The Political Chase

Democratic Debate on NPR

National Public Radio (NPR) hosted a debate in Des Moines for Democratic presidential candidates this afternoon. The forum was atypical — radio broadcast only and no audience at the debate — and somewhat heated according to reports. I did not listen to the debate, but media accounts indicate Hillary Clinton was slammed on Iran by her rivals and time was was more equally allocated to all candidates relative to televised debates.

Dan Balz and Anne Kornblut of the Washington Post reported “Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton faced repeated criticism…for supporting” the Senate Resolution on Iran (Kyl-Lieberman Amendment). John Edwards levied the most criticism on Clinton and repeated his view that Clinton’s support of the Resolution “amounted to agreement with Bush’s worldview on terrorism,” Balz and Kornblut report.

Not amused by Edwards’ remarks, Clinton responded:

I understand politics, and I understand making outlandish political charges, but this really goes way too far. Having designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, we’ve actually seen some changes in their behavior.

But Clinton stood alone - there was no knight in shining armor today. Gov. Bill Richardson was unable to attend and did not come to Clinton’s aid as he did in the last MSNBC Democratic debate. Instead, Edwards was reinforced by other candidates.

“There’s no evidence — none, zero that this declaration caused any change in action on the part of the Iranian government,” Joe Biden said.

Barack Obama’s response was more tempered and indirect, but obviously critical of Clinton’s support of the amendment ultimately initiated by the Bush administration.

It is absolutely clear that this administration and President Bush continues to not let facts get in the way of his ideology . . .They should have stopped the saber rattling; should have never started it. And they need, now, to aggressively move on the diplomatic front.

Chris Cilliza of the Washington Post’s “The Fix” declared John Edwards the winner, followed by Joe Biden and Chris Dodd on a par level. On Edwards, Cilliza writes::

In the debates to date, Edwards has wavered between two personas: effective critic and angry outsider. At times Edwards’ strident critique against “the establishment” sizzles with populist brio. But, it can also occasionally come across as cranky and complaining — not exactly the two leading traits that people want in a president. In today’s debate, Edwards took on the effective critic persona. He sought to politely highlight what he called real divides between himself and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) on Iran, and largely kept his focus on the mistakes made by the Bush Administration. Edwards was also able to hold his own when the debate turned to China — demonstrating that he does indeed have some heft on foreign policy.

In the Losers’ category, Cilliza selected Hillary Clinton, followed by Mike Gravel with a virtual asterisk.

Here’s the problem for the junior Senator from New York: Despite the fact that polling in Iowa shows her in tight race with Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), her rivals for the nomination still treat her as though she is the frontrunner. On Iran, she took incoming from all sides — Obama and Edwards accused her of attempting to distort their past statements, while Dodd and Biden castigated Clinton for her vote in favor of the now infamous Kyl-Lieberman amendment that designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Clinton was also hurt by the topics chosen by NPR; on Iran and immigration she has taken considerable flack for her positions; her strongest issue, health care, was left out of the mix.

As to the virtual asterisk for Gravel, Cilliza writes:

It’s just hard to see why the former Alaska Senator continues to make the cut for these debates. He is an asterisk in every state and national poll we’ve seen, has raised next to nothing, and seems to believe his role in these gatherings is to serve as the resident crank.