the debate is about to begin!

[ginnyinWI]

Newt v. Kerry, live on Cspan!

[whometense]

1. I'm watching -

and very curious to see how it goes!

[whometense]

2. Light blue tie?

Moderator tells JK he's a lucky guy to be married to THK. :-)

[TayTay]

3. Geez, Mr. Moderator, way to damp down expectations

This is not an exciting event and I have no idea why it was billed as such. It's a wonk-off. (Can we have wonk-off homeruns? :rofl: )

Geez, remind me not to book that guy as my publicist.

[TayTay]

4. Newt leads with his scientific creds

and his amazing ability to pronounce the names of scientific fields of inquiry correctly. Points on style for him. Also, he was gracious to Sen. Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry and praised their book and it's emphasis on regular people. Nice move. Very disarming to those who expected Newt to come on stage and bite an endangered species in half or something.

[ginnyinWI]

5. JK's on his game today

Sharp, focused, animated. :)

[TayTay]

6. He is doing an excellent job of explaining the science

The alarm on this problem is grounded in hard science and that can be a hard slog to talk about in a public forum. So far, Sen. Kerry is doing a good job of mashing this big scientific pie of numbers and pure science down into manageable bites. Difficult thing to do. The science is the science, it is what it is.

Kerry is on his game today indeed. He looks enthused about the subject and very comfortable with all those numbers.

[MBS]

24. he was fabulous

Knowledgeable, fluent, gracious, in command. You might say, presidential. (Dammit)
Also, clearly in his element.
And, wow, that man is tall.

[TayTay]

7. Good, the actual point of contention: role of Government

Newt believes that the government destroys what it sets out to regulate.
Kerry: The government has to be the engine that drives this because government has the power to compel the goal, which will drive the markets to innovate.

[ginnyinWI]

8. when Newt is on camera listening to JK's answers

he looks exactly like he's thinking, "Oh, shit--I'm in deep trouble here."

[wisteria]

9. Newt seems to be getting a bit uncomfortable. n/t

[TayTay]

10. Is it me, or is Sen. Kerry having a lot of fun.

He looks like he could do this for hours. This is fun, dammit.

[wisteria]

11. Yes, he is having a good time. It is very obvious.

Boy, that moderator is awful even if he did compliment Teresa.

[TayTay]

12. Yeah, everytime he speaks

I wonder, who died? He sounds like he was hired to give the funeral oration, not referee a quite lively discussion.

[wisteria]

13. He does seem annoyed that this is an interesting debate.

I love that much of the audience is listening with interest.

It also seems to me that Newt agrees with Senator Kerry more than he disagrees. The Repubs must be spinning.

[ginnyinWI]

20. he loves debate!

At some points during the debate he looked exactly like a cat with a mouse! Made me laugh out loud.

[livvy]

14. It sure is nice to hear a real President speak for a change.

I'd forgotten what it sounded like.

[TayTay]

15. This is a real strength for Kerry

Ah, the man can talk and with authority on this subject. That shows. He clearly loves a good debate and lively exchange of positions and ideas. He is in his element.

[livvy]

16. Add to those qualities, his active listening skills.

That is something else that has always impressed me about him. He really listens to what people have to say, and responds thoughtfully and appropriately. Such a fine man.

[wisteria]

18. I picked up on that the very first time I went to see him in person. He does listen

and he always appears to be interested in what others have to say.

[wisteria]

17. That he does. He is enjoying this. n/t

[TayTay]

19. Now that's the real Sen. Kerry

We always hear these people who say Kerry is a bad speaker or too formal or too whatever. I wish they could see this appearance and debate. This is the real guy. He is engaged, animated and enthused about his subject. He is engaging with his audience, extremely knowledgeable about his subject and eager to share that knowledge.

[ginnyinWI]

21. I was moved to tears again.

After the debate when they showed him chatting with people, I thought again, what a huge mistake was made when this guy didn't become president. He is just so perfect for the job--it just made me want to weep. His intelligence, yes--but also his sterling character and compassion--love and respect for each and every one of his fellow human beings on this planet. That's who America has missed having. The perfect antithesis and antidote to what we've endured for the last several years.

[MBS]

23. you said it n/t

[blm]

27. I agree with all you say here, and add that he would certainly respect all citizens

by sharing with them the information they need to make better decisions AS citizens.

[ginnyinWI]

22. The best thing I heard JK say

was at the end. He told the people, "I gotta run." Yes you do, Senator, you've just gotta "run"! ;)

[karynnj]

31. Hey it's on tape - we need to ask if we can hold him to this

interpreted our way - good catch. (I was still regreting that none of the people placed as favorites by the party and media could have done the job he just did.

[rockymountaindem]

25. What? I missed it?

I guess I'll have to catch it on the web. Sounds great though!

[rox63]

26. Any idea if/when this might be rebroadcast?

I'm stuck at work when most of the good stuff happens. :(

[ginnyinWI]

28. yes

the announcer said they would be re-airing it--but a quick check of their schedule doesn't have it yet. Maybe on the weekend?

[MH1]

34. It's on c-span's schedule for tonight, 10:24 EDT, (est)

http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/schedule.csp

sometimes those estimated times change quite a bit though, right up until the segment actually starts.

[beachmom]

29. Apparently, CNN had a stupid headline for the debate:

Read this diary:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/1/165345/6605

[blm]

32. That poster nailed it - if both parties are agreeing it exists, why the poll question

asking if it does as part of the discussion about the debate between the two?

[karynnj]

35. Blitzer was as stpid as the title

He and the person who he was speaking to were concerned with - were there sparks. How stupid can you get. He showed a Gingrich clip at the begininning of the show and in the actual segment. He twisted Kerry's joke - it was a Linclon/Douglas debate and he flipped and got Linclon - saying Kerry said it was a L/D debate on the environment.

He also mocked both as to why anyone would want to hear then - because Kerry's not running and Newt may not run. There was a comment that there was substance. Someone needs to point out to Blitzer that both of these people have achieved more than he ever will.

[Island Blue]

36. It was a standing room only crowd, right?

Somebody must have wanted to hear them. (And were willing to stand to do so.) Jeez, what did Wolfie want? No wonder the political discourse in this country has sunk so low. It's all about the sparks.

[beachmom]

30. Think Progress has the part where Kerry gets Gingrich to go against Inhofe:

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/10/gingrich-kerry-inhofe/

Includes a video excerpt.

[Island Blue]

33. Excellent debate.

I was able to see most of this while at work. (Yeah! For boss having a meeting out of the office.) I agree with the moderator toward the end of the debate, when he said that he wished the presidential debates could be like this. (More free flowing with plenty of time to answer questions.) If that had been the case in '04, I'm sure President Kerry would be in the White House right now because bush would have looked like a total idiot and people could have truly seen the difference between the two candidates. (Okay, okay - they should have seen the difference BEFORE the '04 debates or at least DURING the '04 debates, but apparently not enough did. Or did they?)

Anyway, I will give Newt props for agreeing to do this even though he was badly out matched. He did something bush would never have done.

[JI7]

37. didn't Newt make fun of Kerry on Fox News or something

a while back. something about the purple heart bandaids or something. but he seemed to think it was funny.

but i notice it's another case of these people never doing it to his face. just like that Fox idiot.

[JI7]

38. for those who try to downplay Kerry beating Bush in the debates

because Bush is a moron, Kerry kicked Gingrich ass also. and Kerry not only beat Bush and Gingrich on substance and detail of issues, but overall image too.

Kerry won all the 2004 primary debates also.

[beachmom]

39. Totally agree. And he won not just in debating skills, but style, too.

That was where Gore lost in 2000 -- in style.

Did anybody watch afterwards, when Newt and Kerry were being greeted both by fans, contrarians, and reporters? There was this blond reporter TOTALLY flirting with Newt. Gag me with a spoon. For Newt's third wife's sake, I hope Newt wasn't impressed either.

Later on a reporter from the BG and then the Detroit Free Press asked JK a couple of questions. Kerry emphasized to the BG guy that it's the "urgency" that is key when you listen to a conservative on global warming -- if they don't talk about urgency, then basically they can't be taken seriously. Then the Detroit guy asked about the Fox recess appointment. Kerry really didn't want to talk about it, and just said that it diminished the envoy, then he left.