Did Chris Matthews just deflate Clark's win a bit?

[MessiahRp]

As a Kerry supporter I can concede that Clark won the debate tonight, but it seemed to me that Chris Matthews just deflated that win a bit when he tried to corner Clark on the Gay Marriage issue and Clark never gave a firm position on the subject.

I'm not sure if that's the continuation of the media's seemingly never ending effort to marginalize the Democratic Nominees but I must admit its getting sickening.


What do you think?

Rp

[Sean Reynolds]

1. No...but

While Lieberman and Gephardt BOTH said YES they were against gay marriage, Clark didn't want to come out and say it. But he still kicked ass during the debate.

[buycitgo]

7. why do the pundits insist on harping on the gay marriage bit?

isn't it obvious that it's fertile ground for the pug spinmeisters, and the pundits are merely doing their bidding?

time for the candidates to ATTACK the question first, and put the slimey interviewers on the defensive

this was addressed in a seminal thread a few days ago, but, of course it's long gone.

can't bookmark everything......anybody have that one, in which the dems give back as much as they get to the likes of Russert, etal?

love to see that one again.....great posts.

also, did anybody see Matthews PRAISE the effectiveness of Gillespie's nauseating attack ad on "the attackers of those who attack the terrorists?"

he said it must be effective, cause the dems were "screaming" so loudly about it.

remember when the dems ran that one awhile ago that the pugs insisted be pulled? the media fell all over themselves, decrying how disingenuous, even saying that the pugs had a right to insist on it being pulled. I recall tweet being particularly hard on the ad, claiming it twisted the truth. funny how sanguine he was on the subject with the repulsive Mr. Gillespie

[xultar]

2. No he didn't and he wouldn't let Chris railroad him. It was an

interview, not a Debate. He showed Chris that he'll do things on his level and on his time frame.

He didn't ask Kerry about Gay Marriage.

[mlawson]

3. Tweety will try to destroy our front runners.

Unless the one that his fellow repukes think they can BEAT rises to the front, of course. I doubt they want to face Clark next year.

[59millionmorons]

4. Do you mean when Clark laughed in tweeties face

Now let me laugh at your suggestion.

[elperromagico]

5. No, Matthews demonstrated once again

what a smug asshole he is.

I think Clark could have done better in the confrontation, but it was basically a "rock and a hard place" situation. Our nominee has to be prepared for that kind of asshole ambush.

[Cush]

6. Isn't Matthews a Dean guy?

If so, 'nuff said

[buycitgo]

12. Matthews is a Dean guy in the sense that Nixon

was a McGovern guy in 72, when his dirty tricks brigade went out to destroy Ed Muskie's campaign, being certain that Muskie would be a much greater threat in the general election than the former B-24 pilot.

[Joe the Revelator]

8. Jacksons coming to Clarks rescue a bit

says tweety was "trying to make the news"

[displacedtexan]

9. the problem is the polls

all of them say that americans aren't ready for gay marriage. so, as a candidate against bush's god/guns/gays platform, what do you do? get elected or go down with your principles in tact, knowing that gays will lose on all fronts if the chimp actually wins an election and thinks he has a mandate?
it's a very difficult position to be in. i can't condemn any candidate who keeps his/her eye on defeating *, because i know dems will do the right thing if they take over capitol hill.

[in_cog_ni_to]

10. No, he didn't.

Clark gave him an example of how to give an answer HE wants to give, NOT what Tweety "wanted" to hear.

[Kahuna]

11. Clark is finally learning to NOT let the media define him.

Good for him. It's about time.

[mot78]

13. Tweety is almost as bad as the Faux whores

Clark had his strongest performance so far, and Tweety is trying to screw around with him. I hate Chris "Ann Coulter didn't appear on my show six times...but really did according to Nexus" Matthews.

[nomaco-10]

14. Quite the opposite, Clark, then Jessie Jackson....

"deflated" Tweety in the after show this evening. I have to admit, I got alot of satisfaction seeing The tweeter being pummeled by Clark and Jessie, it was fun to watch.

[Eurobabe]

15. nuh-uh

not.

tweety is a whiner when he can't get his way. Clark pulled a very diplomatic General Smackdown on him.

[John_H]

16. No he just proved the repigs are scared shitless of Clark

I loved it when he turned to the Weekly Standard reporter for validation after Jesse pointed out tweetster was obsessed with the marriage issue because he's helping the gop use it as a wedge.

[blm]

29. Exactly.

There are two guys BushInc. wants taken down now, Kerry and Clark. They can't face either of those two in the general so they'll do whatever they can to bring them down in the primary.

[Gloria]

17. I heard Clark say something about this at the Bedford, NH egg

breakfast, repeated last night....

I mentioned something about being OK with civil unions, but the states have to decide...

Am I correct on this, Clark folks?

[Jerseycoa]

24. Yes

He's said it over and over again. It's up to the states on a civil rights basis to approve civil unions. It's up to the religious institutions on the sanctity of marriage bit. People should be fighting gay marriage out in their own churches. Meanwhile, the states have to ensure equal rights and the federal government has to recognize state-approved civil unions. But Clark always frames gay issues in personal terms. These are your children. Do you want your children treated equally or do you want them discriminated against?

These are his thoughts and his words as a candidate.

What he thinks as a man about gay marriage is open to speculation, but not his stand on gay marriage. He opposes it. But I am sure he recognizes, as does everyone who wants to beat Bush in 2004, that endorsing gay marriage is a loser at the polls.

[Zomby Woof]

18. as I commented in person afterwards

Chris Matthews gives my spleen hives. :puke:

[TacticalPeek]

22. Makes you wanna

knock him clean, right out of his spleen.

[blm]

19. I think Clark won, too.

But Tweety intends to do Rove's work and bring down Clark the way they're trying to take down Kerry.

[Jerseycoa]

25. Tweety Too

Chris Matthews agrees with you that Clark won. He just said so. Go figure.

[blm]

28. That was a switcheroo for Tweety.

And right after he attacked Clark post-debate.

[flpoljunkie]

32. I agree, blm.

Although Kerry did well, Clark stood out. No way did Dean win this debate. If the Frank Luntz focus group thought so, the fix is indeed in.

Dean, as usual, displayed that ridulous teeth baring grin of his. The man is a fraud, and if he ends up being our nominee, we are screwed--especially in the South.

I am really pissed that the Democrats did not come together and stand up for seniors.

There always seem to be enough Democrats who peel off to pass Bush's giveaways to the rich.

Our only hope now is that Seniors rise up, raise hell, and make them all sorrry they voted for this turkey!

[buycitgo]

20. and don't you love the lineup of "analysts?"

Jesse Jackson......then

some guy from the National Review, or somesuch

Pat Buchanan

Whoreward Fineman

Pigstye Noonan

Norman Blackhead

he already had Ed Gillespie on before the debate, and lavaged him clean

[leftchick]

21. Clarks arms and his package...

That is all tweety proved.....He is not in love with Gen. Clark's arms and package as he is with chimpass*"s teeny, eeny, weeny ones... :eyes:

[leetrisck]

23. Clark gave very firm answer &

it's the same one he's been giving. Glad he did let the Oddball walk over him.

[shoopnyc123]

26. uhhhh YEEAHH!

Chris Matthews is a craven opportunist. I don't fault him though, because this is how things are working now. We HAVE to deal with him, ( after all, he was involved in the Plame scandal, with Rove). Let's just suffer fools, and rich fools at that, gladly.

[drfemoe]

27. I think Clark has been taking

debating lessons. good for him

[Barbara917]

30. Didn't you know

When Clark was at Westpoint, Schwarzkopf told him to quit wasting all his time on the debate team......

[Andromeda]

31. I don't think so...

Matthews gets on a point and hammers it ad nauseum and Clark didn't fall for the bait. Sometimes a yes or no answer doesn't give the whole picture and is misleading. That was the intent of the question---Matthews like to rattle his guests.

Clark deflected that argument very well, I thought, and when he said he believes in civil rights for everybody he put that argument right where it belongs in the civil rights category, because it is essentially a civil rights issue.

The devil is in the details and the time restraints in these interviews and debate doesn't allow for explansive explanations.

[mikehiggins]

33. Stormin Norman didn't have much to say

I think it may have occurred to him that what Shelton and Cohen were mad at Clark about was very similar to something that happened during Desert Storm, but very, very different.

When Saddam went after the rebels in the South after getting his ass kicked in Kuwait, Stormin stood by while it happened.

When Milosovac went after the Kosovars, Clark pushed hard to come to their defense.

I wonder if Norman ever understood that Clark was not only a better soldier than he was, but a better human being as well.