I was at the Obama rally before the debate and the post debate party, here's a few thoughts. We won the sign "war" with about 2/3 of the supporters on the street, even in Nevada which is not Obama's best state the grassroots overwhelmingly favors him. The state party is unlike Iowa and New Hampshire, completely locked down by Hillary. Other than the 22 tickets given to each campaign the rest found thier way through connections to Hillary supporters. The "booing" of candidates who sparred with Hillary was probably about as spontanious as one of Hillary's Iowa questions. Should the Edwards and Obama folks have booed when Hillary gave an answer they didn't like? Maybe they should have because Wolf Blitzer and the Clinton News Network seemed to enjoy turning our debate into a circus. while Hillary does a have a lead here that's bigger than the other early states it's not insurmountable because such a low % of people in Nevada even give a shit. Some Iowa and NH momentum combined with the ground game advantage Obama has can win here.
On the debate itself, well folks if Hillary is going to get beat in the primary race at some point Obama is going to have to effectively narrow the field to a head up contest. Hillary was extremely good at her gender card stuff last night and most of her supporters that I chatted with are for her for 1 reason really, she's a woman. last night Obama as he always does gave clear and cogent postions on the problems we face from social security to Iraq and Iran and while some on here like Edwards position on these issues a bit better at this point any vote that would go to Obama over Hillary that isn't going to Obama is effectively helping Hillary. It's hard enough to overome Hillary's advantage as the establishment and female candidate but Obama atleast has a chance, Edwards does not. David Yepson of the Des moines Registerhttp://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200771115045
Edwards also had a poor night because for the first time, the differences between his votes as a U.S. senator and his talk now came into clear focus. He voted for the Iraq war, the Patriot Act and using Yucca Mountain as a nuclear-waste disposal site. Those votes are at odds with the populist rhetoric he serves up today, and it will undermine the credibility of his message.
Ironically, Edwards' poor performance may be bad news for Clinton in Iowa.
That's because Clinton, Edwards and Obama are in a statistical tie for first among caucus-going Democrats here. If either Obama or Edwards should fade in Iowa, his supporters may move to the other candidate, making that man the leading anti-Clinton candidate.
And that could give him enough votes to eke out a plurality win over her on caucus night. (Memo to Clinton: Don't be too hard on poor Johnny. You need to keep him in this race in Iowa.).
updated Did the Hillary campaign plant the booing? it's starting to become an issuehttp://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/11/unanswered_questions_from_last.html