from last night’s debate and analysis:
Obama vs. Clinton: Minimal fireworks and moderate agreement ... with just a touch of sniping to keep things interesting! First-time moderator Campbell Brown at least seemed reasonable comfortable and at ease in her duties – not sure how it would have been had the atmosphere been more contentious. But everyone has to start somewhere. Univision anchor Jorge Ramos and CNN Chief National Correspondent John King were the panelists; I’m not sure I was all that impressed with the subjects that were covered – with the posturing and maneuvering and insertion of talking points, ninety minutes goes fast. Anyway – the topics included foreign diplomacy, economic policy differences, immigration reform, plagiarism, “surge” success, earmarks and the role of superdelegates.
Post-debate analysis: It seemed that the guest panels (David Gergen, Gloria Borger, Jeff Toobin, Donna Brazile, Lisa Caputo, Jamal Simmons and Leslie Sanchez) were in some stage of agreement that there while Barack Obama made no major missteps, Hillary Clinton had no dramatic changes in her standard message. And that it didn’t help her to make any unique “connection” with potential voters or “chip into” the perceived excitement generated at Obama rallies. For better or worse, and I cast no judgment at this moment, it seemed to me that she’s decided to stick with her current message and strategy and either win or lose with it. Which is fine – I just hope that isn’t a lot of second-guessing or Monday morning “quarterbacking” that goes on after the fact, if that’s what’s done and she ends up losing the nomination.
There was also a follow-up report from Dana Bash about the McCain news of an improper relationship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman. John McCain and his wife Cindy held a news conference earlier in the day to state unequivocally that the charges inferred in the NY Times article were simply “not true”. As simple as it sounds to say that and have it all be done with, in the words of Jack Cafferty, “just saying it ain’t true isn’t going to cut it.” We’ll see.
Miles O’Brien was on set to introduce his Broken Government special titled “Scorched Earth”. The topics that he mentioned included a report about scientists who have been “muzzled” by the Bush administration when they have tried to speak out about global warming, and another report involving confusion about endangered species laws among government agencies that end up working against each other’s goals. I admit that after the debate and analysis, I was tired of TV watching for the evening, so I’ll do my best to actually watch the special this weekend!
Other News and Notes:
Anderson on 60 Minutes this Sunday: "THE MURDER OF CHAUNCEY BAILEY" - Shot-gunned to death in the course of reporting a story, police say newspaper editor Chauncey Bailey was probably killed to keep that story out of print. CNN's Anderson Cooper reports. Michael Rosenbaum is the producer.
Thanks for visiting - updates posted as needed - have a terrific Friday!
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