The winner of the Democratic debate at Howard University?:
The NY Post says Clinton
Well, not exactly.
The conqueror of last night's debate wasn't Clinton. The winner wasn't Dodd. Not Obama. Or Kucinich.
No the champion of last night's All-American Forum at Howard University, hosted by Tavis Smiley, was the debate itself.
Instead of polarizing questions, raise your hand if you want to torture people jabs, hype, asking candidates to describe themselves in a sentence, more hype, commentary, analysis, hype, and what adds up to be a complete waste of two hours, last night's forum offered substance. And lots of talk on how to legalize substances, in the case of Mike Gravel.
And come to think of it nobody mentioned Jack Bauer.
And even still, while using Howard University as the venue, and with an audience that featured faces like Al Sharpton, Harry Belafonte and Della Reese you'd have probably, considering the nature of the past two debates, expected Chris Matthews type questions like:
"How many black friends do you have, Senator Dodd?"
"Senator Clinton, if Chelsea wanted to marry a Hispanic would you allow her?"
"Congressman Kucinich, should we give out reparations?"
"Yes or no, did any of your ancestors own slaves?"
Or worse, a Blitzer query such as:
"Raise your hand if you think affirmative action is a good thing."
No, there were tangible evocative questions. Questions that produced serious answers and discussion. And jaw dropping statistics were thrown around instead of hypothetical situations.
We learned more about each candidate last night than in the previous two debates combined. And Tavis Smiley has added another viewer for his show, and, more importantly, a fan.
No commercials. No hype. No psychoanalysis or scrutiny pre or post debate from washed up consultants with hidden agendas. Only answers. What else would you expect from public broadcasting?
By getting equal time all of the candidates were allowed to shine, and show who they really are. No digs about Kucinich's height. No critique of Clinton's wardrobe, or Biden's demeanor. At Howard yesterday it wasn't about whom your father was, or how much money you have. What you wanted to do for the country was all that mattered.
I thought the debate won. Who do you feel won the day?