Democratic Debate No.19

Watching the Democratic debate tonight, I was very proud of both candidates. Either Obama or Clinton will kick McCain's wrinkled ass come November.

I personally thought Hillary's plagiarism attack and the horrible "lifting whole passages... is not change you can believe in, it's change you can xerox" line is where she lost the debate. It fell flat and the audience booed. Ironic that she would challenge Obama on plagiarism with a bad joke that obviously was written for her.

But then a funny thing happened. In wrapping up the end of the debate, the candidates were asked what moment in their life did they feel most tested. Obama went first and gave a decent answer.

Then it was Clinton's turn. She stated that most people already know what she's been through (although she didn't specifically mention the "vast right wing conspiracy" or Bill & Monica, but we knew what she meant). Then she went into a story about visiting with injured soldiers and that nothing she's been through can compare with what Joe Average people go through every day. Great line and lovely sentiment. And she ended with "You know, whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to say the same thing about the American people. And that's what this election should be about."

The audience got up to its feet for a standing ovation, one of a few during the evening. But in watching every pundit afterwards, they all had the impression that although it sounded conciliatory she won the debate with that last line. People were cheering, she got a standing ovation, it was great.

How did I see it? She got a standing ovation because the audience knew the thing was over. It was the last answer to the last question at the end of the night and they were applauding both candidates. So when I heard that it was her best moment (it was) but that she won on points, I did a double take.

So there I am flipping from station to station looking for the one pundit that would bring it up, just say it was the standard standing ovation at the end of all these things, and nobody did! They all got the impression that Hillary had won the crowd over. They were booing her 30 minutes earlier and now they love her? Jeebus! Okay... whatever.

I still think Obama won this debate, on his Cuba answer, on his rebuttal with the plagiarism scuffle, his thoughts on immigration and border security, flipping around the "ready on Day One" Hillary standard line with "having the right judgement" on Day One, etc.

It was a fun debate to watch. The next debate is scheduled for February 26th in Cleveland, Ohio on MSNBC.

By the way, Obama's winning streak has now hit 11.

Barack Obama has won the Democrats Abroad global primary, giving him 11 straight victories in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Illinois senator won the primary in which Democrats living in more than 30 countries voted by Internet, mail and in person. The voting took place over the course of a week, beginning Feb. 5.

Oh, and one more thing regarding Hillary's plagiarism attack. Keith Olbermann reported that Politico.com had this to say about Clinton's final lines.

From Ben Smith at Politico:

Clinton Tonight:
You know, whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to say the same thing about the American people. And that's what this election should be about.

Edwards the December 13 debate:
What's not at stake are any of us. All of us are going to be just fine no matter what happens in this election. But what's at stake is whether America is going to be fine.

And boy, those YouTubers are fast!