Democratic Debate #8 - Tuesday, October 30th - Drexel in Philly - hosted by Brian Williams and Tim Russert

First question goes to Obama….You plan to be more aggressive against Hillary…What are the issues where you differ? Where did she sound or vote like a Republican?:

BO: “This is overhyped”. He is avoiding the question. Instead talking about change, and sharp contrasts with the other party...but here we go…”Hillary changes positions on issues”…and that’s about it. Damn. I swear to god he had the whole world watching – ready to watch him bitch-slap Hillary – and he skipped it.

Hillary responds…blah blah blah…on to Edwards…..”our President has embarrassed our country”.

Edwards sounds good. Looks good. Always looks good I guess. $400 will do that. Edwards has a real opportunity here. Hillary is ramping up her staff in Iowa, and this week has stolen the lead there from Edwards. Is that a big deal? To someone it is, but who though 60 days out in Iowa that Kerry would win? Hell, Dick Gephardt was still thinking he was going to pull it off. If Edwards has a good night, it could be the shot in the arm he needs.

I just noticed that Edwards tie matches the podium. And Hillary’s shirt matches her podium. Seriously? Does their staff advance to see the color of the podium?

Ahhh..well damn….Edwards is attacking Hillary now too. So Hillary gets to rebuff.
I can’t even regurgitate what they are saying. This has been all bullshit. Comparatively boring. Disappointing. I guess we have done eight of these debates, and now we are down to only two months, so this is bound to happen. It all sounds the same to anyone paying attention.

Edwards really is in a nice position to make a move. I hope he doesn’t bag on Hillary all night too. I bet he does. He is a lawyer.

This ‘debate’ is horrible. Where’d Dodd?

No Dodd.

Back to Hillary. Russert went back to Hillary on Iran! Fuck, this is the Hillary show!

Opps – no Dodd, but I caught a glimpse of Biden. I saw him! There are people besides Hillary and Team Bash Hillary on stage.

Still Hillary is doing a good job of not referring to anyone else on the state. Shit, she just makes good sense even!

Ok, on to Dodd. Yes DODD! He is to respond to the Iran/Iraq vote question. Sounds good. Damn Dodd looks good. Really sounds good. Makes good sense. Hm. Edwards is on the beat on Hillary Team. Maybe Dodd can be the dark horse. That would be fun.

Ahh, I can’t live blog every move of this debate – mostly because it is dry.

I am amazed that they are continuing to bang bang bang on Hillary. When someone like Edwards talks about how Hillary voted, it just reminds me that he was a lawyer who was only in the senate for one term and didn’t vote on Iraq. He looks like he is a whiner when he attacks her. She is still standing strong. Oh no guys. Hillary feeds off your hate! Whoahahahaaa!!!

Ok. On to my (onetime) boy Bill Richardson…damn…talk about not grabbing an opportunity…Billyboy could have wowed America –democrats at least-in these debates, and he hasn’t done it. He is really the best qualified to be President. No doubt in my mind. I still hope he pulls this thing off, but his staff has yet to wow me.

On to Koo-Koo-niche. (for those of you just joining us – we are sill on Iran/Iraq and I am bored as hell) Oh, by the way, Dennis “Could have been in Lord of the Rings” Koo-Koo-niche is against war. Duh. Skip his time on this question. Please. We all know he is against war..and hate…and bloodshed. Just ask him about his wife? Does the carpet match the curtains? What’s she plan to do for her 21st birthday? Does the height factor not matter when you’re horizontal? I take that back. I am out of line. Please forgive me. But you can damn sure bet your britches that Bill Clinton has a little piece that wishes Koo-Koo would win so he could come back and visit the White House on Presidents Homecoming and take a stab at the 6’ carrot top.

Next Question: Will you pledge to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon?
Answers: Hillary pledges, Edwards will, Obama talks too long and says that everyone on the stage will take the pledge. There is some audience reaction. I can’t read it.

Has Biden spoken? I had to run to the bathroom and may have missed him. I need me some Biden. He can save this debate if we don’t elect him to save America. I hope he says: “Yeah. I will build a nuclear bomb for Iran! You heard me right. Build your damn bomb. Then I will lead a black hooded Special Forces team in the dead of night into Iran and launch it for them. Yeah, I said we’d launch the motherfuckin bomb for them. BUT as that bomb launches into the sky, I would lasso it, wrap a rope I twisted myself around that bomb and force it into a U-turn and force that bomb back towards Iran and bomb Iran with it’s own bomb. Then I’d like to thank Chuck Norris for his endorsement.

But he didn’t say that.

Biden said that there’s a bigger question. I was busy typing and laughing about the Chuck Norris thing and missed it. Something about Pakastan. That’s where Borat is from?
Dodd on the pledge: “I agree with Joe, the more immediate problem is Pakastan”. Then he goes on to say that results and experience matter – and what is more important is electing someone who not just stands on stage and takes a pledge, but can lead and grapple with these issues. He referred to his experience in Nicaragua 20-some years ago. Damn good answer really. And he said it with some passion. Dodd is in the wings folks.

Billy Richardson takes the pledge and then mentions the man in the 4th row is a man he brought back from his face to face with Saddam. And in North Korea he stopped the nuclear reactor. He does a nice job here of talking about actual examples of how he has served as a diplomat for our nation. Governor Richardson is hitting his stride.

Attack. Ok. Attack. Wow. Attack. This is still happening? Edwards is trying to put words in Hillary’s mouth again. Says that she doesn’t have a clear timetable for withdrawl from Iraq. Does that matter? As long as you want to get the troops out? Of course when she rebuts she says that she and Edwards agree on Iraq. What a mess. Democrats, stop. Find a new subject. I am tired of hearing this. Yes, against the war. Got it. Guess what, you are only 39 minutes into this thing and I am bored out of my mind.

HA. AS I type that – Brian Williams reminds the audience that this is a 2 hour debate, so they will be taking 2 short breaks.

I don’t know if I can turn this back on. Where is the guy from Alaska? I need that relief. Is he still in this thing?

We’re back with the moderator reading the attack from Giuliani…against…guess who…Hillary. The attack: Hillary has never been an executive, run a city, a state, a payroll, a lemonade stand…” Hillary HAS to have an answer prepared for this…..and she says…nothing much…..actually she says that the Republicans must be clear about what she can and will do, because they keep attacking her. That’s decent I guess. Or it polled well. The New York Times said that Hillary was turning her campaign from a primary election to a general election. Sounds like the Republicans as a whole are attacking Hillary as a General Election opponent too.

So no they are attacking Hillary for not releasing some personal records. Again. Damn. Stop already.

Obama is off tonight. He sounds desperate when he ‘attacks’. He was much stronger as a front-runner. Here’s a zinger: Obama just said that part of the reason the Republicans are comfortable attacking Hillary is it’s because that is something they have been doing since the 90’s. And of course we should vote for him because …well….his husband didn’t get a bj from an intern basically. Those weren’t his words of course….I read between the lines for you.

STOP the PRESSES. THANK YOU BILLRICHARDSON! He just jumped in here and asked the others to stop piling on Hillary. He mentions that we are bordering on personal attacks and Democrats don’t need to do that. He asked the others to stop hinting that Hillary is not telling the truth. He says we need to stay positive. And turns the issue to himself: “The country elects governors. He said it and he is right. The last Senator to become President was Kennedy.
“I trust Senator Clinton, but I don’t agree with her on a lot of issues.” Good lines from Richardson. He really is a diplomat. Good work Billy!

Dodd jumps in on the same theme. Chris Dodd talks about his leadership and experience. Leadership, move forward, first bill, name drop, name drop, govern immediately and don’t discount elect ability. All great keywords from Dood, and supported by some solid achievements and real accomplishments. A great stump speech from Dodd. Damn I like that guy more and more.

Back to Edwards and he mentions the fact that they are in Philadelphia and also mentions the Founding Fathers. That was an easy one. Why don’t more of them jump in and do that. I betd Biden does it. I bet he’s thinking: “Damn that pretty boy”. I think I just saw Biden turn around and comb his check hair up out of his shirt. That’s like superman getting into a phonebooth

And now they go to Biden….HA! Nice! Give it to me my man!

Joe Biden:
“I am not running against Hillary Clinton, I am running to be the leader of the free world.”
“Rudy Giuliani, is probably the most under qualified candidate to run for president since George Bush”
“Giuliani only says 3 things: a noun, a verb, and 9-11”
Biden is one-liners gone wild…then he rattles off the rest of his resume…wow.
Biden being Biden. That’s why we love Joe Biden. That’s why he won’t win.

But where is Gravel? Seriously? Did he drop out – or did he just not have the money to buy gas to get to Philly? I hope he shows up – swinging in on a rope from the rafters – dressed like Nacho Libre.

Obama is full of himself. He just keeps talking and talking and talking. Like that Uncle I am dreading to see at Thanksgiving who has a story that is not only better than yours, but longer to tell. Snooze.

One good line from Obama: “We (Obama’s campaign) have been incredibly successful in states where there are not a lot of African Americans, and certainly not a lot of ‘Obamas’s”.

On to another break…..I am taking a break to.

An hour and a half into this thing and they are talking about education…of course it is in the ‘lightening round’.

I love it that our presidential debates take nods from gameshows. Where’s Plinko? Where’s Vana? At least all the answers end in a question.

Chis Dodd is interacting with Clinton. He does it with some class. This is the first time Hillary actually looks rattled. They are arguing about giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. The whole place is putting Hillary on the spot. She does a good job side stepping committing to saying that they are a good idea, instead saying that the Governor of New York did what he thought was best for New York State.

Now we go back to Edwards on a new question, and he takes the opportunity to ….guess…no surprise….attack Hillary….again. He tried to say that she said two different things in two minutes in her answer just now. He is splitting hairs. Wow. Edwards looks desperate in every way. Obama jumps in and says something that sounds profound, but has no meaning…also again. These guys need to get back to their own game plan and stop attacking. It is not going well for them.

On to something a little more interesting:
Koo-Koo-niche saw a UFO at Shirley McLain’s house.
I am not making that up.
Tim Russert just asked Koo-Koo if he saw a UFO.
He says he did.
He says that Jimmy Carter saw a UFO too. (I can only assume not at McLain’s house)
He says that more people have seen UFOs in this country than approve of George Bush’s presidency.

Brian Williams is now asking a question called in from Lance Armstrong. Didn’t Lance Armstrong already ask his cancer question? Does he get to phone one in for every debate? Do you think Johnny one-nut is pissed that his question fits in right behind the UFO question?

We are on to all the fun questions now. Dodd says we should de-criminalize marijuana. Only Edwards jumps in to say he disagrees with making weed legal, because it sends the wrong message to china….I mean children.

Ha. Speaking of China: Question to Biden: Should parents not buy toys from China because of the recent health and safety concerns? Biden says he would shut down all trade with China. He still has not mentioned a Chuck Norris endorsement.

For the last question: To Obama: What will you go as for Halloween: Obama says he may wear a Mitt Romney mask – it of course has two sides.

Alright – I made it thought the whole damn debate so you didn’t have to.

I hope you’ll post your comments below.