Sunday, July 22, 2007

Opinion: Who won the Democratic Debate (and who did well or poorly in the debate?)


Democratic Debate: Monday July 23, 6:00 p.m. (our time) on CNN

Republican Debate: September 17 on CNN

* Bonus Question (not as important as the politics question and is only asked as an aside about the state of the media and the "young viewer")

Do you care that the questions are submitted on YouTube or is it a publicity stunt that is not a real change in the way that major networks report the news? Is this an exciting change that will make the news more interactive or not?

10 comments:

JamieW said...

It's sad for me to say that Senator Clinton won the debate. According to The Washington Post, (who I must agree with) said she remained under control but yet was tough in debating her points. On the other side of the spectrum, Former Senator Gravel from Alaska made what I feel a big mistake. Gravel stated that he would forgive the other candidates for being young and inexperienced. Things could turn around for him- but I highly doubt it.

Vlad said...

I only managed to watch one hour of the debate because I only DVRed The Situation Room and not the following show, so I'll only comment on what I saw in the first hour. I feel that Gov. Richardson was very solid on his views and answered every question with the knowledge that he received from his experience. I also think Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama did well even though they are known for being quite boring at giving speeches. But, I also wanted to hear some more from Sen. Gravel, a candidate who will most likely never get elected, but he is a very passionate and confronting speaker and is thus, an interesting candidate. So, for what it's worth, I feel Bill Richardson won the debate.
I believe that Dodd and Kucinich are the losers of the debate. There was nothing memorable about them and it's hard to take Dennis Kucinich serious after his embarassing loss in the previous election.
As far as the incorporation of Youtube goes, I think it was a tacky publicity stunt. A lot of the people directing the questions were very annoying and the whole thing was kind of cheesy. I don't think that Youtube can ever be used in a professional way. But, Youtube can help or hurt a candidate. Examples - the Obama music video and the video of Gravel staring at the camera for minutes and then throwing a rock in a lake.

MorganJ said...

My pick for the winner of the Democratic election would be Sen. Hilary Clinton. Not only was Sen. Clinton well spoken, but she also had a strong answer for every question directed at her. I respected the answer she gave when asked if she would meet with the world leaders of other countries. She didn’t just react to the question, she analyzed it and then gave a truthful answer. Also, her opinion was asked on issues that were not addressed directly towards her (she spoke on more issues than any other candidate).

I believe that John Edwards, Sen. Hilary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama, and Sen. Joe Biden did very well in the debate. Thus far my favorite democratic candidates are Sen. Clinton and Sen. Biden. I thought their stances on issues were very firm and they did not side step from the questions. Edwards tended to use the start of his time to flatter the viewers then proceed to answer the question. His answers to the questions were good however if he would have used all of his time his answers could have been more thorough. I’ve heard that many people like Obama for his public speaking, but it was his public specking that distracted me from his answers. In my opinion, Obama did not convey his ideas very well.

Mike Gravel, Sen. Chris Dodd, Gov. Bill Richardson, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich were, in my opinion, the losers of the democratic debate. These four candidates received the least amount of speaking time (This was made very clear by Mike Gravel). Throughout the debate Gravel was very harsh and I believe his actions will lose this campaign for him He himself said, he referring to his fellow democrats, "We're not united. I am not untied with many of there views." he than preceded to attack Sen. Obama. Sen. Chris Dodd could hardly be considered part of the debate considering he rarely spoke. I believe that Gov. Richardson had the potential of doing very well; however, his nervousness got in the way of his delivery. Towards the end of the debate he seemed to become more comfortable. I'm definitely keeping my eye on Gov. Richardson in the future. Finally, I think it would be very wise for Rep. Dennis Kucinich to invest in a few more cell phones so that during his free time he can work on bringing our troops home by "texting 'peace' to congress at 73223".

As far as the debate questions being submitted through YouTube, I enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I would call it a publicity stunt; however I do believe it resulted in more 18-24 year olds tuning in. I know that this was the first Presidential debate I have ever watched. I didn’t not watch the CNN/YouTube debate for this class; I watched it before I knew we had to write about it because it seemed interesting and viewer friendly. I do believe it is an exciting and interactive change in the news. It gives people of all ages the opportunity to ask what matters to them. The involvement of YouTube in this debate was very beneficial.

I think it would be a great if our APGP classes submitted our own YouTube questions for the Republican debate. We start school on September 4th and the debate is on September 17th. We could do it!

rebeccas said...

I feel Senator Clinton won. Like everyone else stated, she was the most composed and most professional. She answered each question well.

jzurko said...

Well I only watched about 30 minutes of the debate (I didn't care much for the 'YouTube' format of the whole event) but here is what I got from it. I thought Senator Clinton was very well composed. Surpisingly, I didn't hear her raise her voice once and many of her answers were well thought out. Senator Obama also did very well; he was articulate, composed, and thoughtful (though he is much better on stage by himself). I think Kuchinich did the worst during the debate. Gravel is obviously not going to win any significant amount of votes, but he is fun to listen to and watch.

katiekso said...

I missed the debate so I watched it later on YouTube. I agree that Senator Hilary Clinton did very well. She always seemed to have a good answer to every question, not like some of the candidates who tried to avoid certain questions. She was very composed. What I found to be really interesting is how she wore pink. By doing this I thought she was showing not only that she can be feminine, but also how different she is from the other candidates. It was just another way she made herself stand out.

I think that Dodd did very poorly. The only thing that I distinctly remember about him from the debate is that he has white hair.

Erica Lane said...

First off, my apologies for this being my first post all summer.

I also believe that Sen. Clinton won the debate. She articulated every point very clearly and very well. Sen. Obama did well, too, however I feel he's often more concerned with being charming and consequently, well-liked rather than just answering the questions straight-forward.

As far as the YouTube format goes, I believe it was a good way to get younger people more involved. It definitely drew a larger and younger crowd than it probably would have had otherwise. At the same time though, I sort of felt more like I was watching a game show rather than a debate.

Jbyko10 said...

From what i can remember I feel like Sen.Clinton won the debate. She spoke well, and answered every question with a strong response. Sen. Obama also did well i believe. The guy from Alaska, I thought did very poorly. I thought he attacked or went after his fellow democrats.

Im sorry for the lack of responses. I was in Europe for 3 weeks.

MorganJ said...

It is very discerning that everyone mentions Clinton or Obama or both. I feel that the media is playing a big role in this presidential race. While Clinton and Obama are good candidates, Joe Biden is someone to take note of. In my opinion, Clinton and Obama are identical in political views. The views held by Biden set him apart from these politicians.

Alex the Great said...

im pretty sure i found the correct video on youtube, so i would have to say that senator clinton won. she was the most compossed and remained calm when debating the issues. personnally i dont think she will win though. i believe that when people look at her, they see bill clinton still running the show, which will subtract from her own power.