Centerfield

Debate In Progress

The Democratic debate is in progress.

Comments so far:

Kucinich is making Dean look moderate. Actually, Kucinich make Carol Mosely Braun look moderate.

Dean impressed me favorably by echoing my own point that we need to get Arab armies (Egypt and Morrocco) involved in policing Iraq, which we can only do by cooperating with the UN

Dean needs a neck, or at least a looser collar.

9:03 PM
The biggest surprise to me has been Bob Graham. I would not have been able to pick him out of a crowd before, but he seems intelligent and authoritative.

I've previously blogged how I'm put off by those who say "Bush is a liar." I find Dean's formulation, "What Bush said was false" to be palatable. It is possible for Bush to state something false without being a liar. He could be ignorant, mistaken, dumb, etc. The liar charge shows self-righteousness on those who use it. It is wise for Dean to avoid it.

Lieberman's shot about a "Dean depression" did not go over well. I think it was too hard a punch, and makes Lieberman look mean.

9:26
I don't like what any of the Democrats have said about "undocumented immigrants" Essentially, they're talking about open immigration. Maybe there would be some policing of borders, but once you're across and you don't commit a felony within the United States for 5 years, you become a citizen.

It makes a farce of any legal immigration process. Why would anyone be stupid enough to immigrate legally?

Even setting aside 9/11 security issues, I think American citizens whose taxes have created the accumulated capital of this country have a right to decide who they share it with. It's one thing to accept refugees with a well-founded fear of persecution, but the Democratic policy of foreign aid seems to be to allow all foreigners to move to the US.

10:20
It seems to me the Democratic candidates were pandering to the largely Hispanic audience in this "bilingual" debate held in New Mexico. There didn't seem to be any sense of a need to balance the aspirations of immigrants with the interests of native-born Americans.

They're politicians, and I expect they know what they're doing. Native-born Americans like myself may not like their position on immigration, but its not among the top 5 issues on our minds when we go into the voting booth. For Hispanic voters with relatives seeking legal status, it may be the number one issue. It's a classic case of the domination of concentrated over diffuse interests.