The Debate

I just finished watching tonight's debate between Senators Obama and Clinton on the DVR (I missed the live broadcast). Here are my quick thoughts and reactions before I go to bed.

Barack Obama: Seemed a little flat. Took a lot of loaded questions and, for the most part, answered them pretty damn well. I particularly appreciated his repeated observation that dwelling on inconsequential to relatively minor things (i.e. flag pins) really just distracts us from the big issues.

Hillary Clinton: Smug and more than content to keep bringing the focus down into the gutter. Certainly less shrill or borderline violent than in previous debates, but still kind of grating. Fixated on Reverend Wright. Her pandering struck me as pretty blatant.

Charles Gibson: Seemed incapable of asking a question that wasn't loaded. Also seemed to interrupt a lot - and while I like moderators calling out candidates when they duck a question, he seemed to butt in needlessly.

George Stephanopoulos: Not quite as smug as Hillary Clinton, but close. Looked like he was mugging for the camera at least once.

All in all, I don't think the debate will really change anything. Obama did a good job taking (and trying to steer the debate onto) the high road, whereas Clinton sure loves her Rovian playbook and wallowing in the mud. Probably a draw, but I'll give it to Barack Obama. I know I'm ready to get past our current state of hyper-partisanship, and he's hands-down our best shot at it, as he showed multiple times tonight.

Cheers,
Regis