The lightest moment of last night's Democratic presidential debate was anchor Brian Williams senior moment. The NBC newsman thought he was in Los Angeles.
Well in Gamble Town--everything that happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas--Democratic candidates sparred over campaign contributions and leadership style. Obama admitted he was not an operating officer revealing he must answer the questions of REFORM'S most recent post: http://reform.squarespace.com/...
Senator Edwards admitted he was controlled by his emotions. Hillary echoed the GOP buzzword that she is "blessed," and asserted that POTUS must manage the bureaucracy.
The Obama campaign while agreeing on a moratorium on race released a 4 page hit piece on the divisive issue. While a Clinton aide alluded to Obama's drug use, her pollster noted that Hispanics would not support a Black candidate. There are those in the country that want to feed this white fright for they fear the Browning of America.
Obama answered charges distributed in an email that he is a Muslim, took the Senate oath of office on the Koran, and doesn't say the Pledge of Alliance. Obama counted he was a Christian, took the oath of office with hand on Bible and led the Pledge of Alliance while in the United States Senate. He did not mention anything about the Rezco case.
On the economy all favored reforms that would help middle class families but Edwards—the poverty candidate—supported the Bankruptcy Reform Acts of 2001 and 2005.
Charges were leveled with regard to campaign contributions to Obama from Excelon and, the gifts, supposedly the most received by any Democrat or Republican, from the oil and gas industry as well as substantial contributions from the health and pharmaceutical industries to the Clinton campaign. Obama's vote for the 2005 Energy Bill after it was challeged by the GAO in the courts must have been payback to Excelon.
On a seething issue in Nevada both Senators Obama and Edwards voted in favor of the depositing of nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain. Although currently all three candidates question the "sound science." a big winner in this decision was Excelon.
We did not here the word "change" much in this debate. However, each candidate did spend sometime on that message. Obama gave his normal loosey-goosey message he now after a year has down pat. again, the term "economic justice" was avoided like "Le Peste."
Mrs. Clinton spoke about a united Democratic party, seems like her staff is also not reading REFORM, see The Real Skinny on NH.
Each candidate denied they favored permanent military basis in Iraq, while Sen. Clinton charged that the pack of mutts running on the GOP side support Bush's war policy. Obama favored a key strike force out of Iraq as did the other candidates.
One segment of the debate showed how times have change, for the worse according to this observer. All three candidates supported mandatory ROTC on college campus or yank of federal aid. (Ask Hillary Clinton how she felt about this issue in 1972?)
NBC's Tim Russert pointed out that four of the top ten universities in the country do not have ROTC programs. This may be one of the reasons why the all volunteer Army is mostly Black, Hispanic and working class. In America today we have an army of Husseins.
A question not asked was would the Feds continue to subsidize research to universities that feed the war machine?
As part of the "New Democratic Party" all three candidates oppose the national registration of guns.
On Homeland Security Hillary came close to using the term Islamo-Facists. Obama accused the GOP for engaging in the politics of fear, while Hillary came under criticism for her statements regarding alleged terrorist attacks after Britain's new PM Gordon Brown assumed power.
All in all while this debate was touted as a different style of foray; however time constraints again did not allow the candidates to fully engage, and the attacks that were leveled seemed to this obsever to be Opposition Research 101.
One more point on race. On this issue Hillary should be taken to task for her remark that "history has been realized" this statement demonstrates how really out of touch the New York Senator is, ask a Black American who happens to be "Driving while Black," if racial justice has been achieved?
The Real Skinny on NH