Debating

I think we're moving into the phase where this blog becomes more of a forum for political discussion. But I will add some more pictures from the trip (see below). Anyway, I'll offer my thoughts on the Clinton- Obama Death Match. Okay, it wasn't really a death match. In fact, it was remarkably cordial. It's hard to say whom that really helped. Clinton is the better debater whether it's polite or not. But Obama has become a much better debater as the campaign has gone on. By the end of the campaign, I suspect he'll be as nimble, ruthless and polished as Hillary. I thought he held his own pretty well.

In fact, I think he won it by a hair. Hillary certainly showed that she has the better command of the facts and a more sophisticated policy stance. But she still gets tripped up the her Iraq authorization vote. What she needs to say is this: "That vote was a mistake, but we need to move on to what to do about it now." But, like her husband, she will need to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to actually face that truth. And then she still won't acknowledge or admit it. Obama is wise to push the "judgement" issue. He was right, after all. It's really that issue that makes me think that Obama won. He responded to every question well (although there were a few awkward moments), but Hillary really doesn't have an answer to one question that's been asked of her for years. To put it in baseball terms, Obama won a 1-0 game on an unearned run. But in the end, I think either of them will make a solid candidate.

By the way, have any of you noticed that "Obama" isn't in Firefox's spell check feature? What's up with that? They send me an update nearly every day. Can't one of those contain an update to the spelling dictionary that adds Obama's name? Clinton is already in. And so is McCain. Even Romney is in. So why not Obama? He's, like, running for president, you know. People might actually talk about him.