tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719252574677567989.post557949995792678242..comments2024-03-26T05:22:08.256-04:00Comments on Frontloading HQ: The Electoral College Maps (4/16/08)Josh Putnamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06301836432446874997noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719252574677567989.post-32349199279535484982008-04-17T08:56:00.000-04:002008-04-17T08:56:00.000-04:00I don't know, Rob. Yes, Clinton "won" the debate*...I don't know, Rob. Yes, Clinton "won" the debate*, but Obama survived without digging a deeper hole for himself. He is in a position now with his argument of changing the "politics of distraction" that Clinton has been in playing the gender card and crying. He can't overuse it (whether he thinks its the right angle to take or not).<BR/><BR/>And while Clinton won, she has to do more than that; she has to change the outlook of the race. And it remains to be seen whether she went beyond just winning last night. My take is that she didn't. Her solid performance was in the policy arena and voters expect her to be good there. Chris Cillizza over at <A HREF="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/04/keystone_kerfuffle_first_thoug.html" REL="nofollow">The Fix</A> brought this up in his post-debate reaction. He cites the LA Time/Bloomberg poll of PA, NC and IN voters who perceive Clinton to be the better candidate on policy, but opt for Obama anyway.<BR/><BR/>*These proceedings are really wins for McCain. The more time the Democrats spend answering questions about guns, lapel pins and members of the Weather Underground, the more ammunition they willingly hand over to McCain and the "Republican attack machine". Both Obama and Clinton seem to be aware of this, but the fight continues.<BR/><BR/><I>I'm going to move this into its own post and see who else weighs in.</I>Josh Putnamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06301836432446874997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719252574677567989.post-1399384039571485572008-04-17T07:45:00.000-04:002008-04-17T07:45:00.000-04:00Josh,She got the question you predicted (on trust)...Josh,<BR/><BR/>She got the question you predicted (on trust) and one of the ones I mentioned (on guns), but she can't complain that he is being pampered by the media. It seems to me that Stephanopolous had a conflict of interest. For years we have heard about the revolving door between government (particularly civil servants) and industry leading to favorable treatment of big business. I think it is time to look at the revolving door between Congress and the Executive branch and network news. It is one thing to be a pundit on election night or a talk show, but it is entirely different being a questioner in a debate. I understand that the frontrunner gets more scrutiny than the runerup, but I think this was the most slanted questionning of a candidate in a debate I can recall.<BR/><BR/>Clinton clearly won the debate. Obama looked bad. Clinton looked good when she answered the questions asked, but she may have overplayed her hand when she piled on after Obama stumbled. It will be interesting to see if the debate makes any difference in PA. The trend this year has been the person that gets beat up is the person who does best in the next primary. We'll know more next Wednesday morning.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379192575044761972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719252574677567989.post-72341430331365929412008-04-16T17:53:00.000-04:002008-04-16T17:53:00.000-04:00It is amazing to me, that despite all of the pound...It is amazing to me, that despite all of the pounding Obama is taking, that he is still holding his own, even improving his situation relative to Clinton.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379192575044761972noreply@blogger.com