps Clinton because:

1) Destroys the "change" argument Obama has tried to make. If he "sounds" just like Clinton, then where's the change?

2) If he is Clinton part II, then why vote for him? Clinton has been succesful selling herself as the "experienced" candidate and arguing that Obama is "naive". So, following that logic- if both have the same positions, why vote for the one that lacks the experience the other has?

Following that logic, voting for Obama over Clinton wouldn't make sense.

[Muddy Waters Guitar]

23. So, Hillary's experience and naivete led her to-- support the Iraq War?

Yes, experience does wonderful thing for candidates, I'm so impressed with what it's done for Hillary. As for the inexperience meme, as Katzenkavalier says, that's bullshit. Obama was fighting in the trenches for years in Illinois, and that deserves more respect.

BTW-- the Hillary leading by so much in the polls stuff, is crap. In many of the major primaries (e.g. Iowa and South Carolina), she's at best tied with or even behind other Dems. And her negatives are much, much higher than the other candidates, such that in many states especially with open primaries, she is falling behind.

[Clintonista2]

25. Obama's inexperience led him to support the Iraq war too, you know

Every vote cast to fund the war was a vote to support the war.

[antiimperialist]

11. Can you tell us why you think Obama "didn't win many votes" among Hispanics today?

Specifics please.

[Colobo]

14. Well

I think his performance was solid and his answers were honest, but he was put on the spot for having voting for the Border Wall, and even though he answered well (he said he wants to reform the whole immigration process in the country and provide paths to legalization), he looked kinda nervous, like if he didn't expect the question. Clinton was put on the spot as well with the same question, but she kept her cool and was unapologetic, so her delivery was kinda better and the crowd reactions show it.

Also, Obama couldn't separate himself from the rest on foreign policy because he was not asked about it. The Cuba issue was something that Obama was probably waiting for to jump in and talk about his vision, but it didn't happen. The other candidates took most of his positions on foreign policy and he got no credit.

So in general, Obama didn't say anything remarkable, and his answers were in line with Clinton and Edwards for the most part. The only moment he truly shined was on health care- he got a huge ovation because of his answer (he said that if Americans payed for his salary and health care, the least he could do in return was to make sure everyone had health care).

Tonight Univison will have a panel discussing the event, so let's see what people think.

[EFerrari]

12. I think it's crucial to include Kucinich, Gravel and Dodd

because they are able to bring up issues and positions that the frontrunners won't touch. By no means are they a waste of time and space.

[knowledgeispwr]

15. I agree with yall on Richardson...

his attitude and answers did not make him come across well (to me anyway, a black American who learned Spanish).

[rurallib]

21. I have wanted Richardson to do well but ....

So often he seems to be in another world.

[knowledgeispwr]

24. What do you think it is?

Is Richardson just not ready to present/sell himself on a national stage?

On paper, Richardson is impressive, but then during the debates he's....lacking.

[rurallib]

26. I think he is trying too hard to be good

As I always used to tell my kids - trying not to lose. Consequently he is losing - mind blocks, quirky moves the whole bit. I am sure you have had a case of nerves where you have tried so hard to be good you just blow it.
He blew it at the Cancer forum in Cedar Rapids Iowa also. Sadly it shows me that he may be great doing what someone tells him to do but I may be concerned if he was in the decision making capacity.