NH Dem Debate Live Blog 2
10:55pm: Quick take on the winners and losers: Hillary Clinton probably turned in her worst performance to date. That's not to say she made any major mistakes or flubbed any questions but she did not turn in the commanding performance we've become accustomed to. She let attacks on her Iran vote today go largely unanswered and overall seemed more robotic and less responsive than usual. Still, nothing that is likely to cause her campaign any major headaches.
Barack Obama and John Edwards treaded toward the line of attacking the front-runner. Edwards has long been more aggressive and he stuck to that tonight, particularly on the war and on special interests. Obama took what might be his most direct shot at Clinton, addressing her by name on the health care question and saying that her failure to pass reform in 1993 was due to the fact that she "closed the door" to many Americans in the debate. For not the first time, Joe Biden seemed to be the most relaxed, confident and articulate of anyone on the stage. End of the night: Hillary Clinton hasn't lost her hold on the front-runner tag and while Edwards and Biden may have helped themselves, they have a long way to go to close the gap yet.
10:50pm: Clinton walks into a disagreement with her husband, former President Clinton, on the issue of torture. Her response when confronted with that: "Well, he's not standing here right now." The exchange looked to be an embarrassment of sort but elicited perhaps the most revealing comment to date on what the former president's role may be in another Clinton administration: "I know very well that the president makes the decision. Everyone in the White House is there because of one person, the president, including the spouse of the president. And ultimately the president has to sift through everything that is recommended and make her decision. And what I believe is that it is the ultimate responsibility of a president to seek out a broad cross section of advisors who will have different point of view."
10:25pm: Has Obama been successful in stopping smoking? Best deterrent is "my wife."
10:20pm: Beware tangling with NBC's Tim Russert on the issue of Social Security. He's probably better versed on the issue than the candidates themselves as Bill Richardson learned. What else did we learn about the Democrats and Social Security? Everything is either on or off the table with the exception of privatization, which is definitely off the table for them all. Key areas of agreement: fiscal responsibility and economic growth will help solve the problem.
10:05pm: Maybe it's just us junkies but for our part, we're starting to wonder when these debates are going to start getting whittled down just a bit. Every time we get start to get into the real differences between the "top tier" candidates, Mike Gravel pops up on the screen. Would we not get more out of less with just a few months left before the primaries? Nobody wants to deny voices into the process but in this day and age, where we rarely see these candidates outside of their scripted moments, we need all we can get.
9:50pm: Dodd not-so deftly sidesteps his comments about understanding why President Bush and Republicans might want to face Clinton in the general election. Biden handles the question more diplomatically, basically saying it's not her fault that she carries so much baggage. Edwards goes at her "Washington insider" status.
For those who are counting this round of questioning provoked Clinton's second burst of laughter.