2008 Primaries Thread

One area where I think Obama is winning tonight is that he's very aggressively road-testing his messages against John McCain. I think the meta-message is that he's better positioned to oppose him.

Obama's fumbling now. This is all air.

yeah 'i will be most effective going up against john mccain' - what does that even mean?!

'i opposed this war' - it's like hes saying NOTHING

I disagree. That's exactly his selling point. He needs to drive that home.

"There you go again"

big o calls the repubs iraq strategy "fuzzy" - nice

daniel i think that works in both their favors -- as long as stories about john mccain are being told, by them, on this stage, it sets the narrative up for either of them to tee up on

CHILLS

i was j/k-ing daniel esq

I guess we shouldn't make too much of this audience, which are going to clap like seals at any left-liberal one liner if it reminds them of Aaron Sorkin.

Understood, ethan.

WE'RE HAVING SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME

"iraqis have to get serious" hahaha

yeah who do these liberals think they are, applauding liberal policy ideas from a future president

lol at all the dumb-ass NASA questions getting ignored

As good a writer as Obama is, I can't FATHOM how he can't cite geopolitical data like HRC did re Syria and Jordan to support his foreign policy.

haha I love that they're bringing up "100 years" as often as possible

As good a writer as Obama is, I can't FATHOM how he can't cite geopolitical data like HRC did re Syria and Jordan to support his foreign policy.

He's less wonky and specific, Alfred, but he's plenty wonky and can be very specific. And this is his best debate, by far (of those I've seen).

100 years + 'i will hate gooks as long as i live' needs to be a moveon.org ad like now

obama is ultra-sharp; just because he isnt saying what you in particular want to hear doesnt mean he's not totally on his game

he was um-ing and uh-ing a lot at the start but now hes killing it

though im tired as all the people hes met at townhall meetings

i know the "we" thing is part of his whole campaign but, like, dude, we get it, you met a bunch of people who embody every policy issue ok

100 years + 'i will hate gooks as long as i live' needs to be a moveon.org ad like now

Sadly, I think this line helps McCain. I would stay away from this one.

good answer

(Obama)

yeah i kinda agree with daniel on this one, along the lines of trying to knock bush for being to everyman

surge: demolished

Rhetorically, "ums" and "ohs" are only a problem if they're used to fill gaps of silence. That isn't how Obama uses those verbal crutches.

Don't worry: He's a far more dynamic speaker than the GOP nominee will be.

will Blitzer ask them what exactly they intend to in Afghanistan?

jesus christ wulf blitzer

yeah, voters just want a guy they can get a beer & hate gooks with

they keep citing Afghanistan as a failure -- what would they do?

hey maybe they'll talk about it lol

good answer, Hils.

obama needs to say that he DID anticipate how fucked-up the war should be

this is a huge hole in the clinton candidacy

hey wait its 9:30 isnt this over

yeah, this all comes across was pretty terrible waffling

uh xp

Yeah, I don't think her answer here is very powerful.

wait what just happened?? why are they booing???

Obama needs to arguge that his background makes him a more credible anti-Islamic terror candidate than HRC.

wolf said "so did you just say you were naive in trusting the president" or some shit

wolf bloltzer

xp

he tried to nail her by asking if she was naive in trusting bush's case for war

xp

Big problems for HRC on this point. She won't have the clean debate with McCain that Obama will. And McCain will try to hug her on this point and blur distinctions.

i don't think it's a huge hole in her campaign for her to say she trusted bush not to be a deranged war freak

how awesome that blitzer is the first to get booed

Ohhhhhhhh. Advantage: Obama.

Obama nees to tell this Hollywood-lefty crowd, "These terrorists hate fags and secularists like you. This adminstration's no better. Let's come together!"

also barack is making this distinction without looking like an asshole

xxxxp