WP:Democratic Debate Roundup

[cal04]

Tonight's Democratic debate at Howard University was more a series of mini stump speeches than an actual give and take between the candidates.

The two leading candidates -- Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) -- nicely distinguished themselves, scoring two of the most memorable moments of the night. Clinton drew a standing ovation in response to a question on the problem of HIV/AIDS in the black community; Obama's early acknowledgement that only by the work of many African American before him was he able to stand on the stage was poignant and powerful.

Since each of the eight candidates was given roughly equal time and allowed to answer the same question, lesser knowns like Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) and former Sen. Mike Gravel (Alaska) stood out far more than they had in previous debates. Kucinich's answers, which regularly returned to the war in Iraq, drew loud applause; Gravel's responses were greeted kindly but quizzically.

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) cast himself as a doer throughout the debate, noting that he had announced his candidacy in New Orleans, worked in a mill and started a center devoted to understanding and solving the problem of poverty.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/?hpid=topnews

[rusty charly]

1. did the luntz thing happen?

[welshTerrier2]

2. "more a series of mini stump speeches than an actual give and take"

exactly ... we should demand something better ...

[Telly Savalas]

3. "How do you plan to address all our nations problems? You have 30 seconds."

[BeyondGeography]

4. I can usually sit through anything, but this was tough

and the format made me lose patience with Gravel; his use of precious air time is making less and less sense to me.

Let's replace him with Gore, liven things up a little.