I was a little surprised with the debate last night. I had expected different approaches from a couple of the candidates. First off, I expected Clinton to take a more positive tone, instead she continued to by the voice of negativity. I expected Edwards to be a little more aggressive against Obama, but to his credit he was very much in league with Obama, and even defended him against Clinton.Â
The debate itself was pretty heated, and I was especially disturbed to hear a couple comments from Clinton that were beyond her normal tactics. The first insane comment was when she bashed Obama for not being consistent and cited his vote to fund the Iraq war when he had voted against it. I find this especially funny because I clearly remember Jon Stewart thinking it was funny when her and John Kerry did the opposite of voting to have a war, and then voting to not fund it. So I guess what Senator Clinton is saying is that we should send our troops into combat, but not provide them with what they need. This is a popular Clinton approach from the previous Clinton administration, as those who can recall Mogadishu will remember.
The second bizarre attack from Clinton came at Edwards who had just said that one of his proudest moments in Senate was co-authoring the “patients bill of rights†with Senators McCaine and Kennedy. He seemed especially proud to point out that this was not a sole accomplishment, but a bipartisan piece of legislation.
Senator Clinton felt compelled to point out that it was killed, and even went so far as to say that may have been partially to blame for the death of Natalie Sarkisyan. Sen. Clinton seemed to think that this was pointing out John Edwards weakness in getting the job done. But I seem to remember Hillary Clinton had her own health care bill that she was unable to push forward, even when he husband was the president.
These types of irresponsible attacks from Senator Clinton simply won’t work in a primary election. While in a general election you will have more ignorance from voters, these are people who care enough to vote in a primary. Therefor they probably care enough to actually think about what she is saying, and compare it with her past record.
Overall I felt that former Senator Edwards won the debate, although my support still goes to Senator Obama. I have never been a supporter of Hillary Clinton, and until recently I felt amazed that everyone didn’t see her for what she really is, a career politician who will say whatever people want to hear so that she can get into office. But lately it seems that message is coming through loud and clear. The more pressure she feels, the more negative she gets. I do wonder if I’m alone in finding irony in that a woman from her generation is now touting experience over optimism, and using terms like “words don’t matter†. That’s a long way from the baby boomer hippy she portrayed herself as being back when her husband was running for office. As Senator Edwards said, she was become the agent not of change, but of “status quo†.
The last I heard, Obama has gained a 10 point lead over Clinton, showing once again that he is highly electable.
[tags]hillary clinton, barack obama, john edwards, new hampshire, debate[/tags]
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