I caught the last half of the latest Democrat debate last night, and I guess I arrived just in time. Today, most pundits are saying that Hillary Clinton was a dismal flop. It seems that the lady finally got caught talking out of both sides of her mouth for all to see. When asked by Tim Russert about her views on New York State giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens, she acknowledged that it was not a good idea, but defended Governor Elliot Spitzer's move since George Bush had failed to bring about immigration reform and we need to know who these people are. (Never mind that Bush wanted the immigration bill to pass, but Congress voted it down.)
Hillary's opponents, principally Chris Dodd, Barack Obama and John Edwards, pounced on her for her sidewinding response. It was the moment they had long been waiting for (the Got'cha moment, which Hillary acknowledged had come). She knew she was in trouble. Of course, anyone who has followed Hillary's political career knows that pinning her down on a tough question is like catching a greased pig at the county fair. Those who plan to vote for her could probably care less if she was exposed as a phony. I thought it was great how Dodd in particular, nailed her on that one. It seems Dodd is the only one of the candidates who would deny licenses to illegal aliens. Well, Dodd, who is one of Teddy Kennedy's drinking buddies, certainly should know who should not be behind the wheel of a car.
Hillary also did badly when asked if she would allow release of records from the Clinton Administration that pertained to her own actions while in the White House. She danced all over that one, trying to pass it off to the National Archives.
Other than that, I guess the highlight of the evening was when Dennis Kucinich was outed as one who claims to have seen a UFO. Hello!!!! And this guy is running for president?!!?
After the debate, I watched the MSNBC analysis hosted by Chris Matthews, who proceeded to rip into Hillary and Dennis on the above points. I guess Chris, a Democrat, is supporting someone other than Hillary or Kucinich. (Chris had his chance to editorialize on the war in Iraq when some loon stormed behind him with a banner yelling "Out of Iraq". As the guy was getting the bum's rush, Chris, nonplussed, stated that he agreed with the sentiment.)
I also got a kick out of Chris' interview with Rep Chaka Fattah (D-PA) and some beefy guy who Chris referred to as "The Boss of Philadelphia". The guy sure looked the role-right out of central casting. He didn't seem to appreciate the remark, giving me the eery feeling that Vinnie and Sluggo were going to break Matthews' legs after the interview. Meanwhile, Fattah talked as if he had had a few highballs during the debate.
Matthews also interviewed Bill Richardson (D-NM) and asked him about the Kucinich UFO thing. Of course, Richardson admitted that while he didn't believe in UFOs, he had to support the UFO Museum in Roswell-sort of a Clintonesque answer.
Kudos to Tim Russert for asking the right questions and doing the necessary follow-up, something we are not used to seeing from the Mainstream Media in dealing with Democrats. Anyway, it doesn't seem as if Obama and Edwards used the occasion to improve their standing with anyone. Of course, I am biased (being an independent conservative), but to me it was just another "Battle of the Boobs".
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