I almost skipped watching last night’s debate of Democratic presidential candidates, but I tuned in anyway, assuming that the one debate I failed to watch would be the one with the most excitement. Alas, I was mistaken.
Nevertheless, I think Kerry had the best performance of the nine candidates. He showed flashes of humor and substance, and responded well to rivals’ attacks. When Gwen Ifill asked how Kerry would dispel the impression that he’s a “Northeastern, liberal elitist,” Kerry said, “Wait until you see my video, Kerry Gone Wild.” Cute.
Kerry also excelled in personal exchanges. When Lieberman criticized his vote on Bush’s request for $87 billion in Iraq, Kerry went for the jugular. “Well, Joe, I have seared in me an experience which you don’t have, and that’s the experience of being one of those troops on the front lines when the policy has gone wrong,” Kerry said. You could almost hear Lieberman wince.
Likewise, Kerry clearly won an exchange with Dean over foreign policy. Dean noted, for example, that he has as much foreign policy experience as George W. Bush did in 2000. Dean added that he can be trusted on foreign policy matters because he’ll surround himself with smart advisors. Kerry pounced.
“I also must say, as I listen to Governor Dean, I’m not sure, if I were he, I’d want to use George Bush as a reverence for a governor becoming president without foreign-policy experience,” Kerry said to audience laughter. Kerry added, “We’re electing a president of the United States, not a staff. And we need to elect a president who has the judgment to do this.” Good point.
A few other random thoughts from the debate:
* Lieberman has positioned himself nicely as “Candidate most likely to get smacked by one of his opponents.” Not only did he attack nearly all of the serious candidates, he did so early and often. Some of his criticisms were cheap shots, including a comment towards the end when he said, “[N]obody’s used the reference ‘Bush lite’ to me since Wes Clark became a Democrat and got into this presidential race.” To Clark’s credit, he didn’t take the bait. In fact, Clark stayed above the fray the whole debate, refusing to engage in petty fights against his rivals.
* Kucinich continues to go after Dean more aggressively than anyone else. I think Kucinich is kind of jealous — anti-war liberals, he believes, should be flocking to him, not Dean. He complained last night about a Dean television ad that criticizes his “opponents” for supporting the war resolution in Congress, which Kucinich feels is unfair because he voted against it. Dean, unfortunately, couldn’t say what he was thinking — the ad refers to Dean’s real opponents.
* Edwards usually comes across pretty well in these debates, but he got himself into some trouble last night. Carl Cameron, one of the journalists on the panel, raised a tough but fair question about the Patriot Act, asking Edwards why he voted for a law that empowered John Ashcroft with so much latitude. Edwards said, “[T]he attorney general of the United States came before us and told us that he would not abuse his discretion. He has abused his discretion.” In other words, Edwards trusted Ashcroft enough to grant him enormous authority and now he’s just shocked that Ashcroft has abused that authority. Not only was this the wrong message, Edwards came across looking rather foolish.
* Clark got the chance to respond indirectly to charges that he’s been too supportive of Bush policies in the past and he handled it well. “I’m a fair person and when this administration’s done something right, well, if they were Russians doing something right, Chinese doing something right, French doing something right or even Republicans doing something right, I’m going to praise them,” he said to audience laughter. Clark added, “I support them for what they did right, and I condemn them for what they did wrong.”
* If you were tuning in from another country, and you had no idea about which candidates were ahead in the polls or had the most money, you’d swear Al Sharpton was the frontrunner. No one enjoyed more sustained applause.
* Bill Clinton continues to be the star of the show. At one point, Kerry mentioned Clinton’s name four times in a single, one-minute statement. A few minutes later, Gephardt mentioned Clinton three times in a single response. Clinton’s name was also cited favorably last night by Dean, Edwards, and Lieberman.
* Gephardt used the same borrowed line as the last debate. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If you want to live like a Republican, you better vote for the Democrats,” he said. It’s a great applause line, but he really should credit Harry Truman, who came up with it over 50 years ago.
* It was hard not to respect Kerry’s closing statement, which he devoted to addressing the issue of gun control and gun safety. Noting that the Washington Post ran a front page article yesterday explaining how and why the Dem Party was avoiding the gun issue, Kerry said, “I don’t think that we can get elected nationally if we are not prepared to stand up against powerful special interests and make it clear that, whether it’s the NRA or any other special interest, we’re prepared to stand for our principles. All across this country, we have too many people who die each year from guns. So let me make it plain: I am for the assault weapons ban. I’m for the Brady Bill. I’m for making sure we stand up for gun safety in this country. We cannot be a party that retreats in an effort to try to court votes and not save lives.”
This statement worked on multiple levels. First, it gave Kerry a chance to connect with the Detroit audience where gun crimes are too common. Two, it allowed Kerry to diffuse the perception that he’s unwilling to take bold stands on controversial issues. Three, Kerry was addressing an issue that used to be a core Dem issue that most candidates won’t touch. And four, it was a subtle reminder that the frontrunner for the nomination — Dean — not only opposes gun control, but has bragged for years about his A rating from the NRA.