Democratic Debate

I actually watched the Democratic debate last night, and I’m quite glad I did. It was informative and, for the most part, interesting. The moderators were much less obnoxious than I expected and after some initial “horserace” questions the debate got down to issues that mattered. Tim Russert is an idiot, though. How many people think John Edwards called Musharref to “provide him with cover” as Russert so coyly suggested?

I thought I was going to have a long night of high blood pressure when Senator Clinton said, “..and I opposed the Bankruptcy Bill of 2005.” While she didn’t vote for it, she didn’t vote against it either, and I do not recall any speeches of significance from her at that time to the effect that it should not pass. Maybe she opposed it at the time without saying so, but…

She talked about her desire to freeze mortgage rates, a plan that I have opposed because it rewards the poor judgement of too many people who used teaser rate loans to refinance their homes to support an unsustainable lifestyle. Senator Clinton pointed out that her plan is consistent with the Fed cutting rates and asked why should bank rates be getting cut now while mortgage rates are still resetting upward. That is a very good point, and she has sold me on her plan. Let’s freeze those mortgage rates immediately for people who live in these mortgaged homes as a primary residence.

There was some interesting “back and forth” between Obama and Edwards regarding the military presence in Iraq which made that part of the show an actual debate. I wish more of that were allowed on a regular basis which, with fewer candidates, is entirely feasible. We learn a lot about the candidates themselves in such a discussion, and we learn a lot more about their positions.

The segment on energy policy was seriously interesting to me and I was very surprised by whom I liked. Obama’s energy policy is vague and muddled at best, and his position on nuclear power is totally unclear. Edwards just plain doesn’t seem to have an energy policy. Clinton blew the doors off of both of them, not only having a clear plan but one that makes a lot of sense to me. She also had in her energy statement what was, for me, the best challenge of the night for this country in saying that energy should be a major effort, “This should be our Apollo Moon Shot.” I think she is exactly right and I think that is an outstanding way to phrase it. I very much liked her description of the 2005 energy bill.

Her other heroic moment was her legislation to prevent Bush from making long term military agreements with Iraq which bypass Congress. Her asking Obama to cosponsor the effort was politics (and pretty canny politics, I had to rather admire that move), but the legislation itself is admirable indeed. I hope we hear more about this in the near future, like maybe Congress passing it with a veto-proof majority.

Before you think somebody else is writing my blog today…

When reminded of her promise to dump from her campaign anyone who used tactics of which she disapproved and asked if she would distance herself from Bob Johnson for his oblique references to Obama’s teenage drug use, Clinton said Johnson had explained those remarks away and that she believed his explanation. She has got to be the only person in this country who does.

When asked about her greatest weakness she replied that she is too aggressive in working for change. I was looking for a barf bucket.

My blood reached something close to boiling point when she was defending, and expanding upon, and repeating, her fear mongering prior to the New Hampshire primary. Obama countered that, but not as vigorously as I believe he should have done.

At least nobody mentioned changing the constitution.