First presidential debate doesn’t rattle any political windows or alter the landscape for Democratic contenders.
2008 Democratic Presidential Contenders Debate: Act 1. “Safe” was the order of the day at Thursday night’s Democratic candidate debate in Orangeburg, South Carolina. No one candidate dared engage any other directly during the 90-minute grilling. No question or issue radically divided the group. The issue of the day – the war in Iraq – is opposed by all with equal fervor (with the exception of dark horses Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Alaskan Senator Mike Gravel, who are in their own league when calling for Congress to cut all war funds).
In essence, the debate changed absolutely nothing. The front-runners going into the debate remained the front-runners when it was over. No one made any serious gaffes and no one scored any outstanding points. This is the first such debate of many to come and will not be remembered by the time of the next one.
Clinton: The New York Senator appeared in command of the subject matter, displaying a tough foreign policy attitude and repeatedly referring to her long tenure in American politics. She really came alive while talking about her pet topic of heath care reform. Still, one can say that while she was on her game tonight, so were the others. She appeared in command, but didn’t tower over the rest.
Obama: Senator Barack Obama was the first of the group to describe an actual plan when he mentioned his “national pool for health insurance.” He actually uttered the only excited sentence of the night when he insisted “Let me finish!” But it was directed at Kucinich, and so really doesn’t qualify as high debate drama.
Edwards: The former North Carolina Senator certainly held hisown with the other two top tier candidates. His gift for oratory came through with two anecdotes about his father. And he knows how to pivot off a contentious question (his $400 hair cuts) to make a strong point about his favorite issue – poverty in America.
Biden: The Delaware Senator came off as the know-it-all about Iraq (and foreign policy in general). Scored the one funny moment of the night with a one word answer to a query about whether he could overcome his propensity for verbosity and verbal gaffes if elected president. He replied simply, “Yes.”
Richardson: The New Mexico Governor tried to shake things up with his idea for an Iraq withdrawal – U.S. troops out by the end of this calendar year. But no one really challenged him. He did have one candid moment when he admitted he was slow to call for the resignation of the U.S. Attorney General because “he’s Hispanic” and he wanted “to give him a chance.”
Dodd: Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd came off as the veteran Washington hand that he is. Dodd really projected the image of an experienced legislator.
Kucinich: The Ohio congressman does speak for the segment of the Democratic base that wants the party to pull the plug and stop funding the war, forcing it to a halt. His presence is a reminder of the difficulty in which the party finds itself today – wanting on the one hand to end the war while on the other hand not wanting to appear to be doing anything that can be construed as defeatist or can be interpreted as harming the troops.
Gravel: The former Alaskan Senator came out swinging with a tough call for the Democratic Congress to push to make the war illegal, forcing Republicans on a daily basis to reaffirm their support for the administration. But he probably lost most folks with his claim that our culture was run by the “military industrial complex.”
Political Observations of the Week:
“Consultants are like lawyers. Everyone mocks their existence until they need them.”
Democratic consultant Jenny Backus, on political consultants.
“The primary challenge for Senator McCain is that all his life he has been a rebel, a maverick who has stuck his finger in the eye of the establishment. Today he is running as the candidate of the establishment, and that suit doesn’t fit particularly well.”
Whit Ayres, veteran GOP pollster.
“Bush certainly goes against the grain of the cardinal rule of Washington politics, which is get rid of damage that can hurt the president and the presidency.”
Hedrick Smith, political historian.
“The history has been of a congressional investigation overcoming presidential resistance by building up pressure.”
Charles Tiefer, University of Baltimore School of Law, suggesting that the historical precedent is that Congressional investigators always force the White House to comply with their demands for information, a rule that he suggests will also play out in the current Congress-White House tensions.
This Date in American Political History:
1877 – President Rutherford Hayes removes federal troops from Louisiana, signaling the end of Reconstruction.
1937 – U.S. Social Security system makes first ever benefit payment.
John J. Kohut is an independent political analyst in Washington, D.C. He has been writing about national politics for the past decade, including stints as an editor at the Cook Political Report and as senior editor at the Rothenberg Political Report.
