Debate Thoughts

by digby

I thought this was actually a much more substantive debate than what we’ve seen — none of the silliness we had with Matthews and Blitzer. Good for Tavis Smiley and Howard University for hosting a dignified event. The questions were interesting and all the candidates got a chance to answer. In the end I was reminded once again how superior our field is to that freakshow they’re putting up on the Republican side.

If I had to pick a winner, I think tonight was Obama’s night. He seemed loose and comfortable and in charge. He certainly had the best laugh line — after Joe Biden inexplicably felt the need to reveal that he and Barack had both been tested for AIDS, Obama played the “husband on the hot seat” perfectly, hurriedly explaining that he’d been tested with Michelle when they were both in Kenya. Big laughs. He’s good.

But all these people are so much better than the non-sequitor dribbling absurdists on the Republican side that every time I see them I feel a little bit better about the future. If any of the Dem contenders make it, we will have a president who speaks normal English, in complete sentences and responds to questions fluently and with real meaning. I can’t tell you what a relief that will be after these last six years of alien gibberish and bizarre, robotic responses that everyone has been pretending are normal ways of speaking.

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