I was fortunate enough to be able to listen to the majority of it, thanks to SIRIUS and a three hour drive from SallyCat's place to my abode up near Yosemite. For those not familiar with this, it's a political debate and forum held in Iowa, following a very structured and no-nonsense format, focusing on issues affecting the African-American and Latino communities.
First thing I gotta say, it was a resounding success.
(more on the flip side)
For one thing, as usual, the Republican candidates "declined" the invitation to attend. Makes me wonder why the sponsors even bother to invite them, but I guess it wasn't quite the Republicans' cup of tea. ("Minorities vote?")
I wish the debates would follow this format - insightful and focused moderators (NPR's Michele Norris was excellent), questions were asked by a panel, selected students (it was held at a local high school) and more importantly, the candidates themselves were allowed an opportunity to ask each other questions. Hillary Clinton's mention of World AIDS Day, and John Edwards addressing the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparities, Dennis Kucinich going after corporate power... none of this stuff gets covered by the mainstream media. Compared to that disastrous YouTube debate... this one blows them all away.
Then finally, closing remarks from each candidate.
My thoughts on the evening -
- Every candidate came out looking pretty good. Without stupid questions like "diamonds or pearls" cluttering the format, or Republican talking points disguised as legitimate questions, it provided an opportunity for everyone to answer truthfully and incisively. John Edwards, Barack Obama, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden especially.
- Conversely, while everyone looked good, nobody really stood out either.... the SIRIUS poll as to which candidate best represented Black and Brown issues ended with Barack Obama first, Dennis Kucinich second, None of the Above third, and Don't Know fourth. Seems as if the candidates have to step up as far as delivering their ideas and making their voices heard.
- Best performances came, IMO, from Chris Dodd, who nailed John Edwards early with a gotcha question on his vote for the 2001 bankruptcy bill, Joe Biden, who was on top with his emphasis on his civil rights and anti-war record, and Dennis Kucinich, who also gets my Hubris Vote for directing his question at another candidate to.... Dennis Kucinich. (He also complained afterwards about only being directly asked a question ONCE during the whole debate, but forum sponsor Wayne Ford said later that was because everyone in the audience already knew where he stood. Personally, I think people got turned off by his self-directed question halfway through the debate, but that's just me. :P )
- Worst performance - Hillary Clinton, who made the most appalling gaffe of the evening. After John Edwards brought up the subject of the horrible disparities between the sentencing guidelines of crack and powder cocaine, the candidates were asked if they would support retroactive reduction of sentences if the guidelines were made uniform. Everyone else said yes, but only she refused to consider it. Bad, bad response, IMO. Bill Richardson's somewhat silly question to Hillary Clinton as to whether she thinks that Governors make the best Presidents (in reference to Bill Clinton) comes second. Hillary's response ("They make good Vice Presidents too!") totally missed it... I would have answered, "Um, Bill, George W. Bush was a Governor too!" ;)
More information here:
So, anyone else have any thoughts on what happened this evening?