“‘Knowing love I shall allow all things to come and go to be as supple as the wind and take everything that comes with great courage’ – This was my promise to Dennis during our marriage ceremony, knowing the beauty and enormity of the path of our life that lay ahead.” – Elizabeth Harper Kucinich, Wife of Presidential Nominee Dennis Kucinich.

Anyone that took the time to play the ’04 election game Political Machine during the last Presidential election will be familiar with the internet interview. Your candidate, in the course of seeking our nation’s highest office, is occasionally given the opportunity to meet with an internet talk show. During this show the candidate is often asked absurd questions.

A similar program ran on CNN tonight—but due to network reviews managed to produce often strong questions in innovative ways.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-0BPnnvI47Q

I came away from the debate feeling pretty comfortable with the final product. It seemed as though a lot of the questions asked were ones you’d heard before, but they had a different tinge to them when coming from the mouth of a private citizen—or snowmen.

Particularly entertaining was how the candidates reacted to the question of global warming. All the candidates were quick to talk about what needed to be done to address the issue but it was when Anderson Cooper followed up by asking how many of them took private jets to be present at the debate that the candidates looked guilty and slowly raised their hands.

Cooper was very impressive during the debate, trying hard to keep the candidates on topic when they addressed the questions and being able to maintain order on stage. It was Anderson Cooper’s wit that got laughs from me particularly at the end of the debate when the candidates were asked to say something nice about the person to their left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLYRwEmY09M

The responses were pretty tame. Joe Biden had Dennis Kucinich to his left and quipped that the thing he liked most about Kucinich was his wife, agreed! Of course Dennis then had the opportunity to say something nice about the person to his left, but pointed out that there was no one to his left to compliment. Anderson Cooper shined here, quickly replying “Well we looked, but it’s quite difficult to find somebody to the left of you”. Loved it.

Immediate reports following the debate showed Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton as the top dogs of this YouTube foray and I’d be inclined to agree. While Dennis Kucinich scored some points from me tonight (even though I think he’s crazy) by calling Barack Obama out on his continued demand that he be recognized for his never wanting to enter the Iraq War. Kucinich of course responded with the following…

I introduced a plan four years ago, Anderson, that was a full plan to remove our troops. I’m the only one on this stage – (Barack starts to speak) excuse me — who not only voted against this war, but voted against funding the war.

It is not credible to say you oppose the war from the start when you voted to fund it 100 percent of the time, 70 percent, 5 percent of the time. Let’s get real about this war. Let’s get those troops home and let’s take a stand and do it now. Send a message to Congress now.
-Debate Transcript

Kucinich encouraged watchers to send a text message to P-E-A-C-E and bring our troops home now. I dropped him a line. I want to end the war. I sent a text to 73223. I got a response asking me to head over to www.textkucinich.us and offering me an opportunity to be kept up to date on the Kucinich campaign with regular messages. I felt I needed to pass on this great opportunity. If I get one more e-mail from Barack Obama I will be forced to kill again and I don’t want little Denny Kucinich to be the guy to push me over the edge.

My best friend also saw fit to toss ten bucks to Obama awhile back. Her reward? Every time that blocked number flashes across her screen she feels a hit to her wallet. He’s just so hopeful… You don’t want to disappoint a guy like that!

Not that we haven’t tried to push the poor man’s self esteem down the drain. Commonly believed to be too inexperienced to take office, Barack Obama has also been told he isn’t black enough to be President. He isn’t black enough to be President. The only black guy running for President is not black enough to be President. He gives up serious black points to Senator Edwards, Edwards of course growing up in North Carolina while Barack is himself still able to point out on a map where his ancestors in Africa are from and is therefore not subject to as much discrimination as Senator Clinton. A man with a blacker name than me is not black enough. Does the black vote even matter to the Democrats? I thought they took it for granted anyway.

In the end the biggest winner was Hillary. The biggest winner that doesn’t matter was Richardson. The biggest loser was Senator Obama who continues to look confident but can’t gain the ground needed to force himself into that number one position. The biggest loser that doesn’t matter was Joe Biden who ceded his position as the candidate you wish could win to another smiling face behind a podium.

Winners, losers, and something in between…

Winners

Hillary Clinton-
Hillary came into the debate (as she does every debate) with the lead. She stood in the middle and set the tone. She makes everyone around her look like an amateur. When Anderson Cooper asks her “Do you consider yourself a liberal?” and she responds that she’s a “modern progressive” then has everyone except crazy Mike Gravel and liberal Dennis Kucinich piggy back it–she’s emitting leader rays the likes of which these eyes haven’t seen since…well since that Republican debate when McCain started standing during the town hall portion of the debate and everyone else mimicked him. She walks into these events in control and doesn’t falter. It’s her election to lose and she doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of burning out, she’s the winner.

Bill Richardson-
Richardson was endearing and cocky. He’s been going into these things with this “I’m a racial icon and a former governer!” perspective that I’ve been hesitant to accept. Richardson came away looking like he had a good sense of humor and a little bit of intelligence. Bill won this debate simply because he finally decided to stop losing them, it’s a win compared to what he’s been doing before not an actual win.

Could Go Either Way

John Edwards-
Edwards wants to breakthrough and become the number one candidate and sometimes he does come close. Everytime Edwards says “healthcare” he gets a leader point. Sadly healthcare is a big issue but not the biggest issue and Edwards doesn’t shine on anywhere else. He tends to walk the party line in a bland and forgetable way on every other issue. Actually he likes to stumble around gay marriage rather than taking a position and defending it. He hurts himself as much as he helps himself. Honestly, if he wasn’t my pick for President he’d probably be in the loser section.

Dennis Kucinich-
No one gives this guy a chance. In a decade he’ll be Ralph Nadering it up-maybe sooner than later. It was during this debate that Kucinich was the brightest star in the crazy liberal sky. Dennis was liberal, but approachable. I could see myself voting for him during this debate. This is a big moment for me, I really loath crazy liberals. Kucinich was charming and combatative. Scoring an “ehh” performance is pretty respectable when its Dennis Kucinich.

Losers

Barack Obama-
Barack Obama will not disappear. The average American is aware of two candidates, Hillary and Barack. If you look long enough someone is usually aware of the clean cut white boy from North Carolina. His debate performances are pretty hit or miss. It doesn’t matter if the guy dodges a question as long as he dodges it without making it obvious. He dodged well when crazy Mike Gravel brought up his campaign contributions. If you poke Barack he can poke back. Sadly he doesn’t champion any causes, he doesn’t swing at Edwards or Clinton. He comes out of every debate looking like he’s in over his head when compared to the front runner. I wish he’d waited a term or two before running, hopefully he ends up running as the VEEP so he can make a serious run for the White House in 2016.

Chris Dodd-
Chris Dodd was a ghost during this debate. He was forgetable and the result is that he was forgotten. My college mentor was actually a staffer for Dodd back in the early nineties. Like most senators (in my belief) he’s supposedly a stand up guy.

Joe Biden-
Senator Biden looks to be burning out. He was seriously challenging to break into the top 3 earlier in the year. Now the guy fades as he shows his age during these debates. He can make solid points (though he didn’t have many during this debate) and he can drag weak ones on a little too long (the guy referring to his gun as “baby” was a freak, didn’t need Biden to say it six different ways). He continues to be a candidate that could have run the table if he were a decade younger, or at least could keep up the act.

Mike Gravel-
Gravel is angry, yelling, passionate and confrontational. He doesn’t climb the ladder, he just comes off as crazy. I wish I could say that it was just the way he was being portrayed. The guy makes occasionally solid points with a curmudgeonly edge and they tend to get glossed over while he fumes.

If you missed the debate, it’s available at http://www.youtube.com/debates.

Cedric King writes frequently for his personal blog here. You can e-mail him at LCKv3D@gmail.com or take AIM at LCKv4.

Last 5 posts by Cedric King

• MCS: Congressional Approval Ratings - September 18th, 2007
• MCS: Thinking About 9/11 - September 11th, 2007
• MCS: Bin Laden's Message - September 8th, 2007
• MCS: States Aren't Humans - August 22nd, 2007
• MCS: Acting Affirmatively Toward Racial Inequality - August 7th, 2007