Who won the debate?

[Renew Deal]

Poll question: Who won the debate?

[madmax]

1. Are you listening to the debate post-mortem?

They trying to bring Clark down. Clark is the one they fear imho. Because he wouldn't repudiate Moore's statement about the deserter in chief.

[Guaranteed]

2. Clearly Dean won.

He just kicked ass. Only two of his answers were anything less than spectacular.

Kerry had some great answers, too...Clark did especially well considering that he was being torpedoed. Wasn't that impressed with Edwards.

Now, LIEBERMAN I think did an excellent job of contrasting himself from the rest of the pack. I think he's going to get a solid percentage of votes from the pro-war Dems. It sounds weird, but, in this larger pack of contenders, watch out for Lieberman.

[NoPasaran]

3. I went with a draw

Kerry I think did really well.

So did Dean. I think he really came back from the incident tonight.

[AnAmerican]

4. Dennis outshined them all

His answers were on-target and elicted the best audience responses

[Terwilliger]

9. Dennis is the most consistent

because he's the most honest

[poskonig]

5. Kerry is at the top of his game.

All of his answers were gems, even when given crap questions.

[robsul82]

6. Dean CLEARLY took this one.

Kerry came nowhere close, I'd put him around #5.

Later.

RJS

[Terwilliger]

7. Kerry NAILED that first question

he could have done better in other places, but I think he did the best

I'll have to say that Kucinich was 2nd, because no matter what happens, he sticks to his guns on all those issues that dont conform to the rest of the party

[BootinUp]

8. I think Clark showed he can stand up to attacks

Go CLARK!

BTW, I don't care if you disagree with me! :)

[Renew Deal]

10. The debate made me sick.

I just don't know what to think.

[overground1]

11. my ranking from winner to loser:

Dean
Edwards
Lieberman
Kerry
Kucinich
Clark
Sharpton

[adamrsilva]

14. THEY ALL DID GREAT

I think they all helped themselves if that's possible.

[Zynx]

12. Dean then Kerry

Given Dean's cold and his expectations, he slightly outdid Kerry. Kerry on pure mechanics won.

[RafterMan]

13. Lieberman

The audience and moderators loved him.

Proves somebody does, anyway.

[snyttri]

15. I think Clark got the most hostile questioning. Those who think Clark is

a darling of the GOP should reconsider.

[Guaranteed]

17. He's definitely not GOP.

Never thought that. :)

[Kahuna]

16. Nobody. Because it wasn't a debate.

nt

[jenk]

21. right, it was GOP attack dogs posing dumb questions

[kovasb]

18. sorry to say but dean won

Im a clarkie. But i think dean clearly won. He had the greatest number of solid answers. There was some transcendental moment after which the i have a scream speech became a funny thing for all the people in the room to laugh about, in a past tense kind of way.

[jenk]

24. Dean didn't win, he was sick and barely awake

I don't hold it against him, but he didn't get any serious questions, NOBODY DID!

[robsul82]

19. While I'm not saying Clark lost...

...he came nowhere CLOSE to winning. No need to be ridiculously partisan.

Later.

RJS

[LWolf]

20. I can't vote.

I didn't get home in time to catch the first half.

Based on what I saw:

I was disappointed, of course, not to hear more from Dennis, but happy with what I got to hear.

I thought every one of them did a good job fielding somewhat unfriendly questions.

I thought they all gave good answers. Lieberman did a much better job this time than last, even though I'm sick of listening to him. I appreciated the debate moderators squelching his tendency to run amock beyond his allowed air time.

Dean did well, even with the hoarse voice.

If anyone got hurt by the debate, I thought it was Clark. Not his responses; they were fine. With them reading his own words about Bush, Blair and the Iraq War outloud on the air to make contradictions public. He did a credible job answering, but I think it may hurt him.

I noticed that Edwards took a page from Dennis' debate strategy and called them on the content of their questions.

All in all, they presented themselves well.

[mmonk]

22. Edwards with what he said about poverty

the rest was garbage fit for Fox and others that don't want the current problems in America to be an issue.

[Kathleen04]

25. I voted for Edwards too

He seemed like he received the questions with the most substance, gave good answers. I liked it when he tried to turn the debate back to issues instead of the lame "gotcha" questions.

[AP]

35. It was the only moment in the debate which took it off it's normal ...

... path of traps and land mines.

[morgan2]

23. dean

he defended the candidates and ripped up the idiocy of the moderators.

[Dookus]

26. I think Kerry....

I thought he did great. Dean did no damage, but I'm not sure he helped himself much, either. Same with Clark.

Edwards did very poorly with the DOMA question, and Sharpton blew the Fed question. Lieberman was Lieberman and Kucinich was Kucinich. I doubt they gained many new supporters.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

27. Nobody won.... Nobody lost...

[quaker bill]

28. Dean because he beat the meme

On the other hand, they all did fairly well except Sharpton

I think the only loser was Al Sharpton. It was a set up, but he failed badly at the Federal Reserve Bank question.

It was the only question of the evening on that subject and was clearly picked to exhibit Al's lack of knowledge on the matter.

[uconnyc]

29. Joe won

The debate itself:

1) Joe
2) Dean
3) Kerry
4) Edwards
5) Clark

In terms of the debate as it relates to the the election:

1) Kerry (stood his ground, sounded tough)
2) Dean (showed composure)
3) Joe (will probably move up in the polls a few)
4) Edwards (won't gain much in NH)
5) Clark (Finished)

[goodhue]

30. Edwards on poverty, Kerry on MTBE, Kucinich on trade

were all winners in my book.
Dean & Clark were fine.
Sharpton not as funny as sometimes but he was still funny.
Lieberman seemed to be on a roll.
So its a draw I think.
Hume & Jennings suck big time.

[quaker bill]

32. I will give Edwards props on the poverty statement.

He nailed that one! Others followed on and the whole field looked better as a result.

[CabalBuster]

31. Kerry was boring

His answers were predictable, he didn't exude any confidence or passion. I don't think he has the personality of a leader.

[Zynx]

33. That's what I don't like about him.

I respect what he did for this country in Vietnam, but that is not a reason to elect a president. If it were, we would elect over a couple hundred thousand combat veterans to the White House and to Congress. He needs to show some bold proposals. Simply saying, "I'm presidential" doesn't work against a sitting president.

[Don Claybrook]

34. Kerry won by not losing ground n/t

[DjTj]

36. Fox News won the debate.

...but they had home-field advantage.

[thalerd]

38. Amen. -nt-

[Guaranteed]

37. kick for late night

[Edge]

39. This was the first debate I didn't get to watch.

:( So I can't answer that.

Was there anything I missed?

[NoPasaran]

41. There's an edited version on ABC right now

n/t

[Seldona]

40. Clark survived the obvious attack.

Makes him the winner in my book.

[LTR]

42. Clark did well with the hand dealt to him, but Edwards was great

Some good performances tonight. Although Al Sharpton shot himself in the foot with the IMF/Fed response. He was pretty flat.

Kerry played it safe, and it was probably the right move, given his frontrunner status.

Dean was actually pretty good.

Joe is a decent speaker, but has a highly inflated opinion of himself.

Kucinich had a few good lines, but didn't improve his standing much.

[OneBlueSky]

43. I voted for "It's a draw" . . .

because there was no clear winner, imo . . . and it wasn't really a debate, either . . . I think all of the candidates had some good moments, and all of them had some not so good moments . . .

since my feeling that any of these guys -- even Lieberman -- would be a vast improvement over Bush, I tend to look at these things from the perspective of who would match up best against the chimp in a "debate" setting . . . I've been a Kerry supporter, but I must say I was disappointed tonight . . . he just didn't seem to have the passion that can turn the voters on, and most of his responses were predictable and bland . . . and the lighting was not flattering to either him or Kucinich . . . they both looked like death warmed over . . .

substantively, I think Kucinich made the best case for his candidacy, followed closely by Lieberman and Dean . . . I thought Clark acquited himself well, given that he was being set up, as did Edwards (although he blew the question about Islam badly) . . . surprisingly, the one who probably gained the most from the event was Lieberman . . . agree with him or not, he articulated his positions forcefully, and there's a segment of the party he'll appeal to . . . Sharpton, as always, provided some insightful comments and some comic relief . . .

trying to picture these guys on a stage with Dubya, my hunch is that Clark would probably be the most formidable presence . . . Lieberman would also likely do well . . . I'm just not sure about Kerry, Edwards, and Dean at this point (again, just as a presence on the stage with Bush) . . . Kucinich and Sharpton would get creamed . . . Dennis is just too Alfred E. Newman, and Sharpton is . . . well . . . Sharpton . . .

I'll continue to support Kerry for now, but he really needs to work on his presentation, his charisma, and his makeup . . .