Bill Clinton wins debate
Bill Clinton won the Democratic debate Sunday night, another in a string of strong showings for the Comeback Kid.
He won because none of the other candidates had his kind of panache.
And he won because many candidates lavished praised upon him.
Dick Gephardt bragged about how he fought for Clinton's economic plan. Poor people did better when Bill Clinton was President, Gephardt said. "Everybody did better when Bill Clinton was President," he said.
John Kerry went one step further: "If you liked Bill Clinton's economic policies, you'll love John Kerry's," said John Kerry, referring to himself in the third person.
Besides Clinton, Al Sharpton also did well, coming up with one applause line after another. He said his mother always told him, "You can't plant a watermelon seed if you want to get oranges," and if it was wrong to go into Iraq, you don't make it right by staying in.
And when he was told by panelist Gwen Ifill that many people aren't taking his candidacy seriously, he responded: "Many of us in America are not taken seriously." Sharpton added that Bush is willing to send money to develop Iraq but not Detroit, and he's willing to allow people in the capital of Iraq to vote for their leader but not people in the capital of the United States.
On the other hand, frontrunner Howard Dean has not performed well in any of the debates. And Sunday night was no different. He always looks like his throat is swallowing his chin, and his face cannot form a natural smile, which accentuates his testiness.
Dennis Kucinich landed a good blow on Dean when he challenged the governor to take down his ad in New Hampshire that said, "My opponents voted against the war." But Kucinich has opposed the war, as has Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton. Dean gave an inadequate response to that challenge. (Kerry also seemed to catch Dean making a misrepresentation. Dean said Kerry was using Bush's numbers on the benefits of some of the tax cuts; Kerry said he relied on independent sources.)
Unfortunately, Kucinich was a bit robotic in spewing out his solid progressive agenda, failing to modulate his tone and manner. Calm down, Dennis.
Joe Lieberman went after Kerry and Edwards and Clark from the right, making each of them look bad for waffling on the war, with Clark especially clunky.
Carol Moseley Braun scored points with her strong support for single-payer, and she and John Edwards appeared the warmest and made the best closing statements. But when all was said and done, there was no clear winner again--except for that guy named Clinton.
-- Matthew Rothschild
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