Debate Analysis
The debate's biggest loser: Chuck Hagel, whom both John Edwards and Joe Biden said they'd consider as a running mate if they had to pick a Republican. Senator Hagel is likely to face a primary challenge if he runs for re-election to the Senate, and clips of Democrats endorsing him as a possible Veep for a Democratic White House won't help his chances.
The biggest winner: John Edwards, who should have buried the discussion of his haircut finally with a campaign ad which played the theme song of the musical "Hair" with a video montage of visuals which provided a stark reminder that there are more serious issues confronting our nation than whether a rich guy blew too much money on a haircut. He also had the most impressive moment in scoring off the insurance companies and drug companies, reminding Americans that he came very close to getting the Democratic nomination in 2004, when he was regarded as the most-feared Democrat by the Bush team. (The meter hit 90% approval among viewers during that segment. It's harder to get a higher number than that promising to smite the evildoers and hand out free money.)
The second biggest winner was Hillary Clinton. As long as she didn't start telling Americans who died in the last Harry Potter book, and how it ended, she was going to be a winner. This was her least substantive performance as a candidate, where she took on topics such as, yes, she is a woman, and she thinks she's better qualified than all her opponents to be President. In any Presidential race, that must be true of some candidate, but anyone who says it sounds unbelievably arrogant and delusional. It sounded worse than usual out of the mouth of Senator Clinton, against whom one of the biggest knocks going in is that she's unbelievably arrogant. But she made no huge missteps. When you've got a huge lead, that's all you want out of a debate.
Barack Obama was not a winner. His plan for withdrawal from Iraq sounded naive, and made him look callow.
Bill Richardson was not a winner. His plan for withdrawal from Iraq sounded naive, and made him look dishonest..
Joseph Biden sounded smart, and serious, and, as usual, he raised some interesting ideas; he also almost surely has the best credentials of all the Democrats to be the next President of the United States. If Presidents were hired, instead of elected, he would be a leading candidate. Since that isn't remotely the case, it's not terribly relevant that Biden continues to perform well in Presidential debates.
UPDATE: FINAL THOUGHTS:
The format was something of a winner. The questions posted on YouTube and selected by CNN, were no more insightful than other questions, but they were more entertainingly presented, and tended to show a degree of personal investment that made candidate efforts to evade questions more difficult to get away with.
CNN was something of a loser. Several questions which should've gone to all the candidates didn't: For instance, only Edwards and Biden were asked, if they had to select a Republican running-mate, who they would pick. It's possible everyone else would've also picked Hagel, but any other choice would've been interesting.
