A Drop of Blood in the Water

Both Brian Williams and Tim Russert should be ashamed of themselves for their performances in last night's debate for pandering to the lowest denominator of the public's need to know! They certainly were not the "respected" journalists that they should have been. Wonder if they both got huge bonuses from their networks because all they did was encourage a fight that would boost ratings! The questions they asked had nothing to do with helping the public choose the best candidate! It was all about the ratings and Williams and Russert should both turn in their professional journalist cards and apologize to the public for their sophomoric questions!

I think msnbc did a great job with this debate. There is no reason why Mrs. clinton should not be challenged on everything. She was annointed the front runner before the very first poll of this campaign was every taken. Now she has to really earn the votes. She's not the nominne for the party until she is the nominee, then it will be time to circle the wagons around her!

I think Clinton's credibility is a big issue. Her campaign finance stance, her war in Iraq have all been brought into question. To me she would sell somebody the Goldengate Bridge to get elected and then claim that some aide told her she owned it and that she was misled. I do not doubt that she has some good ideas, but can I trust that when it matters she would vote the right way or the politically correct way. Why don't we elect someone that will read intelligence reports, think about obstacles and solutions, understand the consquences of her actions (and nonactions), and show leadership for all, not just the big money states. To me D.C. has become more about politics and less about people, ordinary people.

What I'd like to see is a stop to all the spinning post-debate by the candidates, and the media. I don't need Tim Russert, Chris Matthews, Hillary, Obbama or Edward's campaign to tell me what happened; I watched the debate front start to finish, I know what happened!

The American people are relatively intelligent, they don't need to be told what to think. Given the opportunity to decide for themselves 9 times out of 10, they'll make the correct decision.

I think the national media and all the political pundits will be put in check after Iowa, not because Edwards will do better than Clinton, that Obama will loose to Clinton, but because for all their prognosticating from inside the "beltway" they'll be proven wrong again, and their consistent under-estimation of the wants of the american people once again.

I was ashamed of the comments made by Chris Matthews and Howard Feinman in the after-debate analysis. They piled-on Hillary too, and should have been commenting on the ideas and opinions of the Candidates during the debate. I expected more from them. What is that all about????

Mr. Wolfsen, it appears that the media is trying once again to dictate this election, instead of just reporting it. First and foremost any candidate should never listen to the press for direction. Second Senator Obama should continue to just be himself. If the country wants to vote for his ideas then they will. The press wants a fight but when they had a chance to challenge this White House they and you both were silent. Now you talking heads want try and sway the voters. Any voter who does not want to hear the truth, has already made up his, or her mind about which candidate they like regardless of experience. I just wish the entire media corp would have done the American people real justice by reporting the lies, and double talk that they received from this White House. But because the press are cowards, and want to protect their chances of getting an interview at the White House they abandoned what we thought were their responsibilitties and continue to put out this trash.

I was ashamed of Chris Matthews and Howard Feinman's after debate comments. They were pileing-on Hillary Clinton, and did not comment on the content of the candidates' ideas and opinions.
What is that about????
Marty Verhaeghe

So she stumbles a little bit in the debate, it was bound to happen. Beside, what's sad about these debates is that they amount to a horse-and-pony show for the respective party, it's hardly telling of how the candidate will perform in the real world job of being president. Really, her big mistake was just no handling the question with her usual casual and diplomatic stride. Which with anything to do with race and immigration is hard to do. It's just a huge tinderbox waiting to explode when someone even remotely tries to put some answers towards it. Very much like America's silly Second Amendment and the lack of gun control in this country. No elected official worth his salt will even oppose the NRA or support any logical function of gun control.

It's a shame that the other candidates would try to gain prominence by vitrol. I think it wouod have been better for them to present their own programs instead of spending the entire night "shadow boxing". I thind Senator Dodd should have been asked about the immigration mess in Connecticut. Maybe he and a few other would love to have Lou Dobbs and Rush Limbaugh running the country.

ML she is running on her husbands record and claiming his experience as her own. She takes credit for the good things that happened in the 1990's (the economy) but says that bad things were her husband???s choices (NAFTA, DOMA, DADT, Somalia, WW, etc...). Her records as First Lady in the 90's and failure to take positions are fair game. Think about it if she can't take mild criticism from dems how will she win the general.

So she stumbles a little bit in the debate, it was bound to happen. Beside, what's sad about these debates is that they amount to a horse-and-pony show for the respective party, it's hardly telling of how the candidate will perform in the real world job of being president. Really, her big mistake was just no handling the question with her usual casual and diplomatic stride. Which with anything to do with race and immigration is hard to do.

Well

nobs_2008 - Of course her sole goal is to get elected. ALL of them have the sole goal of getting elected. How could they not? Change cannot happen until one of them IS elected. The only reason that none of them can answer the questions 100% is because the media (on both sides of the spectrum) take ridiculous soundbites and feed them to the uneducated electorate who will listen to whatever the tv is saying.

I will certainly vote for the eventual Democratic nominee, but I am simply heartbroken that Al Gore does not seem to be entering the race. He's an amazing statesman and shown himself to be a truly visionary leader for the challenges that face us. Any of the candidates: Dodd, Obama, Edwards, Clinton - would be fine Presidents and can turn this country around from the devastation of the Bush years. But we'd have been so much better off if Al Gore got in the race. You never know - he may yet.

Presidential politics at this stage is painful to watch, and does not bode well for the country. There is little difference between the candidates on either side. None of them seem to know how to correct the missteps of th past 7 years. Most want to continue. The next president, whoever he/she is, will stay the course left by years of corruption and misguided foreign and domestic policy. Hillary, Obama, John-all from the same mold.

I will NEVER vote for Obama or Edwards after last night's ridiculous and petty performances re Clinton! Prior to last night I had a healthy respect for both candidates. I sure hope Clinton wins the primary now because if she does not, 2008 will be the first time I have voted in 37 years that I did NOT support a democrat for president! I will stay home rather than vote for either Obama or Edwards who I now consider to be the worst type of candidate, the mud throwing, scum of the earth types!

It was the objective of all the contenders to attack Hillary and MSNBC fed her up like the Christians to the Romans. She left the debate with only a taint of blood. She answers questions reflectively as though she wwere already President. She know she cannot deal with absolutes. I like Bill Richardon but he needs to read the book Oh Jerusalem and see what happened when the British prematurely left Palestine. Joe Biden gave some visionary commentary on what happens if we attack Iran. I hope Bush and Cheney heard that. Hillary obviously understands the global consequances of an independent attack on Iran and that's clearly not what she voted for.