Hillary won this debate.

[woolldog]

I hate saying it. But her answers were crisper, clearer, more easily understood. Barack stammered and was obviously caught off guard on a few key questions. He was also ambushed on some dumb questions; and just having those issues raised hurt him.

Both reporters also treated him disrespectfully and interrupted him several times. Very rude.

Obama will still be the nominee, but hopefully learns from this experience.

edit: I'm also hoping that ABC never gets a Presidential debate again. They botched this one.

[Labors of Hercules]

1. It seems he was deliberately holding back and minding what he says...

Who can blame him after all this bitter bullshit. It makes me sick.

[polkajello]

11. Playing defense. Sitting on the lead.

[Stephanie]

2. Learns WHAT?

That he's the new target of the corporate media? That they'll do whatever they can to take him out on assinine FLAG PIN bullshit? That the Clintons are wholly owned corporate subsidiaries. Um, he already knows.

[woolldog]

4. he looked unprepared on several topics.

[DearAbby]

Well maybe these topics aren't really important....

who knew the fucking flag pin issue was sooooooooooooooooo important!

[woolldog]

22. ok

I hope that's how undecided voters take it. But that's not what the dial testing was indicating.

[stillcool]

25. which topics did you think..

he was 'unprepared' for?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

58. Like whether his pastor was patriotic or not? nt

[aquart]

62. An unpatriotic marine?

Seems like an easy accusation to dispose of.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

65. self delete

[JoFerret]

3. without a doubt

.

[merh]

5. When the umpires control the game

and make all the calls for your opponent and against you, the best you can hope for is to not get thrown out of the game.

He held his own despite the bias and the tabloid crap.

ABC is getting pulverized for this mock debate.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/DemocraticDebate/comments?type=story&id=4666956

I hope the phone lines never stop with the complaints.

[stillcool]

26. I can't get in...

and it's weird because it doesn't say 'server busy' it just goes whacky.

[StevieM]

36. An Obama supporter complaining about biased media...too funny (eom)

x

[Straight Shooter]

37. Ironic, ain't it.

Damn shoe sure is effing tight on the other foot.

[merh]

39. You cannot be this dense, you cannot tell me you don't see

what this sham of a debate reflects (other than the obvious, you candidate could only handle soft ball questions and had to have the mods do her campaigning for her.)

If this is what ABC gets away with this time, can you imagine what debates will be like in the GE? What the media coverage of dems will be like in the GE?

That was a republican slanted debate and the questions were not on the issues but on tabloid crap.

[StevieM]

43. Hillary is not a Republican and to call her one is silly IMO

And I don't see what was so unfair. Neither candidate did brilliantly or badly. It was just another debate.

Steve

[merh]

46. It wasn't a debate

It was tabloid question and answer period - 50 minutes of tabloid gotchas and questions that have nothing to do with the issues that matter.

[aquart]

48. It's not "silly." It's deliberate and malicious slander.

But a woman with the brass balls to run for president deserves what she gets. Right, sweeties?

[StevieM]

50. Nope. I'm a HUGE Hillary lover. I had a Hillary avatar, but somehow it isn't being shown on my

posts anymore. Thanks to anyone who can remind me how to put it back up.

And I agree that Hillary has been unfairly savaged. Obama has run a brilliant negative campaign--making it look like she's gone negative on him (think the "kindergarten attack")

What in the word made you think that I was anti-Hillary?

Steve

[aquart]

63. Didn't. I was responding to what you were describing.

You said it was silly. I said it was a whole lot worse.

And I agree about the genius of the negative campaign. I am beyond awed at the people I normally consider intelligent who believe the Clintons magically became racists just in time for South Carolina. Simply takes my breath away.

[FrenchieCat]

6. I disagree.....just because George gave her the answers.......

doesn't mean squat diddly......

[flowomo]

15. I am going to write a column about this debate tommorow...

if you can give me a source for that claim, I will be sure to include it.

[Johnny__Motown]

7. I think there will be a backlash effect. Other news networks will show how Barack was treated

You may think she won.. I don't and neither will most of the people who just watch the condensed version that will be shown for the next few days

[aquart]

52. Ah. The frontrunner still claiming the pity vote for the underdog.

He's so good at this!

[CatsDogsBabies]

8. Remember in the beginning

she said Obama would beat McCain!

[DearAbby]

9. This was a debate?

Fucking questions on GOP WEDGE ISSUES....again!

[Mezzo]

10. In Barack Obama's defense...(and this is a GD:P first)

he looked pretty tired. He might be coming down with a bug or something. I am not saying this to flame anybody or sound like a smartass (I think I make it pretty clear when I *AM) but he answered his questions pretty well considering this is his worst type of format and he had what my mother used to tell me were "sick eyes" when I was little.

[ShortnFiery]

35. Oh Stop! You're not fooling anyone here ... it's an attack disguised as pseudo empathy.

:eyes:

[flowomo]

12. correct... she was really on.... he wasn't

and he let the one hugely bad answer she gave slide: that she knew the truth about Bosnia but said something else.

[NDambi]

13. Sorry this wasn't a debate. Nothing to win.

[woolldog]

21. It's as if the National Enquirer sponsored the debate....

[Markosito]

14. i disagree

On Iraq, which is along the economy the top issue we face, she did not and cannot possibly give a straight answer without reminding people that she helped get us there in the first place.

[grantcart]

16. There could be a big backlash to the piling on the first 40 months

[LWolf]

17. Has there been a real debate at any point in this primary?

Or does it only count when it's Obama?

[anonymous171]

18. He needs to attack her tommorow on the trade deals and her "screw you" comment

She needs to be the politician that will do or say anything to win. She must be destroy :grr:

[JoFerret]

19. She was even better at evading and dissembling

e.g. on gun control.

Folks she is truly ready.

[Tellurian]

29. The mods faced Obama with the hard questions Repubs

will hammer him with 24/7 during the GE. Obama stumbled and bumbled incoherently more astounded the Wright videos are still an issue. Obama never gave a satisfactory answer on how he would overcome the Wright debacle when Stef said the Republicans will bury him with it.

I really don't think he can hold up to Republicans..how can he, no one here can do it... Shouting people down, pointing to the Clintons is a meaningless track to blunt the incalculable damage Wright has done to Obama. Obama owns the Wright scandal all by himself..the speech given in Philly failed to come close to dousing this fire that will reignite it-self again and again, anytime at the whim of the Republicans during the General Election run.

[Nedsdag]

44. Let's face it.

Hillary wins by losing.

[Tellurian]

45. This night was the defining night of the entire campaign..

whoever came across as the best candidate for the job will be the nominee.

Hillary unequivocally qualified herself to be the chosen Nominee in the eyes of the World tonight.

[Cha]

20. This wasn't a Debate..it was the inveterate liar hilary clinton &

the m$$$fm piling on Obama. So, he's still standing? Well, then he fucking won.

[woolldog]

23. all you Clinton supporters recommending this thread

Stop that. I still think your candidate sucks.

[zulchzulu]

24. I'd ask where she won? If anything, Obama had her in his crosshairs and let her go

He could have slammed her on Snipergate and Bill's lies on Snipergate, her vote for the Iraq War, her mentioning Farakkann like an utter asshole, her long legacy of supporting NAFTA and even the China MFN...but he stayed on the high road.

He won by not going in the gutter like she did on several occasions.

[Cha]

59. Obama won.

Obama won. He was presidential, attacked mccain, and didn't let hilary's standing in for mccain ruffle him. IN fact he got some zingers to her pitiful relentless whinging.

"This was a brilliant moment for Obama to strike back, and he did, slapping Clinton with a zinger: Her husband, as president, had formally pardoned two members of the underground organization, whereas he just happened to know a former member.

The New York senator stood there completely stunned by this swift comeback; she was becoming too accustomed to Senator Obama gentlemanly presidential responses".

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

"Barack Obama put it well when he spoke of how the two anchors of this evening's debate (and so much of our elitist media & punditocracy) seem interested mainly in "manufactured issues"-- Jeremiah Wright, dodging bullets in Tuzla, flag lapel pins and Bill Ayers-- a major reason so many decent and generous Americans tune out this media."

And this sounds good.. "Pain trickles up" is how Obama tonight described John McCain's economic policies. That smart riff brought pain to Charles Gibson's face.."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[aquart]

60. Aww, did they make him put his widdle kid gloves on?

Because public attacks on a woman make voters notice what is really going on?

Why are you so worried? The polls show how totally adored he is. Right?

[anonymous171]

27. Two words: Fuck ABC

That "debate" was ridiculous

[aquart]

55. Vicious in victory and churlish in defeat. Ah, the Obama "movement."

[ProSense]

28. Bringing up Farrakhan made her look desperate, and this

Hillary And Obama Spar Over...Weather Underground:

Obama appeared to have a response ready:

President Clinton pardoned or commuted the sentences of two members of the Weather Underground, which I think is a slightly more significant act than me serving on a board with somebody for actions that he did 40 years ago.

Made her shut up.

[Whisp]

30. ha! no way she won anything

obama was on message for the greater questions that affect us all, she still wants to talk about unimportant crapshit.

[woolldog]

32. dial testing says she won the undecideds.

[aquart]

61. But are there really any still left?

[ShortnFiery]

31. She was the personification of "Self-Righteous" and "Judgmental"

She may have won at "gotcha" points but HRC LOST in the key leadership area of integrity.

Pandering shamelessly and piling-on at every damn opportunity.

A uniter she's NOT. :thumbsdown:

[Tatiana]

33. Interesting comment on ABC's site.

Obama and Clinton supporters alike were appalled at the squandering of precious debate time by the moderators' obsession with petty questions this evening. So far during this presidential primary process the questioning by members of the news media has been stunningly inadequate. The League of Women Voters used to conduct all of the television debates between presidential candidates. This year's television debates leave little doubt that members of the news media are either too focused on the "spin issues', or too biased toward one candidate or another, to be given this essential task in the future. I, for one, will never subject myself to an ABC News candidate debate again. As a Pennsylvanian, I wanted, and needed more tonight and I was thoroughly disgusted by the questioning.

Posted by: Veronique Ruth 10:23 PM

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/DemocraticDebate/comments?type=story&id=4666956

[Johnny__Motown]

34. Time / Mark Halperin think Barack won...

http://thepage.time.com/

[aquart]

51. Halperin? the ultra rightwing director of politics for ABC?

Or has he changed jobs? Well, well. So he favors Barry.

[LibGranny]

38. Obama won because he's a gentleman and HRC is

just what Randi Rhodes said she was!

[IndianaGreen]

40. What did Hillary mean about "massive retaliation" and US umbrella over Middle East?

A point noted by Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Pat Buchanan.

The term "massive retaliation" was coined during the Cold War to describe an American nuclear strike against an aggressor. Has Hillary gone further than Dick Cheney in tying the US to permanent warfare in the Middle East?

[Masterofarts]

41. ABC lost this debate

Their integrity by not asking the question that matter died today.

[GoesTo11]

42. Debate: a regulated discussion of a proposition between two matched sides

Laughable to even talk about winning this "debate".

The lesson for Obama is don't even bother going to forums like this. Only agree to events with some sense to them.

[aquart]

47. They didn't kiss his ass as usual?

Horrors. Call the FCC.

[anonymous171]

49. Did you even watch it?

[TexasLady]

53. I just saw the thread where they were booed by the audience.

silly season is getting sillier and sillier.
oh. and I like the word silly.
it's Monty Python-ish
:D

[mmonk]

54. It wasn't a debate. A debate would be candiates addressing

the issues and not a media pile on with non issue personal attacks on a candidate.

[RiverStone]

56. Thats one opinion, ABC/MSNBC polls say Obama won 3 to 1 n/t

[ruggerson]

57. Congratulations

an honest person who isn't just cheerleading but actually deals with the reality of the moment.

Btw, I don't think Obama did badly. He just came across as hesitant and unsure at times. He's usually far more on his game, and if there is another debate (god help us), I'm sure the normally confident and quick Obama will show up.

[Tatiana]

64. Nobody "won" this debate.

BOTH Democrats lost. Neither one could possibly be viewed in a positive light the way the questions were designed, structured, and framed.