Posted by
C-Hayes on Monday, June 04, 2007 10:33:18 AM
Michael Graham thinks Hillary won - essentially because she spoke less, and sounded less dense than, say, Obama:
"By the way, where is this engaging, inspiring Barack Obama we keep hearing about? He has yet to show up for any of the debates. Conservatives have long insisted that politics isn't such a tough job, that a lack of 'inside the Beltway' experience is a benefit, not a problem, but Sen. Obama may be proving that theory wrong.
"He's clearly a smart guy, but even straightforward questions seem to catch him flat-footed. An audience member asked the rather simple question "Why can't veterans use the hospital of their choice?" In other words, why are they stuck in the VA system?
"Great question, the kind that the average NRO reader could handle on an off day. But Sen. Obama was stumped. He stammered and stumbled and then eventually suggested it might have something to do with prescription drugs — as though the drugs veterans use aren't available at CVS.
"Last night, Sen. Obama proved yet again that the idea of his candidacy is a lot more appealing than listening to the real thing.
"Sen. Clinton was her usual, professional self: prepared, pleasant, generous. She knows her greatest challenge is her image, and she took every opportunity to appear friendly and collegial. Using Gov. Richardson's performance negotiating away North Korea's nuclear program was, perhaps, generous to a fault given the facts on the ground. But it served her purpose.
"In the end, frontrunner Hillary won last night because a) she didn’t lose; and b) nobody else made any meaningful progress.
"She was also helped by the fact that, according to numbers provided by the Chris Dodd campaign, she spoke 1:34 less than Barack Obama."
Star Parker reminds us, though, that people still don't like Hillary, largely because of her socialist, big-government ideas:
"If you want to know about how Senator Clinton feels about freedom and her confidence that Americans, when acting without government in their face, are a productive and charitable people you, again, just have to listen to her.
"The Senator was in true form the other day, speaking at a vocational school in New Hampshire.
"'Fairness doesn't just happen. It requires the right government policies.'
"I don't think that Senator Clinton really got the message when the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed."
Fox News with a succinct round-up, including information from the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll showing Hillary Clinton still well ahead of her nearest competitors.
If this poll is accurate, and Star's column is accurate...doesn't this look good for a Republican candidate to win in '08?
Let's hope so.
The Nashua Telegraph also highlights why I think Clinton won, as well:
"Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., the Democratic frontrunner, disagreed with Edwards [on his "bumper sticker" comment]. As a New York senator, she saw the toll from terrorism when the hijacked jetliners brought down the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
"'I am a senator from New York. I have lived with the aftermath of 9/11 and I have seen first-hand the terrible damage that can be inflicted on our country by a small band of terrorists who are intent upon foisting their way of life and using suicide bombers and suicidal people to carry out their agenda,' Clinton said."
Democrats desperately want to seem tough on the war on terror, and this is the way to do it. Edwards, by appealing to the far-left, opens himself up to criticism from "moderates" like Hillary, which make her seem tough by comparison. She loses, though, in a comparison against any Republican candidate, so I believe it is wise to seem tough now to appeal to Democratic voters not allied with the MoveOn.org crowd.
Lastly, Chris Dodd is crying foul over his "talk clock":
Looks like Wolf Blitzer came in third! Way to go!
Do you think Brit Hume would've registered on this "talk clock" during the last Republican debate?
We'll see how much spotlight Wolf hogs when the Republicans debate on Tuesday...