The beginning walk to positions? What is this, a fashion show? What a stupid, stupid idea-- an insult that demeaned the candidates. Oh. Wait, There's one candidate who might fit on a fashion show runway... but she was wearing asbestos.
Hillary got off easy, from Blitzer. But Edwards and Obama went after her.It was interesting that Edwards caught the flak, getting hit pretty hard by Blitzer and company. They're afraid of him. Hillary did get in some good answers on her running as a woman. Of course gender is an issue. The question is how does she handle this excursion into unexplored territory-- the land of female presidential candidacy... and how do the other candidates handle their travels in the neighboring land of running against a female candidate?
Blitzer asked some questions that surely, Republicans would find the answers useful.
Obama did not come across as dynamic, special or a leader, just another candidate. I think he lost the most this time.
Edwards, Richardson and Biden came off very solid, with strong ideas. I think the three of them did best in this debate.
I like what Edwards says about taking care of the people, of workers, rather than big business. That resonates with me. But I'm not your average listener. Does his message get through to the tiny fraction of viewers who watch debates? That's his challenge.
Biden was engaging, funny and showed his diplomatic expertise, and Richardson came back showing it too. Edwards chimed in, also showing more than expected in that area.
Kucinich had some good lines, but, on at least two ocassions, seemed grouchy and angry. His reply on whether he would support democrats was probably not clear to most Americans. I'm not sure I understood it. I did like his line, "Just imagine what it would be like to have a president who's right the first time."
Dodd keeps coming across as a wonk. He has experience, has done the right thing in recent senate votes where Hillary and Obama have refused to take a stand, but that's not enough. He needs to break out with some stories that change him from reporting information to tying in with something that produces an emotional response. There was a strong debate over healthcare. That's a good thing, but it only lasted a few minutes. I'd love to see a whole debate devoted to just that issue.
Richardson is looking more presidential. Being a governor really IS a lot different than being a member of congress. His answers were smart, principled and decidedly different than the Republicans. That shows guts and character.
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com and is a columnist with Northstarwriters.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
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-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
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Thanks for your coverage of the debates. However presidential Richardson may appear or sound, it's very hard for me to 'disremember' the fact that he made it impossible for there to be a recount in NM in 2004 when there was huge evidence even early on that Democratic votes by the thousands had been thrown out or not counted. As I understand it, he jacked up the price of a recount making it unfeasible. That is a big hurdle to overcome. When the chips were down, he did not rise to the occasion. What does that say about his principles and character? In light of the last seven years, this is an important consideration. Don't you agree?
by
Joan Brunwasser (164 articles, 3540 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 638 comments)
on Friday, November 16, 2007 at 9:30:35 AM
the country and the democratic party is in trouble when we let ultra conservative commentators decide who our candidates will be.I read the msn.com news report and the only candidates that got time to explain their positions were the big 3.with wolf blizer allowing the big 3 to tear each other apart and the bottom 4 not getting a chance to say much of anything.we are in big,big trouble when the Republican party determines who can speak or not speak then gets to criticize the 3 he allows to speak.
by
liberalsrock (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 128 comments)
on Friday, November 16, 2007 at 11:38:01 AM
A Kuchinich remark that stuck with me was when asked about being the only one on the stage who voted against the Patriot Act replied
" I read it". The audience erupted in the positive.
No one else on the stage said " I did too".
But did you notice that the moderator shut off what could have been more good stuff immediately after he said "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a President who could get it right the first time"?
Cliff Carson
by
Cliff Carson (7 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 22 comments)
on Friday, November 16, 2007 at 1:21:40 PM
It's a profound sound byte. Kucinich is brilliant and dead on, issue-wise, but his energy wasn't there last night. He didn't shine, he grumped. TV is brutal for a real person, who is not an expert at turning on the happy stewardess smile at will.
by
Rob Kall (869 articles, 4016 quicklinks, 345 diaries, 1847 comments)
on Friday, November 16, 2007 at 2:26:33 PM
Television isn't about truth discovering or displaying it. At best it's about Infotainment. It is a show and the producers/ directors and compares/moderators are more about maintaining audience share , ratings that the substance. Ask yourself which is more interesting to joe mug viewer a verbal punch up between the front runner or boring common sense views or complicated ideas?
The media owners have their own agendas too.
The most interesting points (the riskiest) are therefore brought forward by the 2nd rowers to get noticed in an attempt to become a front runner. (Kucinich's stance on Impeachment may backfire in a presidential election as it may have put off more than it attracted)
Front runners tend to be more about style than substance as subtance may offend some segment. They're about not making mistakes that might cost votes.....not losing.
In short I hate this type of debate as in essence it says nothing and allows inappropriate Presidents like GWB.
by
Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 531 comments)
on Friday, November 16, 2007 at 10:06:44 PM
Debates, as to what the media call them have run their course. Viewers, viewers, viewers that's all their looking for. Either turn the canidiates loose to make their pitch or form a panel of educiated people and allow them to ask the questions in an intelligent maner or just give up getting involved in politics and trying to make one or two of them look like stupid fools. One has to ask just what good did Debates do when Bush was front and center. I look at the results and he was elected two times. The well known fact all over the world is that we elected a fool with a dubuious background and these Debates didn't show that he was amoung other things a moron of the first class. Maybe we need an election with an upper limit of six canidates and allow the country to elect the one that they like.
by
drasile (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 77 comments)
on Friday, November 16, 2007 at 1:40:32 PM
"Kucinich had some good lines, but, on at least two ocassions, seemed grouchy and angry."
Yeah, no kidding, Rob. Dennis Kucinich was allowed to speak (5 1/2 minutes OUT OF 120) for about ONE THIRD OF THE TIME as Obama (18 minutes), Clinton (16 minutes) or WULF BLITZER (15 minutes -- and he's not running!). Do you think Dennis Kucinich should have been happy about that? This is democracy?
Once again the biased, self-interested media controls what Americans get to hear.
Also, the first question of the debate basically invited everyone (except Kucinich) to take pot-shots at Senator Clinton. Now I am not a Clinton supporter, but I felt it was patently unfair to open the debate in this way.
Therefore, rather than hearing the candidates differentiate themselves on issues, we were subjected to grandstanding and personal attacks for the first 20 minutes of this so-called debate. Perhaps that makes for "good" entertainment but it is killing (perhaps already has killed) our democracy.
We will never again see true democracy in this country until MEDIA ownership is distributed out of the hands of the few. It should have never been allowed to consolidate in this way, and presently, the FCC is attempting to consolidate media ownership even further.
I'd like to add that NONE of the candidates got the undocumented workers' drivers licence question completely right. The ones with the one-word answers (notably Ms. Clinton) were furthest from the mark. Other candidates who offered expanations may have been closer to the "correct" answer.
In my opinion, the correct answer is, "The federal govenrment has failed to uphold the immigration laws of this country. If I am a state legislatior, I have to be concerned with the safety of the people in my state. Backed into a corner, one of the few recourses the state has would be to require that driver training, licensing and insurance be available to undocumented immigrants who are already driving on our streets and highways. The states' highest concern must be for public safety. As a federal legislator, if I come to the conclusion that present immigration laws are unenforceable, then I must work to pass laws that can be reasonably enacted and enforced."
Wulf Blitzer unfairly tried to get a one-word answer from each candidate on this issue. Rather than calling him out on the stupidity of that expectation, some candidates gave him the one-word answer he was looking for. Notably one of these was Ms. Clinton, who from previous comments on this matter, I believe actually has a nuanced opinion similar to mine. The fact that she did not explain her true position on yet another issue, reinforced my belief that I will not vote for her. (And my doubt that she will represent the will of the people while accepting more Defense Contractor contributions than any other candidate and continuing to vote to embolden the Bush administration, pretty much guarantees that I will not.)
And I hate that the debate moderators repeatedly try to go down the panel and get a one-word answer fom each candidate on a variety of issues. Few if any issues in this complex world of ours' are that black-and-white. To encourage that kind of thinking, just invites the emergence of another GWB, king of boiling-down complicated, sometimes HUNDREDS OF YEARS-old conflicts, into a one-issue black-or-white decision. And that is the very last thing this country needs right now.
Peace.
by
Digitboy (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 26 comments)
on Friday, November 16, 2007 at 2:46:43 PM
As I said in 'good Show' You are expecting too much from an from a media that's only interested in their profit. To them it's a show like CSI (yuk) it must have a plot an appropriate exciting bits, a some pathos, a nicely resolved os tied up conclusion and must finish on time. Its simply a version of realism TV
Other that the rating who cares what the subject matter is. does it make money for us?
by
Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 531 comments)
on Friday, November 16, 2007 at 10:17:47 PM
If we the people are to remain a free people, the Media must remain under our control. Just like the government is required to have multiple independent branches to provide Checks and Balances to protect the citizens, the same is true for keeping the different media independent.
Citizen Amendment 22 – Media
The ownership of the Media shall be dispersed so that it represents the needs and interests of each community.
There shall be no overlap in media ownership. If you own a Radio Station you shall not own Television Stations or Printed News Media. Like wise if you own a Television Station you shall not own Radio Stations or Printed News Media and if you own a Printed News Media you shall not own a Radio Station or Television Station.
The owners of Radio and TV stations shall be United States Citizens and be residents of the state where the station is located or shall have an independent board of directors who are residents of the state where the station is located.
No media shall be used to promote the benefits or use of a particular drug. The doctors and pharmacists are trained to provide this service.Children’s program times shall not have ads which are not for children and shall not have ads which promote the buying of anything.
Cable TV shall allow the subscriber the right to purchase only the channels the subscriber wants. The cost of one channel shall not be used to subsidize the cost of another channel. A basic minimum charge shall be allowed, but it shall not be used to subsidize the cost of any of the channels.
News articles shall list all the citizenships of the person who wrote the article. There shall be no fees or restrictions on Internet usage, but content including Email shall have a descriptor which indicates its content. There shall be NO government (Federal, State, or Local) policies which favor or inhibit any one competitor in any Internet industry. The Internet network shall not discriminate among different types of traffic based on the traffic’s source, destination, or content.
Congress shall immediately setup and fund a Television network which provides International news broadcasts. These broadcasts shall not be censored and its content shall be provided in English by each country. In places where the people do not live in a country, they shall also be allowed a news broadcast. Each country or peoples shall be allowed one-half hour to present the news as they see it. The day-of-week and the hour-of-the-day shall be on a rotating basis so that each country or peoples will provide their news at different times of the day and week. No country or peoples shall have more than one allotted time in each rotation. The United Nations shall be allotted one time slot. The United Nations will determine the initial countries and people who qualify. The order of rotation will be in English Alphabetic ascending order.
Congress shall fund at least 85% [Some Suggest 100%] of the cost of Public Radio and Television to eliminate the influence of business sponsors. The content shall be regulated by the Citizens of each service area. If there is a dispute on content, a vote of the subscribers in each service area shall be used to resolve the dispute. There shall only be one vote per subscriber. Federal, State, and Local government candidates shall be allotted equal time by each Public Station for stating their message or for debates. No other government funding shall be provided to candidates for any office.
I dont like the current system of canadates that are chosen to run for president. we here in america are forced to take what we have. The field of people running for president (STINKS) it should be up to our citizens to choose who runs for president for both parties. in a true democracy it is the people who choose a president. we are stuck with either a democrat or republican we dont like and most of america dont like for four years at a time. ITS TIME FOR NEW BLOOD. A THIRD OR FOURTH PARTY. SOMEONE WE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT. PLEASE RESPOND TO ANY WHO AGREE WITH ME. lets get something going to change the system. thanks vince.
by
vincent passiatore (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 177 comments)
on Friday, November 16, 2007 at 11:26:05 PM
There could be an unlimited number of ways to select a president of the U.S.
An easy different way would be to allow no contributions or funding with severe penalties for violation ( disqualification without replacement ) and allow each candidate a set number of minutes ad time leading to the primaries. I'm speaking equal time for any candidate. The cost for the time to be paid from a fund built by a common pot where all donations are deposited. When a candidates time is used up he/she is done until after the primaries. Issue ads would be charged to the candidates time profiting from the issue ad.
After the Primary, new monies and ads would be allowed because the field would be sufficiently small, but the top primary vote getters ( for this scenario lets say 6 ) would be allowed to continue, but only one candidate from any political party. That would allow more participation dispersal. But as before, air time would have to be equal and determined as to limit. The drawback is that any system other than what we currently have would require an Amendment to effect the change.
Seems wild, but when looking for cause and corrective action, brainstorming should begin with unrestricted input. The weeding out and paring down to most effective comes later thru participation of the electorate.
Cliff Carson
by
Cliff Carson (7 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 22 comments)
on Sunday, November 18, 2007 at 3:10:01 PM
I get tiired to all the endless abuse, irrational criticism unrealistic expectation. But hardly anyone has the gumpsion to realize it is solutions that get us to the next step. It is the mainstream media especialy TV that can be described as the opium of the masses of the 21st Century. No Scientist or thinker looked to opium for solutions>
Good work keep it up
by
Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 531 comments)
on Monday, November 19, 2007 at 2:29:57 AM
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