A Campaign Expert Tells Us What To Look For In The Debates

[babylonsister]

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/apr/26/a_campaign_expert_tells_us_what_to_look_for_in_the_debates

A Campaign Expert Tells Us What To Look For In The Debates
By Greg Sargent | bio

So what do the candidates need to accomplish in the debate that's starting in a few minutes? What will they try to do? We checked in with political consultant Jano Cabrera, who headed up Al Gore's communications operation in Iowa in 2000, was Joe Lieberman's spokesman during the 2004 primary, and was communications director for the DNC during the 2004 general election. Cabrera's thoughts on the imperatives and strategies of each candidate after the jump.

Hillary Clinton:

As the top of the top tier, there's less pressure on her to have the much coveted "moment" than on others. With that in mind, expect her to deliver a solid but safe issue-based performance. That said, all eyes will be on her when it comes to Iraq. Expect her to make clear that there's nary a difference between her and the rest of the field when it comes to how they would handle Iraq if President.

Barack Obama:

By contrast, and this is true for the rest of the field, there is a desire to have a defining moment for Obama in tonight's debate -- and expect that he'll want it on his key strength: Iraq. Expect him to make the point that he's an outside the Beltway outsider whose outsider thinking led him to oppose the Iraq war. That said, I also think Obama is also going to try to move beyond his bio and add some substantive heft.

John Edwards:

There's a reason he's in the top tier and it'll likely show tonight. Expect Edwards to remain sharp on Iraq but also to press on health care. Of the field, he'll likely press the most on the issues. And while we've not heard what the 2007 version of "Two Americas" is yet, expect that same economic populist message to shine through, new bumper-sticker-slogan-not-yet-settled-on aside.

Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd:

No one likes being second tier. But as others have proved before, they don't have to stay that way. So expect Richarson to go after the top three. Expect Biden, being the foreign policy expert that he is, to go nuts on Iraq, highlighting that he's put forward a different way forward than the rest of the field. Expect Richardson to stress the beauty of Gubernatorial-meets-foreign-policy experience in the post 9/11 world. Expect Dodd to have one of the more memorable lines of the night. Seriously.

Dennis Kucinich:

Expect Kucinich to highlight his issues with wild abandon. And respecting the laws of physics, namely that all actions must have an equal and opposite reaction, expect the crowd to treat Kucinich with a cool and dismissive air.

Mike Gravel:

He's the Sanjaya of the evening - he shouldn't be there, but there's a certain wonder that he is. Failing him showing up with a faux-hawk, expect Gravel to make his case with less sound and fury than "Special K" but ultimately to end with the same result.

And readers, please feel free to weigh in in the comments section with your thoughts on this and on the debate itself.

[Exultant Democracy]

1. Less sound and fury than "Special K"

depends on how you define "less."

[nealmhughes]

2. They left out Naomi Wolf's "earth tones".

Actually she says that she never recommended that seriously to Al, just as a joke to lighten up all the consultants' mood.