I felt like Carol Moseley Braun won the debate. And I feel sort of surprised by how seriously I'm taking her all of a sudden. What follows are my thoughts on her, and on the rest of the debate.
The fact is that the CW does have an impact. When I'm told over and over again that CMB is one of the three vanity candidates, it's hard for that not to seep in a bit. But then you start to take a closer look at the polls and some strangeness presents itself. For one thing, CMB is actually polling quite well. One recent poll had her at 6%, higher than other candidates that aren't in the "bottom trio".
Another thing I find is that sometimes candidates are hobbled by various bits of CW that they are never given a chance to actually challenge. CMB's was the whole thing about her visiting the Nigerian dictator. But, surprisingly, she was explicitly asked about it last night, which to me allowed her to reach a new level of legitimacy. As soon as the press considers a candidate legitimate enough to actually address the things the media says about them behind their back, then it means progress has been made.
She has displayed the most willingness to actually answer the questions asked of her. She also responds completely, and without sacrificing the opportunity to make political points. Her point about being the clearest alternative to Bush also resonated with me.
I think the nomination race is helped by her presence, and I hope she sticks around a lot longer than some of the other candidates. The longer she sticks around, the better shot she has of more momentum gathering. I think I might even go pitch a few bucks into her candidacy.
Other thoughts:
I don't know what the deal is with Kucinich. You wrap his words and ideas into a different candidate, and then I think you'd have a really great candidate. This man just bugs me, though. I resist his idealism, and not because I've been ground down by the system, not because I'm ultimately a cynic and refuse to dream. I just don't believe that this guy can actually sell what he advocates. I've seen him on talk shows, and he just gets plowed over. He just got plowed over by Dean, as well. He makes me wince. He's my first wish for the next guy to drop out of the race.
Sharpton is awesome, and one of his lines actually hit me with a visceral feeling impact. The one about how it's supposed to be an honor for the poor to fight and die for one's country, while it's a burden for the rich to pay a higher portion of taxes. He made that point so well I got the chills. That said, I don't think he offers much as a presidential candidate. It's too bad it's the only way he can get as much visibility as he is getting now. But the answer is to give him more visibility in another role, not to advocate his presidency. He's like Nader in this way - I honestly couldn't imagine what sort of choices Nader would be making as president. I could only imagine his opinions about what was wrong with other presidents' choices. It's a huge difference, and I hope he steps out of the race soon, while somehow finding some way to retain very visible press.
Lieberman came across as much more credible and likeable in this debate, although that's not saying much. I think I'm mostly giving him a free pass because he didn't attack Dean. Lieberman's more likeable when he's charitable. Plus I like when he attacks Kerry, since Kerry has been attacking Dean.
I'm experiencing a bit of Dean burn-out, a bit bored by him. But that also means I'm not nervous when he's about to speak. And, I seriously am getting the sense that he actually just outclasses a lot of the other candidates, without having to try too hard. It doesn't look like it takes a lot of effort for him to respond to the other candidates' attacks.
Even though Edwards had a bit of an off-day, he is still hugely likeable, and the more he's in front of the camera, the higher his poll numbers will creep up. I honestly think there's a good chance he'll become the anti-Dean. I also think that pairing is our best hope for a relatively clean primary. By the way, did you know that Edwards' voting record is the least Democratic of all the candidates?
Kerry can bite my ass. His attacks are cooked and tailored, and they're not genuine in the slightest. I'm not even going to try to see past my bias against this guy. He's a complete creep. I'd have a bit of respect for him if I had the faintest glimmer that his attacks came from any sort of honest concern, but I don't. Everything feels calculated with him.
Clark... I just don't know what to think about this guy. He seems like he will blow away. But I still do have the memory of a vibe that he's very good at standing up to people. I don't feel like he'd be plowed over by his opponents like Kucinich would. But... I don't know, he's still very much an unknown to me. If he had Dean's campaign, he'd be unstoppable. But right now he seems more like a puppet or scarecrow or something. A big presence, but propped up somehow with not much underneath.
Gep just came across like normal, straining and blustery. He always looks like he's yelling into the wind. That's not really the best aura for the presidency. Maybe good for a president that never passes any legislation and complains about his inability to do so. I hope he doesn't win.