The Day After ... Around The Debate-Go-Round

Well, it's the Day After, the, what should be, final Democratic debate of this campaign season (God, it better be!) and the sky hasn't fallen ...

Unless you happen to be Hillary Clinton.

No the sky hasn’t fallen, but the clouds are getting darker, getting bigger, almost shouting out that there ain't gonna be much, or any, sunshine for quite some time.

The Garlic weighed in on the debate last evening, shortly after it, and it was late evening, so links to other takes and reviews were sparse.

So, still dragging, with the ol' energy tank running low (and now, on top of other duties, dogsitting has been added to the list), we go with a look around the World Wide Web, a spin Around The Blogosphere, to offer you what else is being said, were the chips lie, if you will, as to the big finale last evening, between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama

Grab a cup of coffee, or cocktail, and enjoy!

Allasandra Stanley, in the NYT, offers that "for the rest of the evening, the MSNBC debate did look a bit like the “S.N.L.” parody", while The Carpetbagger Report asks "Cleveland rocks? Clinton, Obama spar, but did they connect?" ...

Joe Gandelman, over on The Moderate Voice has a nice round-up of his own ...

As to the storm clouds referenced above, Maureen Dowd writes "By threatening to throw the kitchen sink at Obama, the Clinton campaign simply confirmed the fact that they might be going down the drain", and this;

"Actually it’s not forgotten. It’s a hard sell for Hillary to say that she is the only one capable of leading this country in a war when she helped in leading the country into that war. Or to paraphrase Obama from the debate here, the one who drives the bus into the ditch can’t drive it out."

Ouch!

Noam Scheiber, on The New Republic wasn't overly impressed either - "On the other hand, the whole rationale for Clinton is that she's uniquely ready to deal with whatever comes her way. She almost literally stated that tonight, but she didn't do a great job demonstrating it."

But, for you Hillary fans, fear not, Taylor Marsh, on The Huffington Post, has the Hillary Orchestra playing at full volume, in her post "Obama Blows his 'Sister Soujah' Moment";

"After a year in the primary season, Hillary Clinton has found her theme: I'm a fighter ... So the winner in political terms was Clinton, because she found her theme and it fits ... Take away of the night: Clinton, the fighter. That's for sure."

Yeah, The Garlic noticed the redundant "fighter" theme from Hillary, and this was our take-away;

"Hillary blathered on about being a "fighter" so much, so often, I half expected Burgess Meredith to come rambling out on the stage and grouch "Ya need a manager!" ... Then it's quick cut to Hillary running around Cleveland at dawn and punching sides of beef ..."

Ahhh, moving on ,,,

The Los Angeles Times, and also Jeralyn, on Firedoglake, focus in on the Obama-Farakhan, "was it enough" meme, which was one of the hotter items on the blogosphere ... It's almost played out that they have to dun Obama on something, so this is it ... It appears, anything short of going Yakuza, and cutting of a finger to prove his integrity, doesn't make it ...

Prairie Weather has, perhaps, the shortest post on the debate but it's on the money - "It's Al Gore's fault".

Another On-The-Money post comes from Brilliant at Breakfast;

"The kids and novices and bloggers of the Dean candidacy are now far more savvy about Washington and the media and the existing horserace infrastructure surrounding this exercise we go through every four years. Since 2004, they've helped to elect Senators and Congresspeople. This winter bloggers have helped topple a corporatist Congressman whom Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer strongly supported, and now Donna Edwards is in all likelihood going to Congress in Maryland's 4th district.

The problem was never with building a war chest fifty bucks at a time and putting a bat up on your web site, it was sheer inexperience. Add to that maturity and experience a candidate to whom young voters relate, one who's intelligent, charismatic, and very much like the very same biracial people prevalent in their circles, and you have a campaign that may have to tap its donors multiple times, but that offers the kind of free foot soldiers that allow you to manage money more effectively. Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson can't BUY viral video like this"

And, lastly, Barry Crimmins hits us with a punishing, scolding piece of satire - Advise To Youth;

"Hey you kids, sit up straight and pay attention! I'm telling you this for your own good and not because I like the sound of my own voice. Get off the campaign trail! It's dangerous for children. So quit volunteering for Barack Obama! Stop joining hands with strangers at those giant events! You don't know where their hands have been But I do. They have been in dirty, dirty places. And stop turning out so many voters!"

Read it, it's hysterical!


A Few More Links

NYT Transcript - The Democratic Debate in Cleveland

Candidates go on the attack in Ohio showdown; Clinton seeks to slow Obama’s momentum in debate on MSNBC

Katharine Q. Seelye/The Caucus: The Last Waltz? The Democratic Debate in Cleveland

Marc Copper: Hillary's Ignominious Finale

Top Ten Cloves: Ways To Liven Up The Democrats' Debate This Evening

News Item: Obama, Clinton set for one-on-one face off

10. Set new rules - Since the debate is in Hollywood, make Hillary and Obama give their answers in David Mamet dialogue

9. Announce ahead of time to the audience, a secret word and then, when Hillary or Obama says it, a cartoon of a duck with a cigar drops from the ceiling with $100 bill for them

8. With work slowed down due to the Writer's Strike, pitch in and allow stand-ins and stunt-doubles during the debate

7. Make it interactive, since it's at the Kodak Theatre, and allow regular people on stage during the debate, to snap photos, capturing their "Kodak Moment"

6. If the debate is close, as a tie-breaker, announce whoever can name the most stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame will be declared the winner

5. To ensure a bevy of YouTube posts, have them take hits of helium before, and during, the debate

4. Being that both going to do a lot of spinning, instead of chairs, tables or podiums, place Hillary and Obama for the debate in one of those giant teacups from Disneyland

3. Hire a couple of seat-fillers from the Academy Awards and toss a few questions at them

2. To eliminate the bickering, set it up like the gameshow "Twenty-One", and put Hillary and Obama in soundproofs booths so they can't hear each others answers

1. Get things settled this evening - Have them arm-wrestle for the delegates from Florida and Michigan


Bonus Debate Riffs

Riding The Woody Allen Train To Last Night's MSNBC Democrat Debate

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard At Democratic Candidates Debate

Barry Crimmins Is Rolling ... Snake Eyes!














To eliminate the bickering, set it up like the gameshow "Twenty-One", and put Hillary and Obama in soundproofs booths so they can't hear each others answers

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard At Democratic Candidates Debate

News Item: Setting the Stage: The First Democratic Presidential Debate

10. What time does 'Grey's Anatomy' come on?

9. If Dodd doesn't make it, he can always get work as ''The Man from Glad'

8. Please, please, please ... It's South Carolina ... No Confederate Flag questions tonight

7. Gee, I thought Brian Williams would be taller

6. Bill Richardson, if he feels like taking a night off, can always pull in the actor Oliver Platt to sub for him, they look so much alike

5. Thank God MSNBC fired that Rita Cosby - Man, it would be torture to have her badgering us after this thing

4. What do I do if, in his rebuttal, Obama asks me how many times I was on Imus's show?

3. Stifle urges to do any "IED" jokes, like that jerk McCain did the other night

2. I hope I can get out of here tonight without getting placed on Keith Olbermann's Worst Person In The World

1. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Kucinich as the one to turn and say "Hillary, you ignorant slut!"

Separated At Birth?