So, that was the debate. Below, you can see my live responses as things unfolded, and those concluding thoughts toward the end. But what did you think? Send us your thoughts. And I’ll post them at TPM.
For me, there were three key moments in the debate — the opening skirmish, which I think largely defined the debate, Hillary’s answer to Campbell Brown’s ‘gender card’ questions and the final tete a tete over Social Security. Of those three, two were Hillary’s. Obama also had a moment when he went after Blitzer over his constant invocation of the presumption that no significant problems can ever be solved. But it was too fleeting.
Late Update: Yglesias has a good point here about one of the most insufferable parts of this debate. The aim behind most of Blitzer’s questions was to “put Democrats on the wrong side of public opinion, even if those questions are about things like driver’s licenses or “merit pay” for teachers that aren’t really under federal purview. Efforts to reframe those questions by putting those topics in the larger context of immigration policy more generally or education more generally are derided as cowardly dodges. The point, after all, is to force a choice — piss off an interest group, or say something that could be used in a GOP attack ad.” My only addition to this point is that I thought Obama should have put Blitzer and his militant simpletonism in its place. Just tell him to shut up. He was terrible. But a presidential candidate should be able to stand down a moderator.
Later Update: More Blitzerly questions …
1. Do you believe there are any times when abortion is killing a baby? Yes or No?
2. If a million people die in the next 9/11, would you be willing to chill out about torture? Yes or no?
