Texas Debate Blog En Direct

This post will feature live-blog style coverage of the recent Texas debate. The whole thing is on youtube.com, and part 1 can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVs0BfCBuRg

University of Texas
Austin, TX
Feb 22 2008

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Part 1
00:04 - Damn, Campbell Brown is fit.

00:40 - Opening statements about to kick off.

01:19 - HRC believes in hard work and responsibility. Astonishing stuff. Also, this is being co-sponsored by Univision, a Mexican-American Spanish language TV station. You can even find the entire debate en espangol if you want.

02:40 - HRC takes credit for CHIP now SCHIP and the good health of a couple hundred thousand Texan kids. She was First Lady at the time, bill was introduced by Sens Kennedy and Hatch. I wonder how she "made that happen"

03:15 - Sick people are like black people or gay people.

04:04 - This is why I hate opening statements.

05:00 - Obama's up. Interesting contrast between his and HRC's opening statements. She was name dropping, he's framing a bleak picture of the economic situation and the war.

07:16 - Obama knows how to communicate with people. He's already had three rounds of applause. All he's done is drop NAFTA, China, and lobbyists.

08:27 - Big applause for Obama at the end of his opening. "I want to help America be as good as its promise."

08:51 - Holy shit the Univision guy is speaking Spanish on CNN.

Part 2
02:08 - HRC shows that she's still bound to the insufferable belief our political class has that negotiating or meeting with the Americans is a gift.

03:49 - Obama rebukes that position in word, gets a round of applause.

05:03 - Obama throws a left uppercut on the issue of speaking with hostile governments. We've maintained a policy towards Cuba for 50+ years, and the only people to suffer from that policy have been the Cuban people, not Castro. Same thing for Iran, pre-2003 Iraq, Syria, NK, et al. Remember what happened when Nixon went to China.

05:49 - Applause count is 7 to 1 Obama.

07:45 - Huge applause for HRC as she renounces Bush's unilateralism. 7 to 2.

Part 3
00:30 - The Economy!

04:25 - Obama hits nicely with the crowd on economic issues, even as he bumbles a bit. Taxes: remove tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas, removal of GWB's taxcuts to the rich, eliminate corporate tax loopholes. Trade: "Trade should be viewed not just through Wall St., but through Main St. as well" Weening off foreign oil, institute a "green economy." Final remarks "HRC and I agree on a lot of these issues, and it's a credit to the Dem Party."

08:00 - On the economy Obama and HRC basically say the same thing. HRC drops the foreclosure crisis. Says she could fix it. These articles suggest the problem is so vast that no president will be able to just snap-yo-fingaz and fix it, even with HRC's grand "90-day moratorium." Says some nice things about infrastructure, but ends with a bizarre mention of "George Bush's War on Science" What the f***? When did she accidentally vote for that?
LINKS:
NYTimes: Credit Crunch
NPR: Foreclosure Season
FinancialSense.com: The Housing Bubble

08:30 - Pretty much a draw on the economy.

08:45 - Immigration!

09:45 - Both parties (GOP-Dem) look somewhat uncomfortable when discussing immigration. HRC's grand plan is about community centers?

Part 4
01:05 - One of Obama's gifts is his ability to put a question into a positive context. Re: Immigration, "We are a nation of immigrants and of laws, and we can reconcile those two things." Big applause. Unofficial applause count - 12 to 5 Obama.

01:50 - Obama lays out his "path to citizenship plan." Learn English, pay back taxes, significant fine, queue for citizenship responsibly. Fix the legal immigration system, reduce the waiting period. Sounds like McCain's plan that got shot down by the Malkins of this world.

03:45 - Border Fences!

Comment: This whole issue is ridiculous. You are going to build a fence that lays out across the entire American southwest that is seal-proof against drug runners and immigrants? What would that have to be, 30 feet deep, 30 feet high? And where would this fence be placed in places like El Paso and Juarez? You'd cut through a metropolitan area with a population of 5mil+ in total? Another sign that many Americans are walking nervously into globalization and our government doesn't address their concerns sincerely.

06:00 - HRC on border security: "I'd listen to the people who live along the border"

06:30 - Good God, HRC never has an original thought. "Smart fencing?" She's the most calculated, PC person I've seen on TV in my 22 years.

07:55 - Obama brings up the economic and environment implications of fences, disagrees with a physical fence. He answered the question immediately, HRC meandered and had to have the question posed twice. This is the second time I've noticed that stark contrast.

010:05 - Obama: Illegal immigrants "living in the shadows." Sounds like a Cream song. Mentions the DREAM Act he helped pass, giving American children of illegal immigrants assistance for higher education, his aversion to class warfare.

Part 5
00:20 - According to Jorge, 10% of the country speaks Spanish. Poses the very tricky question of "Is it wrong for us to become a bilingual nation."

01:30 - HRC: "I think it is important that English remain our common unifying language." "I am adamantly against the efforts by some to make English the official language. I don't think we should discriminate against people who don't speak English." Uh...What? I am praying Obama doesn't give such a vague answer to the same question...

03:00 - Obama: "I think it's important that everyone learns English. But I also think every student should be learning a second language." Drops globalization, mentions that our capacity to lead in the world will depend on a host of skills in which we've fallen behind, languages included. Drops No Child Left Behind, huge applause. Unofficial applause count, 15 to 5, Obama.

Part 6
00:03 - Campbell Brown is seriously stunning.

00:15 - The absence of Russert or Matthews is very noticeable.

01:00 - Questions on Rhetoric and Slogans!

01:32 - Jesus H. Hong I hate that expression "All Hat and No Cattle." What the hell is wrong with Texas?

02:40 - HRC: "I do offer solutions, that's what I believe in and have done. It's what I offer to voters because it's a part of my life for the last 30, 35 years." In Britain there's an acronym called a WAG... I think HRC is a WAG.

03:18 - HRC mentions that one Obama supporter who was on Hardball and was asked to name an accomplishment of Sen Obama and couldn't. Zippity-doo, HRC, I bet half of your supporters can't name a single bill you've sponsored either. But we all know about your Iraq war vote. Yes we do. Oh, and I think S.1977 was a pretty big accomplishment for the Sen from Illinois. Go look it up. Respect.

03:26 - Just want to note that after HRC mentions that Hardball episode, she says "And there are contrasts between us, and it's important that voters get that information." As if the Hardball episode somehow defines the two candidates. I think 11 straight primary victories for Obama provides a more substantive reference point.

03:37 - HRC: "Actions speak louder than words."Nice platitude. Iraq votes speak louder than Penn or Wolfson.

04:57 - Obama counters HRC's rhetoric beautifully, speaks of his own record, gives a nod to HRC herself, gains the moral ground. All at once.

05:30 - Obama makes fun of HRC's comment she made a few weeks ago that Obama supporters were "delusional." Big applause.

07:30 - Obama was born for television. Thundering applause. Lasted 20 seconds.

07:50 - Oh God, Plagiarism!

Part 7
01:40 - Oh snap. "The notion that I plagiarized from one of my national co-chairs, who gave me the line and suggested that I use it is silly. This is when we start to get into silly season in politics. What I've been talking about in these speeches -- and I gotta admit, some of them are pretty good -- it's not just about hope and inspiration, it's about a $4000 tuition credit for every student, in exchange for every year of national service, so that college becomes more affordable, I've been talking about the reworking of the tax codes, I've been talking about ending this war in Iraq..."

2:57 - HRC looks really uncomfortable at the audience's reaction to Obama's counter.

03:30 - HRC: "It's not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox." Gets booed. Hahaha.

04:09 - I wonder if, at the start of campaign season, HRC knew she'd be saying the word "Change" 800x a day.

05:15 - Jesus, Obama looks non-plussed.

05:35 - HRC referencing her great days as First Lady, an unelected position and pretty much an honorary title. I don't think anyone under 30 cares.

07:00 - Debate has naturally shifted to Health Care. Finally back to an issue.

08:35 - Obama: "Sen Clinton believes the only way to achieve universal health care is to force everybody to purchase it. And my belief is that the reason that people don't have it is not because people don't want it, it's that they cannot afford it. And so I emphasize reducing costs...the notion that I am leaving 15mil people out implies that somehow we are different in our goals." Namedrops former cabinet members of WJC.

Part 8
00:20 - Obama has looked very "presidential" and confident. So far I'd say the campaign is a 6-4 match to Obama.

00:45 - Question to HRC: "Do you believe Obama is ready to be CINC?" Obama is the central figure of this debate. She shifts it back to health care.

Part 9
00:10 - Back to the Obama as CINC question.

00:30 - HRC: "For more than 15 years I've been honored to represent our country." What the hell? Being First Lady doesn't make you a diplomat Hilldog. Her own self-aggrandizement is astonishing.

01:46 - I seriously do not understand how anyone could rigorously follow this campaign cycle and say HRC's grasp of foreign affairs is deeper or more nuanced than Obama's. She lists off a series of events that have happened in the past week -- Pakistan's election, Castro, the events in Kosova/Serbia -- says "see, there's a whole host of challenges" and somehow we're supposed to believe that that is an argument? Oh, she also supports Kosovo's independence, which is surely more important that EU-Russia relations or US-Russia relations.

02:06 - HRC: "And I would hold the Serbian security services responsible to protect our embassy." HERES THE NEWS! So would every president! The FP debate should be about GRAND STRATEGY, aka your "vision" HRC. This is what frustrates me more than anything about this woman, she can't see beyond the brush stroke.

02:13 - HRC: "And when you think about everything that's happening..." I think her entire campaign tactic re: foreign policy is try to overwhelm a crowd with names and dates, make it sound like she has a strategy, and then wing it once she gets into office. You know what we'll get with 8 Clinton years? No new action v. Al-Qaeda, and a small, slow humiliating burn out of Iraq. At least the Canadians will respect us though. This "Day-1" bullshit is becoming really tiring.

03:52 - Parts of the crowd interrupt Obama to applaud when he mentions that Clinton was "wrong on Iraq." Unofficial applause count 20 to 8, Obama.

05:20 - Obama on Iraq: "Going into Iraq originally, I said this would distract us from Afghanistan, this would fan the flames of anti-American sentiment, this is going to cost us billions of dollars and thousands of lives and overstretch our military. And I was right." Obama on Pakistan: "We have put all our eggs in the Musharraf basket, and that was a mistake. We should be going after Al-Qaeda and make sure that Pakistan is serious about hunting terrorists. And I was right."

06:40 - Amazing how group think works in the small world of TV-media and the political class. John King suggests that the security situation in Iraq "is better, ideal, no, but better, some say significantly." Let's take a short trip down reality lane:
Juan Cole on the recent escalation of violence
Violence in Iraq on the rise
Turkey vs. Kurdistan
Iraq Benchmarks not met
Harper's report on Iraqi oil
on the plus side, a new oil deal looks to be settled soon:
via UPI

Anyways...back to the debate

06:45 - Formal title of the question at hand: "Is Iraq better off now due to the surge than it was a year ago." How pitiful.

07:30 - I think everyone knows the surge had almost nothing to do with the recent downturn in violence, at least outside of Baghdad. I read, I think at d-n-i.net, that among the 30000 soldiers that were sent there (and are now being drawn down), only around 10-12k were "trigger pullers", and its not like those guys work 24h/7d, so on average at any given moment you have around 3000 extra "trigger pullers" doing security operations. Just reading Al-Jazeera and McClatchy and CFR, I think we know what happened in Baghdad and al-Anbar.

07:45 - HRC: "The Iraqi govt has not taken advantage of the sacrifice and the losses of life and the billions of dollars."

08:09 - HRC makes a bold promise to begin the withdrawal within 60 days. "1-2 brigades a month"

Part 10
00:28 - Obama: "I think it's indisputable that we've seen violence reduced in Iraq...this is a tactical victory imposed upon a huge strategic blunder. And I think that when we're having a debate with John McCain, it will be much easier for the candidate who was opposed to the concept of invading Iraq in the first place -- to have a debate about the wisdom of that decision, than having to argue about the tactics subsequent to the decision." Finishes up with a whipping of John McCain. Obama is clearly trying to be perceived as the Dem candidate.

03:50 - Campbell Brown...

04:06 - Transparency and Secrecy!

06:35 - King poses a tricky question for Obama and HRC. McCain apparently has never asked for $1 of pork-barrel spending, whereas Obama has earmarked $91mil and Clinton around $320mil for their states. Question: "Does John McCain make a better case for fiscal accountability in government?" HRC: "No, not at all. Because he supported the wasteful tax cuts and the Iraq war." She then references the boomin'-90's.

08:30 - Superdelegates!

Part 11
01:45 - Both candidates brush off the superdelegate question.

03:00 - Final question: "Describe the moment in your life when you were tested most."

04:45 - HRC implies that the Monica Lewinsky scandal was pretty damn tough. Then: "The hits I've taken in life are nothing compared to the things that go on in the lives of people in this country every single day...I was called by my faith and upbringing to do what I could to give others the same opportunities and blessings that I took for granted."

07:45 - It's over.
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