If you missed the latest presidential debate from Washington DC, you should go back and take a look at it right now. IMHO, it was the best one so far. You can see it here.
A poll conducted by the sponsors of the debate confirmed my reading: of the big three, John Edwards did the best by far. With the strongest performance, Edwards more than doubled his support. Here are the results of that poll:
John Edwards: Pre-Debate Support From Audience: 11%, Post-Debate Support From Audience: 24%
Barack Obama: Pre-Debate Support From Audience: 64%, Post-Debate Support From Audience: 46%
Hillary Clinton: Pre-Debate Support From Audience: 19%, Post-Debate Support From Audience: 12%
More below the fold.
Watch the tape of the WHOLE debate for yourself, and I think you will agree that John Edwards won the DC debate.
Edwards was poised, articulate, concise and very well received by the audience. If you impartially tally the total amount of applause received for all the candidates' answers, I think you will find that Edwards received the most applause. That helps to explain the above poll results. Edwards was VERY well received by this audience. Further, observe the candidates as they answer the questions. Edwards was noticeably more comfortable, confident and relaxed than all the other candidates. He looked at home. He looked presidential. Edwards won this debate.
I thought Obama did well, and I am somewhat surprised by his drop in support, but perhaps the expectations for him at this particular debate were unusually high. In the post debate chatting, it appears that a few people were bothered by Obama (who followed Edwards all night) echoing Edwards too much. I actually saw it differently. As Obama repeatedly praised or elaborated upon Edwards' responses (what John said, and...), I thought it boosted both of them before the audience.
At several points, they looked like a team. I think we saw a charismatic southerner, John Edwards, speaking simply, elegantly, directly and TRUTHFULLY about poverty, racism, and inequality, followed by a charismatic African American leader, Barack Obama, praising Edwards, and providing equally compelling solutions on poverty and inequality. It was like watching Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking, one after the other.
As the polls results showed, the largely African American audience at Howard University realized that this guy Edwards should be second to Obama for them. Hillary, by contrast, lost support with this audience, and dropped to third after her performance. Other than her comment about about white women and AIDS (which made me wonder...does more total federal money go to AIDS, breast cancer, or prosate cancer?), I thought Hillary Clinton's overall performance was flat, monotone and canned.
But...watch the debate and make up your own mind. Don't believe the spin, particularly if it emanates from Republican pollsters, organized noise machines or 15 appointed pundits. (Do organized noise machines exists? Is the MSM being spun with professionals?)
As I saw it, by a considerable margin, this was the most interesting and "fun to watch" debate of the 2008 race.
A final tangent: what I particularly loved about this debate were the many "reaction shots" from members of the audience, some of them quite prominent. You could see a lot of deep-seated skepticism on a lot of faces when responses were just more canned promises and pablum, eg, "I have done this and I have done that." Well guess what? We have heard your "stuff" before. If you have been "doing this" for a long time, and this is the best you can do, then step aside: you have failed the African American community...really.
Personally, I like to watch Maxine Waters' and Al Sharpton's responses to canned political pablum: they both have very highly attuned BS meters. In fact, I wish I could watch Maxine Waters and Al Sharpton cams for every single debate! They know the real deal.
There is a poll below. No fair voting unless you saw the WHOLE debate. And yes, I am sure some partisans will run to their own candidates. But for DailyKos readers still shopping, or considering a migration, please watch that debate, then please vote!