Tag: debates

(photo: Alex Wong)

Just off the top of my head…

• It’s notable that Hillary Clinton was the only candidate to bring up LGBT issues at all last night (partly because the topic wasn’t introduced by the moderator) and she did so in the first few minutes of the event in her opening statement.

“This is about bringing our country together again. And I will do everything I can to heal the divides — the divides economically, because there’s too much inequality; the racial divides; the continuing discrimination against the LGBT community…”

• Hillary knew when to not interject and possibly become a target of the discussion, and when to use body language to nod her head in agreement when others were talking – it kept her visually present in the moment.

• Hillary was ready with a strong answer when asked about her vote for the Iraq war: “Well, I recall very well being on a debate stage, I think, about 25 times with then-Sen. Obama debating this very issue. After the election he asked me to become Secretary of State. He valued my judgment and I spent a lot of time with him in the Situation Room going over some very difficult issues.”

• Anderson Cooper was a highlight worth mentioning, also. Strong, prepared, not afraid of clear follow-up questions, he held the candidates to the questions and when needed would circle back after a non-answer: “Senator, you didn’t answer the question,” he said more than once.

• One quibble I had was the tone set at the beginning as he chose to start with questions that, basically, called each candidate out on their weak spots. No problem with those questions, but I thought it began the event with everyone on defense. As a viewer I’d have preferred that line of questions had come later.

• CNN made little use of the secondary moderators leaving little input from the female (Dana Bash), the African-American (Don Lemon) and the Latino (Juan Carlos Lopez) and there didn’t seem to be a good reason. Cooper delivered a strong performance, but perhaps he forgot his colleagues sitting on stage?

• While I realize neither former Sen. Jim Webb nor Gov. Lincoln Chaffee will not be the next Democratic nominee for president, the amount of time afforded them (which Webb openly groused about the entire evening) was unfair. I understand everyone can’t have EXACTLY the same time, but the difference in talk time and questions was vast. Check the table below.

• Sanders can lay claim to the most memorable moment of the evening when he chimed in on the subject of Clinton’s email server woes. “Let me say something that may not be politically smart, but the secretary is right: the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails,” Sanders stated. “Thank you, Bernie, thank you,” Clinton said.

Watch below:

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