What surprised me the most is that none of the Big 3 hit a home run last night

[mtnsnake]

I think that if Edwards, Clinton, or Obama is your favorite candidate, you couldn't have come out of there last night saying to yourself, wow did my candidate ever reinforce my belief that he or she is far and away the best candidate for President. You might not have lost any faith in your favorite person, but I don't think any of the heavyweights stood out and wowwed you.

IMO, the night certainly didn't belong to any single one of the Top 3 contenders. If anything, the night belonged to the lower tier, especially Kucinich, who spoke the absolute truth and also came across as looking fairly presidential. I don't care what those MSNBC polls say. Those polls are obviously just a popularity contest anyway, judging by the results.

[valerief]

1. It's early. None of them made a horrible gaffe. That's what the takeaway should be. nt

[Ninja Jordan]

2. The goal is to not fuck up

[wyldwolf]

wasn't really time to. However, my favorite line came from Biden (and it wasn't the simple "yes")

"Let's stop all this happy talk here about the 'use of force doesn't make sense,'" said Biden. "The use of force in Afghanistan is justified and necessary; in Darfur, justified and necessary; in the Balkans, justified and necessary. You guys can have your happy talk, there's real life."

[TwilightGardener]

11. Yep, Biden cut through the bullshit with that one--

it was well-spoken, and made the Democrats look rational instead of pacifist loonies. I was grateful, and I'm sure the other mainstream candidates were too.

[GreenArrow]

22. except those "guys" weren't talking about Afghanistan

or Darfur or the Balkans, they were talking about Iraq which was utterly unecessary unadulterated horseshit, and Iran, which will be more of the same, should it come to pass. Biden's thinking is medieval, shallow, and geared towards protection of the status quo.

[Tippy]

3. Didn't lose faith because

I believe the American people were the winners in last nights debate...what I saw I call UNITY...

[mtnsnake]

6. No doubt about that part of it

The unity part was a good thing.

Just the same, I expected one of the heavyweights might possibly come across in such a manner that could grab the country by the horns. It didn't happen.

[Virginia Dare]

4. They all looked great to me..

except for maybe Gravel who came off a little hysterical a couple of times.

Richardson REALLY impressed me. I've never really seen him speak, I really liked much of what he had to say.

I don't think it's really critical for a home run at this point, they were probably all playing it safe last night. It appeared to me that they were more interested in creating a collegial atmosphere, being very careful not to be too critical or confrontational, GREAT STRATEGY in my opinion.

I'd love to see the Repukes rip each other to shreds next week.

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. 18 months out no one wants to peak too soon.

The name of the game at this point is play safely.

[Goat52a]

7. The goal should be truth...

I say it once and I will say it again, we need truth, not party line rhetoric. It's time for someone to act pissed about what the Bush administration has done to this country and to the world. It was nice to see Gravel show so much passion on his beliefs and stand up to the safe talking most of the so called front runners spit out... I am a independent liberal and I feel truth should be the most important requirement for a President.... I see very little truth or passion coming out of any candidate... When will my candidate be as pissed as I am about the death, destruction, it's cost to us as a nation. Our own loss of civil rights. The deception of the truth from our leaders... hell yes I am pissed I expect the same to be true for someone I will vote for..

[TwilightGardener]

13. Um, the goal is to win the general, ultimately--when D's, R's

and Indies are watching, it's not time to cut loose with passion and head to the far-left fringes. Thank God our front-runners know that and looked centrist and Presidential.

[Goat52a]

15. Thank God?

Our front runners are thanking the media for looking and acting the part-- not God. Picking a President because he/she can appeal to media and certain small, but influential portions of the "party" can only be a repeat of no actions or progress even if they did get elected. It's time to get our country back and if means being passionate and strong..well the Democrats need to do just that.. looked how we dumped Howard Dean after that laugh of his. He was the best candidate to run yet there was no strength in the party to back him up. I know the mainstream would have voted for him--Kerry was weak and America saw that. It's time we found a Alpha personality... not a media model and if you call me on the fringe.. I am not.. that is why I am indepedent.... I think with common sense...

[mtnsnake]

16. Good post. nt

[TwilightGardener]

21. "Thank God" is just a saying I often use--guess I should have said

"Thank my stars and garters", didn't really mean to bring God into it, LOL! People don't want raw honesty--they want reasoned, measured answers that take into account the wishes and expectations of the majority of Americans, D or R. That might sound wimpy, or sell-out, but our candidates simply must appeal to the vast, apolitical middle to win, not scare them with "passion". They DO have to be reasonably good-looking in TV land, they DO have to pander some, they DO have to be careful not to alienate large segments of the voting public--this is political reality. I didn't like Dean as a candidate, though I think he's a good advocate for the Democratic platform--that is where he needs to be. He would not have appealed to R's, and would have lost the general. Kerry was more mainstream, but not the most compelling guy to rally around--he was destined to lose. I am not calling you fringe, just pointing out that our candidates must not sacrifice the middle in the General for the base in the primary--that is a sure loser when the 'Pugs throw the more "lefty-fringe" statements back in our candidate's face in 2008. Raising taxes, weak on terror/defense, big government--you name it, we will hear it. Can't give them ammo. We'll do the same to them, hopefully, with the war, abortion rights, etc.

[Graybeard]

8. It's not even the 1st inning yet.

This was more like a pepper game in spring training.

[churchofreality]

9. I felt Hillary was outstanding

She definitely increased my confidence in supporting her.

[opihimoimoi]

10. Yup, the pearls were stunning....no gaffes/mistakes.....looked strong

[mtnsnake]

12. For the most part, her answers, as well as Obama's & Edwards' were rehearsed

There were a few exceptions, of course, but mostly they just answered the questions with answers that they had memorized previously, and often their answers did not address the original question posed to them. Each of them had their moments, though, but nothing in comparison to Kucinich, Biden, or even Gravel, who spoke from the heart.

[katmondoo]

19. I thought she did well. If she wins the nomination I will not feel

too bad. I would support her.

[ElizabethDC]

25. I felt that she did the best of the "top 3" but

she didn't do anything particularly outstanding or that blew me away. I just thought she stumbled less than the other two and, as a result, seemed more consistent. Personally, I think Biden had the best performance overall.

[ddeclue]

14. I blame the format, not the candidates.

See my original post on this: Multicandidate Democratic Debate Format Prevents Clear Winners and Losers.

[Jimmy Hoops]

17. I was pleasantly surprised

at Hillary's performance. She sounded good and stayed on point. I already knew Edwards and Obama and Biden were very eloquent. What was the deal with Gravel? Dude looked hysterical with the rambling and the sudden ackward right turning hand-waving thing.

[ddeclue]

18. Gravel was OLD SCHOOL...

He was around as a Senator during the Nixon/Vietnam days and his anger at the war is legitimate and unvarnished. Hillary was OK I guess but no one including my own Edwards was spectacular. The only memorable line of the evening was Biden saying "No" but only because it was funny and the criticism of him as a pedantic speaker is true.

Doug D.

[ChiciB1]

20. It Wasn't Actually A Debate... It Was A "Showing" A "Look-See" Or

maybe just a line-up of sorts. Nothing MAJOR came out of it as far as I'm concerned, other then ONE thing for me. And even that ONE THING "could" be repaired but perhaps not enough for me.

Bill Richardson let me down. I was in his corner for several reasons, but he didn't come through for me.

Kucinich hits the right notes, but he seems very very strident/combative at this point in time. And yes, I myself have gotten too strident when it comes to "my" issues... but I'm not running for President.

[Grandrose]

23. That was not a game!!

The format was not conducive for home runs. I am just thankful the candidates, did not get trapped by the msm/cable news readers and Republic pundits! They all did just fine for this early in the process! :)

[bigwillq]

24. Too early

everyone was just playing it safe.

At this point, they would rather be the candidate that played it safe rather than the one that fucked up.

I think they all did fine in one way or another.

No real standouts although I like DK the best but thought Clinton was the best prepared and most polished. She actually sounded genuine in a few of her responses too.