I have a different view of the debate then the majority of the press directly following it…I think this debate, if the performances of the candidates are attributed and identified in the coming weeks with those candidates, and if the debate had a considerably good sized audience…I think the debate was race-altering. I’ll do this in a series of bulletpoints:

-By far, the person hurt most in this debate, at least in SC, is John Edwards. His failure to answer the question of who his “moral leader is,” was despicable. For a candidate that brings up his baptist background at every opportunity on the campaign trail (for the last 6 years!), and who does an hour long interview with beliefnet.com where he talks about his faith at length, it is despicable that Edwards paused for what seemed like an eternity…and I know exactly what he was thinking…

I supported John big time in 2004. I supported him a year before Iowa and held that support with no change until he dropped out. However, you can see how he’s changed to fit the political times. John has said that this time around he’s more honest, and that his regret from 2004 was that he put his finger to the wind too many times. Well, it is clear that what he was thinking in that 7 (that’s what David Brody counted) seconds: “Well, by golly, I’m getting all of this support from dailykos, and the netroots, they sure would hate it if I said Jesus Christ.” So the man punted. After 10 seconds he weakly said “the Lord, my God” and then went on to include his father. He also preceded his answe, after the pause, with a statement something like “well, I can’t really answer the question, because I don’t want to be held accountable either way for my answer…but here it goes…”

John Edwards was a coward. If he wanted the nomination he had to win SC and unless he makes a dramatic reversal and bluntly states the answer he would have proclaimed if it was scripted, he will lose SC and drop out before Super Tuesday. I am disappointed in him.

If Obama had gotten that question, he would have nailed it out of the ballpark. And if he got that question in a debate with any of the GOP frontrunners, he would have sealed the deal on the nomination right there.

Sorry Johnny boy, but your time is up, you either were lying to the public and ingenuinely talking about your faith, or you were a coward. You could proclaim it when it was scripted, or when you were in a church, but when it was laid out right in front of you…you thought about politics (which, by the way, if he would have answered how he should have, it would have benefited him politically long-term).

-Chris Dodd came out with the sensible position on Gay unions that all Christians and Americans should unite behind: Pro-Civil Unions, Anti-Gay Marriage. I’ve talked about why that makes sense before, and I’ll discuss it again soon.

-There were two clear winners tonight: Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. I expect Joe Biden to be clearly in the lead of the top tier, especially in SC, in the polls. Possibly even in double digits. He had the best performance. He was amiable, he was in control of ALL topics, not just foreign policy, and he was able to make fun of himself, without discrediting his abilities. The man is anti-Partial birth abortions. He defended Obama, and attacked the dove-rhetoric of Gravel. Biden was excellent and wowed me big-time. I was supremely impressed.

Hillary was also very good. She showed, as David Brody wrote, why she is the frontrunner. She focused on the Republicans, which is what a Dem frontrunner should do. She was strong, but also warm. Some unreliable, web polls I’ve seen say that her answers were calculated and scripted…that is nonsense. She got some of the more unpredictable questions of the night. That’s a perception the media has given the public that, while not justified, Clinton will have to deal with. However, she was excellent tonight.

-Obama will not drop too much in the polls…but his performance is not going to give him a bump at all. He was nervous in the start and showed some inexperience in discussing foreign policy. He got nailed with the Israel question.

-Bill Richardson is out by the end of the summer. He bombed the Gonzales question, in which he admitted he gave Gonzales a benefit of the doubt because he was hispanic. He was looking down at his notes whenever he answered. And he was…well…boring. Biden outshined him in the foreign policy department.

-This nonsense about abortion rights being a matter of compassion and privacy is more foolish every time I hear it. However, I did like the last half of Obama’s answer, which I totally agree with: While we’re trying to decide this abortion debate…which will not go completely in one favor for decades at least, and maybe never, we should concentrate on the part of the debate that “we all agree on” that is reducing abortions. However, the argument is weak for pro-choicers who want to limit abortions…what is the incentive of limiting abortions if you aren’t destroying life. I mean, of course you’re reducing the number of “heart-wrenching” decisions, but is that really the foundation for the whole pro-choice argument for reducing abortions?

-Once again, I need to state that no one identified the strength and common sense of Democratic National Security policy better than Joe Biden. If the man puts in more showings like this, he deserves to take out Edwards and be the #3.

-In conclusion, Hillary should be very pleased with her performance, Richardson and Edwards need to do some major damage control, Biden should make a media buy now to capitalize, and Obama needs to practice his debate presentation a lot more. Dodd is trailing Biden, but due to his likability, and lack of ethical and womanizing problems, is above Richardson. Richardson has no niche, and I expect his fundraising to go down and Biden’s to go up 150% at least next quarter. Gravel and Kucinich don’t deserve a wrap-up…they’re crazy and largely irrelevant. I’m sure Fox News will pretend they’re the voice of the Democratic Party.

I will be watching the GOP debate and look forward to that as well. I sure do hope Brownback and/or Huckabee are able to put the misled and inadequate GOP frontrunners in their place. It will be interesting to see if Ron Paul plays anywhere near the role that Gravel or Kucinich played.

Thanks for reading.

God Bless.