April 26, 2007
Liveblogging The First Democratic Debate
End note. The candidates are expanding on the points they wanted to make, live on MSNBC. The network's Web site has reaction from Chuck Todd, formerly of our sister publication, the Hotline. WashingtonPost.com's The Fix, NYTimes.com's The Caucus and CNN.com's Political Ticker have more assessments of the candidates' performance.
8:30. It's all over but the crying. Despite the organizers' efforts to give each candidate equal time, just a few seized the opportunity to really assert themselves tonight: Obama, Clinton and Gravel. Gravel was a stronger voice for the disenchanted left than Kucinich -- probably, in fairness, due to his booming voice. Somewhat surprisingly, Dodd, Edwards and Richardson didn't have much of a presence. But does it really matter? Probably not as much as the commentators think. Everyone gets multiple opportunities for do-overs in this very loaded debate season, so long as they have the political support -- and money -- to hang in the race.
Just six (at last count) more of these to go.
8:25. Clinton is caught in the middle, by virtue of her placement on the stage, of a spat between Obama and Kucinich that illustrates why the Ohio representative, who advocates a Department of Peace, is unlikely to catch fire with voters: the very real threat of violent Islamic radicals and WMD proliferation. It's also Obama's chance to try and prove he has the backbone to be president, explaining to Kucinich in a back-and-forth why all options must be on the table when it comes to Iran and nuclear weapons.
8:22. And the winner of the personality contest is... Mike Gravel. The audience seems tickled by him.
8:14. The candidates have been asked how they would respond if the nation was hit with another major terrorist attack, and some, Obama in particular, seem visibly nervous as they answer. Security remains the Achilles' heel of the party, and the result is most of the answers conform with how the Bush administration responded to 9/11, save one important exemption, the war in Iraq.
8:10. Another show-of-hands question: "Who believes there is such a thing as a global war on terror?" Nearly all palms go up. Asked why his didn't, Kucinich says the world needs to get rid of all its nuclear weapons and that the "world is waiting for an American president who reaches out in a hand of friendship."
8:05. Gravel notes that the United States spends more on defense than all other nations combined, and asks, "Who are we afraid of?" Then he adds that the "military industrial complex" controls "our culture."
8:03. We're on to the non-Iraq foreign policy section of the debate, Williams says.
Biden says the biggest threat to the U.S. other than Iraq is North Korea, followed by Iran and Vladimir Putin's Russia. He advocates "conduct change" over regime change.
Obama uses the opportunity to clarify a statement he made that's also an example of the kind of gotcha politics we will undoubtedly see more of this cycle. Asked about his statement that "no one is suffering more than the Palestinian people," Obama explains that the sentence ended with "from the failure of the Palestinian leadership to recognize Israel."
8:00. Williams on the time shortage: "There's no such thing as one sentence with this crowd."
7:55. The candidates are asked to name their biggest personal or professional mistake of the past four years. Dodd and Edwards name their vote for the war, Biden says it was "overestimating the competence of this administration, Obama says it was not standing up to a bill allowing the federal government to intrude in right-to-die matters, and Clinton says, "I don't have enough time."
7:50. Richardson: "I deal with almost everything you ask of a chief executive." That's a reminder of why he is considered a possible dark horse in the race.
7:48. Clinton: "I'm ready to try again" on her first lady-era health care initiative.
7:40. Asked if the federal government failed the students at Virginia Tech, Clinton says, "Yes." Richardson gets into the issue of mental health treatment in America, and says there needs to be "parity" with the treatment of physical ailments.
Everyone is running long -- no surprise since they were given only 60 seconds to answer questions. Williams asks for a show of hands on whether the candidates have ever had guns in their household: Gravel, Biden, Dodd, Kucinich and Richardson raise theirs. Biden: "It was a shotgun, not a pistol."
7:38. Williams is asking about the recent Supreme Court decision outlawing a form of abortion, and now we're hearing the new language on the debate: less "a woman's right," more "a very difficult issue." Edwards advocates listening and respecting other viewpoints, and reaffirms his pro-choice status. Kucinich paints the issue as about privacy, while Dodd says he doesn't regret his vote to confirm Chief Justice John Roberts but is "terribly disappointed" in the decision.
7:30. Here is the moment all long-shot candidates live for, and all top-tier candidates fear.
Gravel: Some of these people frighten me!
Williams: Who worries you?
Gravel: All the top-tier ones!
Good for the first solid laugh of the evening -- including from the targets, Clinton and Obama. Kucinich looks at Gravel with something resembling admiration. Then, Gravel continues pounding on those around him, accusing them of advocating the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons. (As far as I know, no one up there has done that.) Then Gravel invokes Vietnam, and things quickly turn serious. "You know what's worse than a soldier dying in vain? It's more soldiers dying in vain!"
7:20. Here's the $400 haircut question, courtesy of Brian Williams. Edwards responds with an anecdote about his humble childhood as the son of a mill worker.
7:15. Dodd says that the Iraqi people need to take more responsibility for their stability and security, and says Washington should be engaging in "more robust diplomacy" -- likely a comment directed at the White House for refusing to talk to Syria and Iran about their troubled neighbor.
Next up is Gravel, the most obscure candidate on the stage and so far the most fiery. "This war was lost the day George Bush invaded this country on a fraudulent basis," he nearly shouts. He advocates binding legislation on Iraq "making it a felony to stay there." He continues along the same vein as Kucinich: "Let the American people see clearly who's keeping the war going and who's not."
7:11. Kucinich calls out his rivals for compromising on a troop pullout, and tells them that by funding the war at all, "You're reauthorizing it all over again." He points out that Congress "is under no obligation to give George Bush any money at all."
7:08. There's a Clinton in the house, so references to "honesty" and "integrity" can't be far behind. Edwards, more than any of the big players, has been perceived at taking digs at the New York senator on character. Williams asks if that's been his intention, and Edwards denies it. Then he adds, "I think it's important for the president to be straightforward and honest."
Next up is Clinton, who repeats her "if I knew then what I know now" explanation for her vote authorizing the war, then says everyone should be more focused on "What do we do now?" In other words, let's move on.
7:06. Biden fronts his plan to decentralize Iraq and give the three rival factions there -- Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis -- their own sovereign territory. "The president better get on the game plan here or he's just going to drag this out to the point where it's unrecognizable."
Brian Williams asks Obama if his characterization of the Iraq war as "dumb" wasn't insulting to the troops. Obama responds that it wasn't, and adds, "I am proud I opposed this war from the start."
7:05. Clinton is "very proud of the Congress" for their efforts on the Iraq war funding bill. Is that phrasing a way to avoid saying she wants the troops out?
7:02. The order in which the eight candidates appear on stage was picked at random and wasn't known until now; from left to right: Richardson, Dodd, Edwards, Biden, Obama, Clinton, Kucinich, Gravel. Earlier, Chris Matthews wondered what would happen if Clinton and Obama were positioned next to each other. Not sure what he expected the answer to be -- a fistfight? -- but we'll see soon enough.
6:50. Welcome to The Gate's liveblog coverage of the first presidential candidates debate. Up first, the Democrats, who have convened in the key primary state of South Carolina. Tonight will be the first time front-runners Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama directly engage each other before a national audience, and much has been made of that. And then there's John Edwards, the South Carolina native who's gathered some momentum in recent weeks and has been steadily working the top primary states longer than his rivals.
But let's not count out the rest of the field: Joseph Biden, Christopher Dodd, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson. In fact, let's take that last point to heart: NationalJournal.com isn't in the kingmaking business, so every effort will be made to give consideration to each contender, no matter how much of a long shot their political aspirations may seem. After all, at this very early stage of the election cycle, running to win and running to make a statement may be comparably significant.
Stay tuned...
