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The Clinton-Obama Debate: Turn Out The Lights/The Party's Over
Red State ^ | Feb. 27, 2008 | by Pejman Yousefzadeh

Posted on 02/27/2008 6:19:43 AM PST by jdm

I only caught some of the debate, but it was a disaster for Hillary Clinton. She skipped over questions that discomforted her--and boy, were there a lot of them. She was tedious, exhibiting an instinct for the capillaries that had to have had her supporters cringing in agony. Was it really worth it to whine about how she got the first question and then bring up the Saturday Night Live about the media showing favoritism towards Obama? To be sure, the skit was right and Hillary Clinton had reason to complain, but if she didn't actually believe that she would come out of that exchange looking badly, she has learned nothing whatsoever from her time on the campaign trail.

Equally horrible was the comment about how she just doesn't have time to release her taxes, or that Barack Obama was not sufficiently anti-anti-Semitic when he said that he "denounced" Louis Farrakhan as opposed to "rejecting" Farrakhan. Really, the whole thing was pathetic beyond measure. I know that it is common practice to believe that Hillary Clinton is The Smartest Woman In The World, or something along those lines. But her side of the debate looked clumsy, amateurish and dumb beyond measure.

Meanwhile, Obama was cool, confident, comfortable in his own skin and looked like a winner. I take no joy in writing that because I would much rather have John McCain face Hillary Clinton in the general election; it would be a far easier campaign for McCain to win, after all. But despite my earlier confidence that somehow, someway, Hillary Clinton would find a way to pull through, it is obvious that it's just not going to happen. One way or the other, Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee.

And Republicans will be in for an epic battle. Don't believe me? Then read this. No, Barack Obama is not Ronald Reagan. But he stands to profit from being underestimated by his foes just as Reagan did. Perhaps someone would want to see to it that such a luxury is denied Obama.

Assuming that Republicans want to win, of course.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: clinton; obama
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To: jdm

Yes. I read the WSJ article. It is right on the money. Do you recall the Reagan debates 1 and 2? Even in re-election he spoke of generalities.

I think that’s really the job of a president to unify the country and maybe the world. Obama could easily do that like no one before him short of JFK.

He needs to surround himself with good people.

What scares me the most is his anti-milatary stance.


21 posted on 02/27/2008 6:39:42 AM PST by nikos1121 (I'm voting for McCain...and fixin' to get excited about it.)
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To: jdm

I will always be thankful to Obama for taking out the Clinton Machine!!!


22 posted on 02/27/2008 6:40:12 AM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion.....The Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: NavyCanDo

You like Hill?

Think that she shouldn’t be asked tough questions about her and her campaign?


23 posted on 02/27/2008 6:40:18 AM PST by Red in Blue PA (Truth : Liberals :: Kryptonite : Superman)
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To: jdm
Waiting for the rest of the kitchen sink, it is not over until Hillary sings:)
24 posted on 02/27/2008 6:41:52 AM PST by TornadoAlley3 (Everytime McCain reaches out to conservatives, conservatives get poked in the eye.)
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To: Red Badger

As much as I can’t stand McCain, I think you may be right.

Gut feeling says Obama has no staying power.


25 posted on 02/27/2008 6:43:11 AM PST by Free Vulcan (Don't think I can vote for you John, I'm feelin' like a maverick.)
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To: alicewonders
He will then mop the floor with old, sick, hateful, back-stabbing John McCain. I'm not so sure as I was. Look back at history. Often some old sickly fellow gets the prize because everyone is afraid of the young Turks. I wonder if Obama will campaign in Montana?
26 posted on 02/27/2008 6:43:43 AM PST by claudiustg (We're Whiggin' out!)
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To: nikos1121
I think that’s really the job of a president to unify the country and maybe the world.

I'm with you man. On to the Fourth Reich.

27 posted on 02/27/2008 6:44:52 AM PST by Stentor
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To: alicewonders

Well, we’ve had presidents before that we were sure were going to ruin the country, and we’re still here.


28 posted on 02/27/2008 6:45:04 AM PST by stuartcr (Election year.....Who we gonna hate, in '08?)
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To: NavyCanDo
Tim Russert went into this debate with an agenda to attack Hillary from the opening bell, and that he did.

It didn't help, either, that he used her own quotes to show her change in postion ove NAFTA from 2004 to the present.

She couldn't defend that.

Russert called Clinton on her pledge of creating 200,000 jobs for upstate NY, when it actually had a net loss (60,000?).

OUCH!

Clinton responds that 70,000 number of jobs were created “in my husband’s administration.”

[Hey, Hillary, he isn’t running. You are.]
29 posted on 02/27/2008 6:45:56 AM PST by TomGuy
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To: Hattie

Has Obama?


30 posted on 02/27/2008 6:45:57 AM PST by stuartcr (Election year.....Who we gonna hate, in '08?)
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To: NavyCanDo
Tim Russert went into this debate with an agenda to attack Hillary from the opening bell, and that he did. She was on the defensive for most of the night, defending comments she.....

Finally someone else saw what I did. A moderator is not supposed to adopt a hostile attitude to the candidate, then fight and argue with her, waving papers in her face. That is for the other candidate to do.

Can't stand Hillary but this was a set up by Brian and Tim, playing the bully so the sweet Obama does not get soiled.

This is just the kind of tactics they used with Romney, who just happened to have the ability to turn the spit back in their own faces. Hillary can't do it.

That said, it is good to see the Clintons receive their own medicine.

31 posted on 02/27/2008 6:46:39 AM PST by Hattie
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To: TomGuy

My favorite part was when Russert asked Clinton about a Senate campaign promise she made to create tens of thousands of jobs in upstate NY, when in fact since she became Senator there has been tens of thousands of jobs lost in upstate NY. Her answer was that she made that campaign promise at a time when she thought a Democrat (Al Gore) would be the next President. I was rolling on the floor laughing at that one.


32 posted on 02/27/2008 6:46:41 AM PST by NavyCanDo
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To: alicewonders
Unless Hillary cheats, Obama will be the dem nominee.

The purpose of the superdelegates in the Democratic primaries is to keep the easily swayed masses from picking a candidate that can't win.

Obama has a better chance of winning that Hillary.

Hillary plays political games well, but few superdelegates are going to stick their necks out for someone who is floundering, has lost the backing of the media, and doesn't have a good chance of winning.

For her to pull off a coup at the convention she had to go in exuding confidence and convince the super delegates she could carry the general election.

She's instead proving that she doesn't deal well with pressure and real competition. Few candidates would be easier for McCain to beat.

She's the kind of candidate that the super delegates are there to prevent winning the nomination.

She's toast, and if we Republicans can't find it in our hearts to hold back our nausea long enough to vote for McCain, Obama is going to be the next President.

33 posted on 02/27/2008 6:49:03 AM PST by untrained skeptic
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To: Hattie

When she said she didn’t have time to release her tax returns someone should have asked “What is involved in releasing your tax return?” I have mine in a file easy to locate in my home. HRC likely has an accountant. One call, 20 minutes as the copying machine, max, and then it can be released. Looks like maybe, stretching it, a half-day job. There are no agencies to contact, no one to get permission from. If you don’t want to release it, just say that. Don’t lie....again...


34 posted on 02/27/2008 6:49:09 AM PST by NCLaw441
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To: alicewonders
Unless Hillary cheats, Obama will be the dem nominee.

She could sue the DNC to have the MI and FLA delegates counted. Or, she could try to pressure the superdelegates to vote for her.

I don't think The Beast will ride quietly into the sunset.

35 posted on 02/27/2008 6:49:14 AM PST by dashing doofus (Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber)
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To: McGruff

Obama: Hillary - you are a LOSER.

36 posted on 02/27/2008 6:50:22 AM PST by Fido969 ("The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax." - Albert Einstein)
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To: Ann Archy
I will always be thankful to Obama for taking out the Clinton Machine!!!

Regardless of what happens in November, I, like you, feel a debt of gratitude to the Obama campaign.

37 posted on 02/27/2008 6:52:27 AM PST by The Citizen Soldier (If I have to vote for a maverick, I'll write in James Garner!)
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To: jdm
Although Obama is more gifted than Hillary when it comes to debate and speaking he can be beaten.

In the current contest between Hillary and Obama neither one has opened up any major wounds on the other. The reason is very simple. One is politically far left and the other is far far left. To attack on the basis of philosophy would become an attack on oneself. What we really have here is a personality and beauty contest. Hillary is an unlikable persona and it shows through. Obama is charming and handsome. Although I will not vote for him, I would drink a beer with him any day of the week. The prospect of having a drink with Hillary is revolting.

In short, they have the same philosophy but one is a nice guy and the other a screaming BI__H! The nice guy is winning.

Now the good news. Obama has a voting record that will place him on the extreme left. McCain will hammer him with it. He also has ties to some shady characters in Chicago, follow the money. McCain will hammer him with that. Obamas wife is lovely and smart but seems to be a bit of a loose cannon. She will need to keep a low profile in this election. He has been very consistently against the war in Iraq, a war we are winning. The war is no longer a liability and he has consistently voted to undermine the troops. His church has a philosophy that is far out of the mainstream is borderline racist and expresses admiration for Louis Farrakhan. People attend a church that reflects their own philosophy. People know this.

38 posted on 02/27/2008 6:54:11 AM PST by cpdiii (roughneck, oilfield trash and proud of it, geologist, pilot, pharmacist, iconoclast.)
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To: jdm
The reader poll in the WSJ today shows that WSJ readers clearly think that Obama won the debate. That's what I thought. But Frank Luntz's focus group of Democrats clearly thought that Clinton won. It might depend on if you listened to what they actually said, or looked at how they said it. I don't know what that says about WSJ readers and Democrats. I don't know what that says about how the brains of WSJ readers and the brains of Democrats are wired, but I can guess.

I wouldn't bet a cyber-nickel on the outcome of the Ohio and Texas primaries either way. Rush might actually get his wish about a Clinton at the head of the ticket.

39 posted on 02/27/2008 6:55:03 AM PST by Sooth2222 ("Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself." M.Twain)
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To: Hattie
That said, it is good to see the Clintons receive their own medicine.

Yeah, sometimes there is justice in the world. It is very nice to see the MSM media dogs turning on their former masters. Hillary and her domestic partner Bill must be seething. Hopefully, there will be additional outbursts and these people will become pariahs even in their own party. That would be nice too. They deserve nothing less.

40 posted on 02/27/2008 6:55:10 AM PST by dashing doofus (Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber)
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