The Political Chase

Edwards Distinguishes Himself in Democratic Debate

Former Sen. John Edwards gave his best performance yet in the Democratic presidential debate last night held in New Hanover, New Hampshire. He deftly put Sen. Hillary Clinton on the defensive — distinguishing himself as a clear alternative to Clinton’s current front-runner status.

Edward’s best moment came in an exchange with Hillary Clinton after the candidates were asked if they were elected president, would they still have troops in Iraq at the end of their first term. As
evidenced in the video, Edwards clearly distinguishes himself from Clinton on Iraq primarily with respect to the general election, and in a rare moment for Clinton she resorted to “clarifying” prior statements she made. There is little doubt the presidential election will be the GOP pro-war position versus a Democratic anti-war position. Edwards makes it clear that Hillary’s position has been to continue combat troops in Iraq and thereby disqualifying her as a sound representative of most Democrats wanting to end the war.

I thought Edwards excelled in other areas, such as Iran and Social Security, which I will cover later. I’m not a high school debating judge and can’t quantitatively score the debate, but on a personal level I saw Edwards as the winner in last night’s debate.

Obama’s performance was lacking. He reportedly was sick with a cold, which may have been a factor, but how many people knew that? Few i doubt. He still did not make a concerted effort to knock Clinton off her throne, and some of his answers seemed weak.

More specifics later…