Last night was the start of 5 debates in 9 days. The first one was taped and posted on local TV website here: http://wagmtv.com/...
Summary of my reaction to the debate video:
1. Bellows looked ready and able to serve as a strong US Senator (which must be an issue for some Mainers in view of Bellows' youth). Collins did not look as weak as she has in some other TV appearances, but was less impressive than Bellows in most ways.
2. The contrast in their closing statements was like a parody of a comparison between a visionary politician and a ward-heeler. Collins spoke last and could have made an adjustment to add just a little bit of vision to partially match that of Bellows, but instead stayed with a pork-barrel script.
3. Bellows firmly but smoothly and gracefully took every opportunity to highlight numerous points that reinforce her campaign narrative, especially Collins' enabling and supporting the "wrong" policies and obstructionism of Republicans, including summing up:
"A vote for Susan is a vote for Republican gridlock".
4. Bellows nailed the argument that
minimum wage stimulates workers' purchasing power and thus local economies, and that Republican predictions of job losses were based on "misrepresentation" (which is Collins' favorite word this cycle) of the research cited to make these predictions. More importantly, Bellows linked employment levels back to her campaign theme of the
need for investment in economic infrastructure, including rural broadband and mobile phones.
There was no knock-out, but Bellows reinforced her puncher's chance, which Collins has clearly recognized, and has sought to minimize by delaying and minimizing debates. as was recently highlighted in this music video (now above 20,000 views):