Most Improved Debater-In what may be the final debate, Obama shows how he's grown

[babylonsister]

Most Improved Debater
In what may be the final debate, Obama shows how he's grown
By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008, at 8:10 AM ET



In the first Democratic primary debate ten months ago, Hillary Clinton didn't have to charge that Barack Obama wasn't ready to be president on day one. He did the work for her. He was halting, mumbling and tentative. The only confidence he instilled was in Clinton. Nineteen debates later, he's improved so much that if he's not ready to be president on day one, you could imagine he might get there after a little study. At what may be the last debate of the Democratic primary, Obama was commanding, at ease and magnanimous. Clinton needed him to stumble and he didn't. He won the night.

How a candidate performs in a debate only tells us a little about how they would perform as president, but that's not the way Clinton aides told us we should view these debates. During the tough February slog, while Clinton was losing electoral contests to Obama, her aides promised that in one-on-one sessions, voters would see how she towered over her puny rival. It didn't happen. Clinton didn't have a bad evening in Cleveland Tuesday night; it's just that she didn't scratch Obama and the moderators didn't much either.

In the first sixteen minutes, Obama and Clinton had another heated exchange about their healthcare plans. Obama held his own, as he had the week before in Austin. To damage him, Clinton either needed to puncture his arguments or make him look weak on the issue. She did neither.

Clinton's goal for the evening was to show that she was a fighter. She returned repeatedly to the theme, explaining why her tough spirit was necessary for the hard business of governing. She then proved how tough she was answering tough questioning by the moderators. Clinton mostly hit the right tone, a hard thing for a female candidate to do at such length without bruising the sensitivities of unreconstructed viewers. But in a sign of how Obama has improved, he saw that Clinton was pitching herself as a fighter and used it against her. "She mentioned that she is a fighter on health care," he said, "the way she approached it back in '93, I think, was wrong in part because she had the view that what's required is simply to fight. And Senator Clinton ended up fighting not just the insurance companies and the drug companies, but also members of her own party."

Obama was an elusive target all night, diffusing each of Clinton's attempts to make pointed contrasts. When she repeated her claim about the limited power of his oratory, Obama went beyond his standard retort that words are important because they can inspire, and added his own anti-rhetoric riff. He described talking with four Ohio women who struggle to find adequate healthcare and got indignant on their behalf. "I am not interested in talk," he said promising to enact policies that will help them. "I am not interested in speeches." The answer touched a lot of bases. He pandered to the local crowd by talking about some of their own, showed his empathy for women, a group he consistently loses to Clinton, and demonstrated he would fight for regular folk on issues that matter to them, something he wants to show low income voters who have preferred his opponent in some contests.

more...

http://www.slate.com/id/2184802/pagenum/all/#page_start

[Independent-Voter]

1. Obama has certainly gotten better over the past 20 debates.

[Adelante]

2. Particularly the past three debates, he's matched her skill

I actually didn't expect so much improvement since last year. I accepted they had different levels of skill in debating or oratory. But he's really come up to her level and sometimes he surpasses her, because of his way of displaying ease in a situation.

[babylonsister]

3. I gotta tell ya,

I'm relieved! He was weak in debates at the start, and imo his improvement is obvious. Phew!

[Adelante]

10. Yeah, me too

If he had stayed weaker through the end it might have made a major difference for Hillary. The only important thing to me about debating is getting across, communicating with viewers, sinking in. I already know their policies. I already know they're both policy wonks. Unless they say something out of the ordinary, I'm not really watching for that. But style and effectiveness matters and he's splendidly accomplished what he needed to do as far as debates go now. No worries for the GE.

[MeDeMax]

12. most attorneys are good debaters

because they practice good presentation as a part of their schooling.

[OhioChick]

4. K&R

:kick:

[Ravy]

5. Agreed. I feel much better about him facing off in the GE, if

he gets the nomination. McCain is probably the easiest of the repubs that were running, but he could now stand up to any of them if they get replaced for some reason.

[sellitman]

6. Obama looked very polished and Presidencial last night.

He was also very magnaminous by letting Hillary completely off the hook for her nasty comments and actions the past few days.

[babylonsister]

7. Yes! He's a very gracious man, and such a gentleman! He has

had ample opportunity to take shots at Clinton, but he never does. That speaks to his character, and is very impressive to me, too.

[niceypoo]

8. He may be able to talk but he is clueless when it comes to foreign policy matters

Again, he put out an armature hour performance in that subject

[Independent-Voter]

9. Your post is "armature", but we won't get into that.

[babylonsister]

11. Boy, are you misinformed. I dare you to read this article, and

come back for a serious discussion. But I'm equally confident you won't bother.

http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4940

[applegrove]

13. I didn't see the debate but it sounds like Obama is a quick study.

Hillary is a great debator..so if he won - well that is good for him.

[democrattotheend]

14. I was really proud of him last night

As a supporter, I have worried about his debating abilities, but he has gotten SO much better, and last night was his best performance ever, IMO. He kept his cool even when things got heated, demonstrating his ability to show grace under fire, which is an important quality for a president who may have to deal with a crisis. He seemed very presidential, IMO, and I loved what he had to say about Jewish civil rights activists being part of the reason he is able to be in the running for president.

[knixphan]

15. the power of the mind is absolute

With an intellect like Barack's it should surprise noone that he can master anything he sets out to learn. The man is leaps and bounds past the intelligence level of the competition.

His only challenge is slowing down his brain so his words can take hold in debates.

Hey, let's hit the streets and get some November voters!

Si Se Puede!