Closing Statements/Final Thoughts:

Kerry: If we're supposed to stand up to special interests, does that include People for the American Way, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the radical secularists?

Edwards: A solid statement that unfortunately won't be heard, since he's not playing the George McGovern/Eugene McCarthy game. I can't decide if having that plan he kept referring to as 'written down' is a good thing or not. He's trying to make something of it, so maybe it will.

Sharpton: As always, fiery, but yawn. The vest is a plus, though.

Kucininch: Henry Agard Wallace, call your office---someone's stealing your act.

Braun: She stole Clark's "bait-and-switch" line, and she wants to take the "men only" sign off of the door to the White House. Sorry, hon. That'll happen, but it won't be a woman from your party. This line about being a clear alternative to President Bush 'cause she doesn't look like him is funny.

Dean: Blah blah. I'd like to see how Howard Dean's gonna chase the AFL-CIO and the NEA out of his administration. Special interests my foot.

Clark: My God! It's E.T.! More military metaphors and so forth. Nothing of substance.

Gephardt: Richard Gephardt, you are accused of the public mention of God. How do you plead? It wasn't a bad story, but I doubt full college attendance is going to dominate any future Administration's thinking. Dealing with North Korea and some of the people who want us dead will probably be important.

Lieberman: It's good to hear Democrats talking about the middle class as something other than a target for pillaging. Props for taking aim at Clark, because not everyone's going to tousle the golden general's hair.

To wrap this up, I would almost suggest that Lieberman and Gephardt came away impressing a Republican as credible candidates. Clark doesn't compete on their level, for obvious reasons. That doesn't mean he can't play, it's just a different game he's got to play. Still, Clark's got to get his visual act together---he looked like E.T. tonight, and that's not good. If he's going to play the "I'm the ultimate outsider" game, I think he's got to get better at deploying that when hit with a question like the deficit one. Admittedly, that dimwit moderator didn't help there---Carl Cameron seemed like the only one who had a clue as to how to run a debate.

I think I can see where Dean's appeal comes from and I like standing up for what you believe in, but when what Dean believes in strikes me as so desperately wrong, I don't give much credit. One of the Generally Speaking posters referred to Dean thusly:

Did you all notice how flat the "I'm for the Democratic wing of the Democratic party" and the comment on "standing up for what you believe, even if 70% of the nation doesn't agree with you," fell with the audience?

I think both of these notions ring alarm bells in Dem voters mind. Why? Because he sounds too much like the Democratic version of GW Bush!

There may be truth to that. There's another Weswatch to be written once I get this entered, so keep your eyes peeled.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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