The bumper car quip quickly negated the building perception that Obama

[WCGreen]

was getting spanked by the other more "experienced" canidadats...

This enabled Obama to appear as a political wit, a fast thinker, someone who can change the rhetorical momentum just like that...

It fact, the "bumper car" comment may well end up being as important to Obama's campaign as the "I paid for this stage" retort by Ronnie when he was getting piled on in the Republican New Hampshire debate in 1980...

And it helped Obama greatly that the picture of him being jostled around by his family in a very Touch football Kennedy manner was splayed across the pages of newspapers across the country...

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few weeks...

[Kagemusha]

1. The photo I saw of Obama doing the bumper cars was awesome too.

Obama obviously thought so himself because he reminded people of the scene the next morning. The man was having a blast with a cute little girl. Genuine fun like that is something that really humanizes a person to the voters - because it's not fake or staged. Talking about it therefore seems genuine as well.

He was lucky he could make excellent use of the moment in that debate. Sometimes you can be lucky and good at the same time.

[Colobo]

2. This might be a turning point in this race.

[liberalpragmatist]

3. Could someone explain the "bumper car" comment?

I didn't see the debate - I saw that the line was something like "I prepared for this debate by doing bumper cars."

What was the context? What was it about the line that was so good?

[WCGreen]

4. He was basically being hammered at beginning of the debate

for his comments on Pakistan...

The day before the debate he was shown being "rammed" by his family on the bumper car ride and when it came to his turn, he quipped that he felt like he was still in bumper car...

[calimary]

5. It was a VERY poorly moderated debate. george stefanopoulos really

sucked several big ones.

Utterly ignored Kucinich for most of it. Encouraged this STUPID, counterproductive pile-on of Obama, trying to get everybody else on the stage (except Kucinich who was left out of THAT, too) to pick on Obama. Um... shouldn't we be picking george w. bush apart, rather than eating our own?

Just REALLY a shitty job. I was beyond unimpressed.

[billyoc]

6. No, as unpleasant as it is, 'tis the season for "eating our own". Bush is irrelevant,

he's not running for the Democratic nomination. This is how primaries always are, and,
as they go, I'd say this one is more tame than most. :hi:

[Tellurian]

7. Very perceptive, calimary..

I agree with you completely. Obama pointing fingers hung up on who voted for authorization of the War was a self-serving tactic. He was asked about getting the troops out of Iraq, which Hillary answered in great detail. Obama completely missed the opportunity to hammer Cheney on the 94' video where Cheney explains why he was against going to Iraq because it would be a quagmire. Well nothings changed, it's still a quagmire and we're suffering for a premeditated deliberate act by the Bush Administration putting Americans in harms way. They've accomplished what they set out to do and that is an outright oil grab enriching private interests and for the establishment of a primary foothold in the ME.

Obama missed the boat on that one BIG Time! Boo!

[WCGreen]

8. Obama is being too careful when he is asked about his issues...

I think his main focus yesterday was to stay away from Gaffs and also to say nothing specfic...

That's a time honored technique, but every other panel member, at least in my humble opinion, well almost all, Gravel shouldn't be there he is just not ready for prime time, listed several detail on their plans in the various areas...

[hisownpetard]

9. Ahm wichoo! I say Keith should do all the debates from here on out! n/t