Reviewing the CNN*YouTube Democratic Debates

Just givin' ya the broad strokes, folks. It's late and I'm kind of tired.

First off, it feels really good to see normal people airing their grievances through a mainstream media outlet. The candidates performed well, and there were a few questions that I thought penetrated through their usually thick armor of bullshit and empty promises. However, I did notice they often resorted to a time-tested tactic, changing the question. Usually going with a seemingly harmless phrase, such as, "The real question/problem/issue here is (fill in prepared Q/A here)", so in some ways this novel debate got us nowhere fast.

I think that the memories of the Bush administration will steer the public clear of any but the most charismatic Republican candidates, especially those that don't openly declare their dissatisfaction with the current president. Hopefully if a Democrat is elected, they will engender cooperation between ethnic, economic, and party lines, as so many of them promise to do.

Big issues included the Iraq War (unexpectedly), healthcare (or the lack thereof), the lackluster and achingly slow response to Katrina, and restoring the respect and prestige that America only recently lost worldwide, despite carrying out policies in Central America and other regions that clash strongly with American values and border on complicity with genocide for decades previous to Dubya.

But I digress, I'm getting off topic.

I think this debate cleared a few questions people may have had, and I saw afterwards on FOX that based on a 30 person focus group, people walked in the room pulling for Hillary in 1st place and Obama in 2nd place. They left with the opposite views, with Obama taking the most favorable position at the top spot and Hillary losing a few people.

Overall, I think that Kucinich, Obama, and Hillary came out smelling like sunflowers. The other candidates performed well, but lacked something that these three candidates showed plenty of.

Comments are welcome.