Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Debating Issues or Trading Insults?

Last night the Democratic frontrunners debated in Ohio. What could have been a meaningful debate about relevant issues mainly turned into a war of words. Clinton accused Obama of falsely reporting information about her health care plan, stating that it seemed almost as if a Republican had written the ads. Obama countered that that's how politics is played and America hasn't seen him complaining about the negative advertising from the Clinton campaign. Obama also graciously believed Clinton when she said she had nothing to do with photos circulating of him in traditional African attire.

Clinton also seemed to blame the moderators for her drop in popularity saying "In the last several debates I seem to get the first question all the time. I don't mind. I'll be happy to field it. I just find it curious if anybody saw "Saturday Night Live," maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and needs another pillow." This jab seems to indicate that she feels the questioners have shown considerable favoritism toward Obama, which may have negatively affected her campaign.

Throughout the night, the debate was laced with barbed insults and rude comments ranging from voting records about the Iraq war to NAFTA. To me it seemed more like the debate turned into a 90 minutes of negative advertising for both sides than an actual debate. What did you think of the debate, and how did it translate into your feelings about the candidates?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like Clinton's getting annoyed that she's losing. Even so, I don't think she should resort to mudslinging; doing that when she's down on votes seems like a cheap tactic. I didn't watch the actual debate, so I dont know whether Obama was attacking or simply defending himself. If he was just countering Clinton, then that'll probably get him some support for being the better person. Also, does it seem like it's always Clinton making these kind of remarks?

Keith Chin said...

I didn't actually watch the debate either, but it sounds like Clinton's just whining about being behind. From what I can tell so far, it seems like Obama is on a relatively clear path to winning, but insults and mudslinging aren't really going to help Clinton, are they? Besides that, mudslinging would just hurt the democratic party in general, regardless of who wins, so shouldn't they save it for the general election?

benji said...

I saw the end of the debate. MSNBC looked up who answered past debates first and found that it was almost equal, with Clinton answered like 7 times first, compared to Obama answering 6 times, I think. They also said that answering first is a good thing, because that sets the tone for the question or whole debate. So Clinton is freaking out about nothing. Also, the SNL comment just seems like Clinton's trying to appeal to a demographic that mostly supports Obama. It didn't work. It just looked weird seeing her say that out loud, since it's not like her to do that. But then again, crying for the first time supposedly won her New Hampshire. So maybe she knows what she's doing.

Kristina McOmber said...

I remember from our presidential simulation that one of the voters indicated a vote for Greg because he/she thought the other two candidates voiced a premonition of their imminent failures, and were simply trying to defend themselves for a final, long shot at the presidency. Clinton just might follow in our glorious footsteps