My prediction. Tonight ends Hillary's campaign

[Egnever]

She may have done well in past debates and I can understand why she is clinging to that now as her last line of defense. She has a huge problem going into this debate though. There is very little positive to ask her questions about. Tonight you will see a huge pilling on by the moderators i guarantee it. Sure they will throw a hardball or two at Obama and he will have to answer them well. Hillary is a walking triage unit at the moment though, The questions for her will be devastating.

What happened to all your money? Have you been able to pay your loan back yet? Why was your campaign staff restructured? Has Bill been brought under control? Do you foresee anyway to get to the convention with the most elected delegates? Is it fair for Supers to overthrow the will of the people? Do you think the negative campaigning helped in WI? What do you think of the McCain sex scandal? Have any words of advice for Cindy? Is it true you owe Mark Penn 2 million dollars? Is wage garnishment likely to help you get your Health care passed? How many states do you need to win to become the nominee? ...... You get the idea.

This is not going to be a debate she walks into on an even footing or an air of inevitability. She comes to this one wounded and bleeding all over the place. The sharks smell the blood in the water and they will be going for the juggler with her tonight. She may make some decent attacks but over all the majority of questions will throw her on defense in a negative light far to often for her to counter it.

Tonight we watch Hillary get abused by the media. If you are a Hillary supporter you might not want to watch cause its going to be ugly as hell I guarantee it.

[Thrill]

1. I think they underestitmate Obama in debates

And it may backfire tonight

[Renew Deal]

34. They've set the bar so low for Obama

He should be able to jump right over it.

[applegrove]

48. Remember in the runup to the 2004 Bush/Kerry debates they downplayed

how well Bush would do in the debate so he won simply because he didn't totally tank. You may be correct that Obama may win simply because he doesn't crash & burn. Everyone does expect Hillary to do very well and so she has to.

[karynnj]

54. No one said Bush won the debates

The bar was low, but the Kerry people cleverly countered it by suggesting that the lights used to tell when your time was up could be confusing. Kerry was the top debater in the country during the years he was at Yale - those debates were also timed. Kerry had also killed Weld in debates, even though Weld was extremely popular and smart.

As it was, I remember at the place I was at, a neighbor looking blown away mid way though the debate simply said "there's no way they can spin this one." Kerry was clear, articulate and extremely knowledgeable - and Bush copied at least one answer.

Here, both HRC and Obama are smart and articulate. The advantage to Obama is that he merely has to come across as he has for the last month - as himself. The main thing he has to do is not overreact to any HRC attacks. The last debate was good for Clinton because both came across well and it was friendly. Given where they are now, that peaceful excellent debate is less than HRC would need. That is why she has the harder job - she needs to pull people away from Obama without looking nasty - a very tough thing to do.

[applegrove]

61. Oh I agree that Hillary has to be careful re: attacks.

[book_worm]

2. I wish I were as confident as you. I think this is an important debate for both Obama and Clinton

and both will probably do well.

[goldcanyonaz]

3. She'll wipe the floor with him like all the other debates. We' will be watching.

[stahbrett]

9. If she wiped the floor with him before, why is he winning?

Serious question, not trying to be a troll. Do debates not really help? Are people just not watching them?

[Blue_In_AK]

47. If wiping the floor with someone in debates

was a criterion for winning elections, John Kerry would be our president right now.

[Recursion]

62. Debates are BS

Canned responses to canned questions fitting within a TV-induced short attention span. I much prefer speeches, where the candidate gets to actually explore an argument for longer than 2 minutes.

[keep_it_real]

4. She'll have some zingers to throw at Obama for sure

I hope he's prepared for them.

[Egnever]

7. Like everything else In this race

She is underestimating him again.

[shadowknows69]

39. yeah zingers are so substantive

wouldn't want Hill to go toe to toe on the issues or anything.

[loveangelc]

56. and hopefully he'll have some to throw back at her

[Mz Pip]

5. The media loves a horse race

so I doubt they will do anything overt to derail Hillary's campaign. The media loves this long protracted divisive campaigning between Obama and Clinton.

It's in their best interests to keep both of them in the race.

[blm]

6. Well, it's a shame the media machine will be doing it to someone with a D - but this is what

happened when Bill and corporate Dems looked the other way for YEARS while GOP allies were buying control of all broadcast media and especially newsmedia over the last two decades. Bill should have seen what was happening and used his bully pulpit to rein them in by the late 90s.

[Egnever]

13. Totaly agree

I find it Ironic that his decisions then are coming back to bite him in the ass now.

[mmonk]

8. She will be between a rock and a hard place.

The "negative" theme will be present with the media. Does she go with plans to attack or does she go another route? This will be a test to her smarts. If she is smart, she will abandon attacks and ask that their questions be on important issues. That's the only way I see her surviving.

[burythehatchet]

36. between Barack and a hard place?

[mmonk]

49. Good one.

[libertee]

10. One key point...she's the debater! She also knows her facts

and speaks well extemporaneously...O on the other hand isn't, doesn't and doesn't! ummmmm, ah...., oh....

[emilyg]

65. By the time he answers a question

I forget what the question was.

[kennetha]

11. Those would be ABSURD questions

for the commentators to ask. Do you thin the voting public gives a RAT'S ARSE about these things??????? We want to know what direction these candidates will take our country in, what their plans are to address our needs. This isn't about the inside baseball of campaigns.

That's the problem with the media, actually. They are like color commentators at a sporting event. The want to give us a blow by blow of the "action." But they do almost nothing to help us sort through and understand the real issues, the real costs and benefits of different policy choices, etc.

I pray to whatever is out there that this debate doesn't turn out to be about these kinds of issues. And if the moderators try to make it about this sort of thing, I hope both Hilary and Barack turn on them.

[Egnever]

17. They sure are

but we have seen the moronic questions they have put to our candidates so far. Remember the last CNN debate when wolf was continually trying to goad them into a fight? Tonight will be no different. Wolf will ask another string of asinine questions with little or no bearing on the race. the crowd will groan and hillary will be faced with questions like how do you plan to go forward with no money?

[JohnnyLib2]

12. Doubt it. Surely you haven't missed her resiliency.

[Egnever]

20. Theres a few hours left

Perhaps there will be a miraculous turn arround.

[buff2]

14. Yes indeedy!

St Obama NEVER fucks up! :eyes:

[Beregond2]

15. Debate

You've got to be kidding. When have the moderators ever asked anything remotely controversial or even interesting? Won't happen.

[AlCzervik]

16. i totally forgot there is a debate tonight, thanks for the reminder.

[displacedtexan]

18. If you spell your name backwards...

... it's still enigmatic.

Interesting prediction.

We'll just have to see if you're right, won't we?

[Egnever]

22. That was clever!

Yep like I said its my prediction. If I am wrong I look forward to eating crow tomorrow.

[Yael]

19. What time is the debate tonight?

[Egnever]

25. 8 pm CNN

Wolf will likely be in rare form.

[Yael]

41. Thanks!

[The_Casual_Observer]

21. Miss Cleo

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

23. You Can't Possibly Be Serious. As With Every Other Debate, She'll Completely Outshine Him Tonight.

When they debate the issues directly and one on one, he generally no longer looks like a messiah. Instead, he looks like a good up and coming Democrat who has a lot of potential, but may not be quite ready. Maybe tonight will be a bit different, but to believe what you wrote in the OP is all sorts of a stretch.

[cali]

58. actually, although she's been better in almost every debate

he's not bad. And obviously, most voters have NOT seen things the way you do. If they did he wouldn't be the clear front runner. All he has to do tonight is not fuck up It's that basic. And she has a tricky role to play: She needs to attack but she can't look desperate or mean. It's quite a feat to pull that off and as history clearly showed us in SC, she's not done well on the attack. She loses votes that way.

[BlackVelvet04]

24. My prediction: tonight ends Obama's campaign

Like his supporters he'll say something so arrogant that it will turn the whole country against him.

See how that works.

[Egnever]

27. Well we will know who was right in a few hours.

If it is you feel free to kick this so I can say how wrong I was.

[hogwyld]

38. What do you really think he'll say

That will cause him to concede? Do you know something that I don't?

[Yael]

42. Yaaaarrrrrgh?

[Freddie Stubbs]

26. I'd think that the moderators would rather try to take Obama down a notch as he is the frontrunner

[Egnever]

30. I am sure thats on the agenda too.

As you are aware by now one would hope He isn't easy to tear down. The most powerful political team in the country has been trying to do it without success now for nearly a year.

I am sure they will try but Hillary is just way more vulnerable at the moment. A position she is not really used to.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

28. The only questions, among the example you list, that I'm remotely interested in

Are about seating the MI an FL delegates and the health care plan. None of the campaign or personal stuff belongs in the debate.

[mtnsnake]

29. I think I'll forward your brilliant post to Hillary so she can withdraw right now (snicker)

[Egnever]

40. Could you please!

[RememberWellstone]

31. Wounded Tiger

We will see what happens..you never know how tough a Clinton is until they are wounded..which would be now.

She will be exceptional tonight.

[Independent-Voter]

32. I'm not seeing it. At best it'll end up having no effect at all.

Unless Obama screws a young boy on stage, I can't see HRC gaining a whole hell of alot of ground, nor Obama gaining much either. It's waaay late in the campaign, and most everything has been hashed out. I'm sure there will be some general "Why should I vote for you" questions that'll dance around money and whatnot, but can't see anyone going Crossfire on the candidates.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

33. You Can Bookmark This Post

There will be no "process" or "horse race" questions...

Out of all your questions the only one that might be asked is the "mandate" and "super delegate" question...There might be a question about super delegates to which she will say they should vote their conscience and what they believe is best for the party and the nation...That has the added benefit of being right...

You forget it is a CNN panel and the debate is hosted by Univision and the TX Dem party...

[tishaLA]

35. the difference with this debate is that

Obama doesn't have to try to "win" it; he just has to make sure she doesn't land too many punches. He has the momentum and all that, so he just has to prove that he belongs on the stage with her. Ironically, as I said before, I think he won the last debate not on his performance, but on his ability to look like her equal. I think the two-person debate does Obama nothing but good....unless he completely fucks up.

[rug]

37. Duly noted.

:boring:

[Cameron27]

43. I'll be watching,

Hillary has always been abused by the media, any other person would have crumbled from the attacks a long time ago. Let's see how Obama holds up when (or if) they go after him.

[scheming daemons]

44. Hillary's camp has, stupidly, set the bar so low for Obama and so high for Clinton for tonight ....

...that he can't help but exceed expectations, and she can't help but fail to meet them.


First rule in politics concerning debates: Try to set the expectations as low as possible for your candidate.


Hillary supporters have effectively made it so that as long as Obama doesn't completely screw up in the debate, he will have "won".


Thanks, Hillbots. You're making it impossible for your candidate to win the post-debate spin.

[Beausoir]

51. Wow. I've seen alot of spin in my day, but you just blew my mind.

I'm dizzy.

[bigtree]

45. thanks for your concern

[Marrah_G]

46. She has weathered worse and will come out with her head held high.

[eleny]

50. I expect that she will be fierce and strong

This is the moment where she has to make her case and be more presidential than she has ever been.

This Obama supporter won't count her down and out until I hear her say it.

[K Gardner]

52. I certainly HOPE the mods don't pile on like that. I think it'd be unseemly and not at all

what people want to see. I will be VERY upset if this is the tenor at the debate and I'd hope the audience stands up and BOOs if this happens.

[demokatgurrl]

53. Seriously, they are NOT going to ask those questions

they will ask the same old tired questions. I've watched 2 debates, that was more than enough.

And I am a Clinton supporter.

[goodgd_yall]

55. pffft n/t

[nickn777]

57. A "CNN" debate can't really hurt HRC because...

After the "Clinton News Network" debate concludes, a team of "balanced" analysts including Paul Begala, David Gergen, and Susan Estrich will be assembled. Hillary will immediately be declared the hands down winner, and all of her best moments of the debate will be played over and over again for public consumption. As they cut back to the analysis, we'll see Wolf Blitzer and John King try to hide their "Hillary '08" buttons behind their jackets...After this, CNN will go to their "randomly" selected group of undecided voters, where a show of hands will yield a bunch of people who have now 'switched' their vote to Mrs. Clinton....

You'll need to switch to MSNBC to get some halfway decent analysis.

[cottonseed]

59. I hope they have a civilized debate discussing policy positions.

I think the world needs to see each candidate flesh out their positions, and discuss what an administration of theirs would look like. No hand raising, no answers to gotchas, no personal attacks. Just substantive discussions of the issues the voters in the US and remaining primary states need and want to hear. I hope they both do well.

[loveangelc]

60. we'll see. I dont think her strategy of "commander of chief" will be that effective with democratic

voters.

[nomorewhopper]

63. Hillary HAS to attack, and Obama will be at the ready with a zinger.

hillary has no choice but to attack obama, and he'll be ready with a "oh lord, here we go again" type of statement that will echo the public sentiment in very few words. we're all sick and tired of this war of words, and people have made up their minds.

hillary does well in the debates, but i think tnoight she is backed into a corner and obama will be prepared for it

[anigbrowl]

64. I disagree

Yes, I believe she will be pulled over the coals by the moderators tonight, and it will be justified insofar as she has long a long string of contests tonight.

But although I support Obama, I think Hillary is a tough cookie who can hold her own under fire, and if the questioners are too aggressive she will receive some sympathy as viewers feel they are being biased against her.

I hope the moderators will stay as neutral as possible, focus on substantive issues, and let Hillary and Barack do the wrestling.

[Egnever]

66. Welp I got a few of them right

Maybe didnt quite end the campaign but the concesion at the end was pretty damn close.