Yesterday, the eight Democrats running for their party's nomination for President met in New Hampshire to debate. Some had a good night, others, not so good.
Senator Hillary Clinton entered the front-runner and left the front-runner, and when you're running this far ahead in polls, thats a good place for Hillary to be. She was pressed hard on many issues, and quite frankly, I'm surprised at how well she handled them. Edwards grilled her on several issues, including her vote on the Iraq War and her healthcare plan. Gravel said that he was disgraced at her vote earlier in the day on Iran. Notably absent from the seeming slaughter of Clinton was the man who needed to do it the most, Barack Obama (but more on him in a little bit). The best moment of the night for Hillary came when moderator Tim Russert asked her whether or not she would condone torture, and Hillary forcefully said absolutely not. Russert then brought up the fact that Bill Clinton, Hillary's husband, had once said that he would support it. Hillary responded with, "Well he's not standing up here right now is he?" With that one line, Hillary did what she needed to do this entire campaign: make the point that her last name might be Clinton, but her first name is not Bill. She is not Bill Clinton, she is Hillary Clinton.
Barack Obama could have ruined months of hard work he and his campaign put in to New Hampshire. His performance was absolutely horrendous. His campaign claim that Obama was ill, but that is no excuse. The charisma that we have all grown to love from Obama was completely absent. He was cloudy with most of his answers while at other times he literally just re-worded the answers from other candidates. His failure to go after Hillary will cost him. If anyone can stop her, it's him, and he must do it soon. In fact, in might be too late. Last night was Obama's chance to make an impact and begin to break Hillary's campaign down. But I'm afraid for Obama that he may have done the opposite. He may have lost himself supporters, and those supporters might just jump to the Hillary, or even Edwards, campaign.
John Edwards was on fire last night. Other than Hillary, he was the winner. He came off strong and forceful, yet kept his southern charm. I won't be surprised if Edwards gets a little boost in the poll numbers, especially in New Hampshire, from his performance. Unlike Obama, he made his differences clear from the other candidates, and gave Americans his plan for the country.
Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Kucinich, and Gravel were all okay. None of them made any huge mistakes, but they, yet again, fail to ignite a flame under their campaign. That, with their lack of money, will keep them from winning the primaries. A few might even want to consider dropping out.
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