Winners, Losers and the Wild Card of the Iowa AARP Forum

[Colobo]

Winners:
1) John Edwards- Solid performance. John was on point, sharp, and was able to show the crowd he has what it takes to lead. I think Obama not being there made it easier for him to cast himself as the candidate of change.

2) Hillary Clinton- Good performance, although she looked a bit tired or under the weather. Still, another slick, crafty performance by a very skilled debater. Hillary reminded me of Reagan with her closing statement. (By the way, I don't accept your invitantion to join your campaign, Hill. Still, good showing.)

3) Joe Biden- Would have been the best performance of the night had he not attacked Richardson's gubernatorial experience the way he did. He acted like a pompous ass with a fellow Dem, a Dem who has a lot of valuable experience as a cabinet member and as a governor.

Losers:
4) Chris Dodd- Solid showing, but he doesn't seem to be able to knock any of the other candidates down.

5) Bill Richardson- Decent showing, but people will remember him fighting with a fly, getting verbally assaulted by Biden, and talking about FDRs death after Hillary's strong closing statement (nice story but probably not the best choice).

Wild Card: Barack Obama- I would have liked for him to be there, but one has to wonder how many people are truly paying attention to this forum, and if he is doing the right thing by focusing on closing the 3rd fundraising quarter strong and on next week's MSNBC debate in NH. He will be in Iowa tomorrow, so... let's see.

[rurallib]

1. Hillary looked - well -sick or something

Her eyes looked odd, almost like a mask. The yellow coat didn't help her color.
I thought Edwards did very well, the others kind of equal.

[demommom]

2. He did not attack anyone. Geeze..... He simply

responded to Richardson's constant as the gov, of New Mexico blah blah blah. It is about time he responded to Richardson.

[jillan]

3. Did you watch?

Not on here yet.

The Biden blog is very, very happy tonite.

[Colobo]

5. BS. Everyone is playing the experience card, and Richardson's card is solid.

He has earned the right to play it as much as he wants. I'm not for the guy, but this is the second time I've seen Biden act like an ass on a debate. First on the forum in Chicago and now here.

[Trisket-Bisket]

4. Wild card,indeed!

B.O.'s no show for money stinks.

[Colobo]

6. Only DNC sponsored debates.

[Debi]

17. Like the Harkin Steak Fry?

That wasn't a DNC sponsored event. The SEIU event? Not a DNC sponsored event. I don't care if he shows at every joint event or skips one or two, I don't think it's a big deal. But the campaign made a blanket statement about only attending DNC sponsored events and then shows up at non-DNC sponsored events willy nilly. :shrug: which is it?

[zulchzulu]

10. The other candidates had 12 more seconds to explain HMO vs. Non-HMO coverage

We'll see how the ones there blast at each other tomorrow.

:crazy:

[Colobo]

7. Kick.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. The REAL wild card

Kucinich, who wasn't even invited, probably because his is the only plan that's DIFFERENT from the "corporate welfare" proposals that the others have made.

[zulchzulu]

9. Not having Kucinich in the healthcare forum was like not...

...having salsa on your nachos.

OK, not having free coffee on Senior's Coupon Night.. or...

Anyway, it was too bad he couldn't have had a say about his policy on healthcare reform. I know, he didn't qualify...yada...yada... yada...

[AtomicKitten]

11. I like Kucinich's participation in debates.

He's actually quite loquacious and charming; life is agreeing with him. :)

All the candidates should be allowed to debate.

[emilyg]

12. He wasn't invited for another reason. Search it out - learn.

[youthere]

15. He WAS Invited.

He chose not to.

[emilyg]

18. Thank you. I was wrong.

[youthere]

14. Kucinich WAS invited.

He chose NOT to participate by not establishing an official campaign in Iowa per the requirements set forth by AARP (who hosted the forum).

[BenDavid]

13. LOSERS: The biggest loser of the night was

Obama that skipped the vote the republican had against MoveOn, and left for Atlanta to attend a fund raiser....Obama is the biggest loser in the debate because of his NO SHOW.....I would suggest to all you Obama supporters you all need to write him and tell him to save some of his money so that he can try again in 2016.....

I do thank you
Ben David

[William769]

16. How someone could list Obama as a wild card in this thread is laughable.

He never has come close to getting the Senior vote, and this just cemented his demise.

[zulchzulu]

20. Another baseless, factless, half-witted, bloviated charge against Obama...

Obama certainly is a friend to seniors...

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Alliance for Retired Americans 100 percent in 2006.

Senator Obama supported the interests of National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association 100 percent in 2005-2006.

Senator Obama supported the interests of the Alliance for Retired Americans 100 percent in 2005.

http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=9490

[zulchzulu]

19. Whatever dude...

All 46 people who watched the debate are probably still undecided.

I do thank you
ZZ

[Ethelk2044]

21. Bullshit Post. Obama and Biden were the only one who had the guts to not vote. They did what the

others should have done for the Iraq vote. They did not have the guts to vote no on Iraq nor the Move On vote. They allowed the repugs to again set the agenda. Then they wonder why so many dems are pissed off.