Most of us watched the same debates last night and we all saw the same things. Many of us will probably agree on who did well and who didn't, too. At any rate, you'll find my analysis and rankings of the candidates below the fold...
- Hillary Clinton - She came out of this debate the BIG winner. Though she didn't hit any home runs, she didn't need to in order to be the BIG winner. She did exactly what she had to. She consistently made base hits all evening and batted 1.000 doing it. No gaffes, no mistakes, just consistently well thought out answers delivered beautifully. Her answer to the Wal-Mart question was the best of the night from any candidate. She won this debate, and she worked twice as hard doing it as any male on the stage. She's never been my favorite and I've even sworn off voting for her in the GE a time or two, but after last night I'd be more than comfortable giving all my support to her in the GE. To the Republicans who have been wishing she would be the nominee all I can say is, "be VERY VERY careful what you wish for because you might actually get it." She would be a nightmare for any of the Republican candidates to face after he showing last night. She proved beyond even a shadow of a doubt, she is more than capable of being one of the best presidents this nation has ever had. I'd even go so far as to say she's proven she would be better than her husband was. She has also dusted off that mantle of inevitibility once again.
- Barack Obama - No home runs, and that would have been the only way he could have de-throned Hillary as the front runner. I saw strengths becoming weaknesses and weaknesses becoming strengths in his performance last night. One of Obama's greatest strengths is his ability to speak, and much of that comes from his unique vocal characteristics. His voice is powerful, lending strength to whatever he says. This became a weakness for him. Though every candidate fell into the trap of using the word "uh" while formulating thoughts, Barack Obama's strong voice served to underscore every "uh" he uttered throughout the night. He needs to work on this as it is far more noticable than with any other candidate in the field. Obama's greatest weakness, inexperience, became a strength in this debate as it allows him a "gimme" for his poorly formed answer to the terrorism question, which he recoverd from nicely later in the debate. He won't get another in the entire campaign season, so he needs to work on this delivery for the future. His dustup with Dennis Kucinich served him well and his one liner about not nuking anybody during his dustup with Mike Gravel will also be remembered. Overall, he comes in second because he will remain on Hillary's heels after this debate.
- John Edwards - If anybody needed a home run last night it was John Edwards, and it just didn't come. Though his answers were very good, he seemed tired. I suspect of all the candidates, he's under the greatest level of stress and it shows. If the voting public were more thoughtful, most people would see he's holding up incredibly well under extreme conditions and that would be a positive. Unfrotunately, most voters are not that thoughful and Edwards will come off as "tired" to most. Edwards strengths were on display, but he didn't do enough to alter his current position in the race.
- Joe Biden - What can you say. Biden has clearly positioned himself at the top of tier 2 candidates and is prepared to strike should any of the top three stumble. He also gets the award for the most memorable one liner of the night, and that's always good. His was so well done that it will be a sound bite all day today. As was the case with Edwards in 2004, I get the distinct impression Biden is now running for Vice President.
- Chris Dodd - Ho hum. 'Nuff said. He didn't hurt himself and he didn't help himself. He remains unchanged and I suspect he will become the measuring point in the race. Those above him in the field stand a chance. Those below him in the field will drop off as time passes. When Dodd leaves the race, you will know the field is winnowing to the point where we should have a presumptive nominee very soon. He's got a good fund raising operation which should keep him around for a while.
- Bill Richardson - I love the guy, but if I had to pick a candidate who lost the most in this debate, it would have to be Richardson. This was the poorest showing I have ever seen from Richardson and it was so bad, he falls to the bottom of the second tier. He can get himself out of this hole, but it's going to take some real work to do it.
- Dennis Kucinich - Ugh. Okay, he did better than ugh, but mostly because of who is behind him in the pack. Kucinich comes off as at least somewhat legitimate within this debate, though he's still in the third tier. Had he not had the dustup with Obama, I suspect he'd be fighting with Richardson and Dodd to get into the second tier. The dustup gave a win to Obama and harmed Kucinich's credibility, however. I'd love to see Cheney impeached, but the responses last night show that introduction of Articles of impeachment against Cheney is politically premature right now. More of the nastiness needs to be exposed before it's a viable option. His position remains unchanged, though he does now have an air of legitimacy about him, and that's a solid performance for Kucinich.
- Mike Gravel - "Hey you kids, get outta my yard!!!" Gravel comes off as the "crotchety old fart" in the field of candidates. During the post debate interviews, I half expected him to challenge Chris Matthews to a dual (and apparently, so did Keith Olbermann with his Zell Miller snark). Gravel has some good points. He makes Kucinich more legitimate and that makes every other candidate take a step to the left. This is good in the primaries and I hope Gravel stays in the race a while longer so he can be on stage in at least a couple more debates.
The best part of the debate - None of the top tier attacked anybody. This is incredibly important. The field looks very unified and on message with the real differences being nuances of policy, which will ultimately lead to an incredibly good candidate being presented in the General Election. If we see the GOP debates become a free for all of each candidate talking over the others, the Democrats will be positioned very far ahead of the Republicans. I hope they keep up the civility. No matter what, if we keep from eating our own, we win.
So there you are, my take on the debates. What's your take?