In the Agora: The SC Dem debate--hot air and greenhouse gases

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April 27, 2007

The SC Dem debate--hot air and greenhouse gases

If, like me, you missed the Democratic Presidential debate last night, MSNBC appears to have most of it online, albeit in segments (scroll down and click on "watch the debate"). There's also a transcript here.

Not much substantive commentary in the blogosphere, which leads me to believe my instict was correct--this was a bland event where the candidates (the ones with a real shot at winning, anyway) mostly tried not to get themselves in trouble, meaning they didn't say anything particularly interesting. Mickey Kaus summed it up as "Obama soars, Hillary bores" and noticed an AP article written about the debate in past tense before it even started. NRO's Kate O'Beirne has a more detailed roundup, concluding that Obama held his own, but "his demeanor was more impressive than his content."

Perhaps the most interesting commentary of the evening was provided by Newsbusters, who noted an AP article which reported that Senators Clinton, Obama, Dodd, and Biden each took their own jet from DC to the debate:

A flock of small jets took flight from Washington Thursday, each carrying a Democratic presidential candidate to South Carolina for the first debate of the political season...
No one jet pooled, no one took commercial flights to save money, fuel or emissions.

Not exactly going out of their way to put actions behind their pro-environment rhetoric.

Related ITA entries:

Gore Goes Green (J. Claybourn)
Al Gore and the difference between right and left (E. Seymour)

Posted by Eric Seymour at April 27, 2007 09:18 AM

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I didn't catch the debate either, but I certainly wouldn't depend on Mickey Kaus, Kate O'Beirne, or Newsbusters for any "detailed roundups."

Posted by: JohnS at April 27, 2007 10:37 AM | permalink

I watched a little. I enjoyed the former Alaskan Senator -- Mike Gravel. He fits firmly into the description "old coot." Some entertainment there. I thought Bill Richardson was particularly unimpressive. Dodd was sort of a non-entity. Kucinich was Kucinich - glad to have him around, not gonna vote for him. It might be my white maleness talking, but I found Hillary off putting. I liked Obama and Edwards, probably Edwards best -- but then, I'm a white male attorney so that could explain a lot. Oh, and Joe Biden was there too.

Posted by: Doug at April 27, 2007 11:13 AM | permalink

Americans have made it perfectly clear that they won't accept any significant lifestyle sacrifices in order to protect the environment, so there's no reason that candidates should either -- they'd promptly get described as extremist wackos in the press. Look what happened to Jerry Brown.

Posted by: wahoofive at April 27, 2007 11:14 AM | permalink

I'm not sure what you're referring to about Brown, but I'm guessing it happened a decade or so ago. The media environment today regarding environmental issues is much different. I think that if the four Senators decided to "jet-pool" to the debate, they would have been applauded.

Posted by: Eric Seymour at April 27, 2007 12:08 PM | permalink

Meh. I was unimpressed with the format of the "debate". In a political culture in which soundbites are favored over substance by the media, I suppose I shouldn't have expected more.

Posted by: Chuck at April 27, 2007 05:41 PM | permalink

April 27, 2007

The SC Dem debate--hot air and greenhouse gases

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