After watching last night's debate, I really can't understand why anyone would vote for Obama. I don't think I've ever seen question dodging of that caliber. He has an amazing talent for talking without saying a thing. Clinton did it as well, but not nearly as often. And what's with all this 'I'd have to look at the situation before I can tell you what I'd do'? How long have these two had to look at the situation and develop a plan? I really loved it when Gibson kept reiterating the fact that government revenues went up when the capital gains tax was lowered. Obama sure seemed unwilling to accept that with his 'maybe it did, maybe it didn't' BS. If I had to choose between those two, it'd be Clinton all the way.

I didn't expect much from Stepontopofus or Glibson, yet they still managed to disappoint.

Gibson and Stephanopoulos made fools of themselves. A debate about wearing a flag pin? During wartime? During an economic crisis? Sweet jesus.

I can't believe Joey and I saw the same debate. Clinton was dodging and weaving on her answer regarding her Bosnian tall tale. She linked Obama to Hamas and had her puppy Stephanopoulos bring up the Weather Underground and then just happened to have a few more facts to lay on? Collusion?

Obama is the only hope this nation has to change its direction. A Clinton or McCain presidency will doom us all...more war...more division.

It's become a mud fest, with Hillary pulling the entire party down with her as she slowly loses the campaign. You can almost hear Bill in the background urging her to go negative. Hopefully Pennsylvania will surprise us all and put an end to it.

Here's some insight into the question of "whether we watched the same debate."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/opinion/17kristof.html?th&emc=th

I think the campaign has changed. It's now a race to see if Barack Obama can retain some of his original joy in being alive or will dealing with Hillary all these months permanently zap his spirit.

Yea, like Obuma, didn't get any shady help from his buddy Rizzo in Chi town. Are presidential candidates usually as shady as the three now in the running? I usually just vote my pocket book as well as I can, meaning lowest expected tax outcome drives my voting. So, at this point Obuma is certainly out and Clinton to a lesser extent. Obuma wants to raise the marginal rate of income taxation on entrepreneurs from 40% or so to over 60%. If I were hit with such an increase, I'm laying off any help and going fishing.

Actually, I thought George Stephanopoulos was completely impartial last night. You couldn't tell who he liked more: Hillary Clinton or Bill.

I'm laying off any help

Don't do it, Bob. You need all the help you can get.

Just saying ... there's words and then there's deeds. There's pander puffery and then there's enacted policy. There's talk-talk and then there's look at the footsteps who walked into North America Fascist Trade Agreement.

ABC's Gibson aired McCain's criticism of Obama, but did not mention Obama's response, Media Matters for America, Apr 16, 2008

On the April 14 broadcast of ABC's World News, anchor Charles Gibson noted Sen. John McCain's remarks at the April 14 Associated Press Annual Meeting and Luncheon -- during which McCain criticized Sen. Barack Obama for comments Obama made on April 6 -- and aired a clip of McCain's speech. However, Gibson did not note that Obama responded to McCain's comments later that day at the same event.

[Obviously apparent, Gibson and ABC HATE Obama, so they fairly much discredit themselves -- constant LIARS -- in any talk-talk they say next, like, 'airing a debate' ?!?!, oh, that's a good one, broadcast yuck-yucks ... someone actually watches this excrement for thought? That's sad.]

[continuing at the link ... ]

... Obama's speech at the AP event, in which Obama specifically addressed McCain's comments:

OBAMA: Now, Senator McCain and the Republicans in Washington are already looking ahead to the fall and have decided that they plan on using my comments to argue that I'm out of touch with what's going on in the lives of working Americans. And I don't blame them for this -- that's the nature of our political culture. If I had to carry the banner for eight years of George Bush's failures, I'd be looking for something else to talk about too.

But I will say this: If John McCain wants to turn this contest -- election into a contest about which party is out of touch with the struggles and hopes of working America, that's a debate I'm happy to have. In fact, I think that's a debate that we have to have, because I believe that the real insult to the millions of hard-working Americans out there would be a continuation of the economic agenda that's dominated Washington for far too long.

I may have made a mistake last week in the words that I chose, but the other party has made a much more damaging mistake in the failed policies they've chosen and the bankrupt philosophy that they've embraced for the last three decades. [... that would be the fascist LIARS and the blackmailed Democratic Party Regulars calling their 'base' listeners to suicide-jump with them into the abysmal maw of All 'war' All the time.]

Notice that the specific mention, "last three decades" pinpoints the start of the fascism under Bushbutcher the Elder's administration ... what?, you thought he was Veep, and Raygun was POTUS running things? Because TV-'Simon said so'? ... sounds like Alzheimers sympathizer syndrome, for a brief second ... wait, what was the Veep's name again? who we talking about? Nevermind. Actually, there never was a mind, in Raygun.

And, uh ... do folks believe TV-'Simon says so' that imbecile Dumbo is POTUS running things today? Uh ... nope, tough love to break it to them, it's the Veep again. (Holding Gibson and ABC/Disney by the vice on their filberts -- not 'vise,' vice !! Read all about it: April 15, 2008 -- Palfrey convicted on all counts, (WashDC) Upscale escort firm ruled as prostitution front; if you can find it -- ABC/Disney is NOT going to report it, those company jewels were in front of the camera at Palfrey's place; getcher gotcha's on and shut the TV fauxmoderators up, so Simon says so what SuperSimon says Simon says so ... layer behing layer behing layer, and standing in the furthest shadows in the background is ...?

The once, and still POTUS, two terms disguised as Veep behind Raygun, one term in his own name, now two more terms moving the mouth of the Veep who speaks for the imbecile boy ... of Mister MasterRace MasterMind, got the whole "vision thing" going, at least "a thousand points of light," swirling, spinning, calling out some New Order of the World ... frog-gigging Gibson and deranging a TV-'Simon says so' debate is a piece of cakewalk for the King of the CIA, (it says so he's King, his name is bold in gold across the front of the Headquarters building).

Anyway, for anyone who's counting, that makes 5 terms (at least, some also add 2 more of Hillary's Billboy) in the last three decades running things out of the Evil Office -- one thing about those 'MasterMind' types, they can't get enough of that powercrazy juice. 'Addicts' is the disease, I reckon.

oops, I made typo mistakes. At some point, let it read: "... layer behind layer behind layer ..."

After watching Billary and Osama continue to destroy their tax and spend political party, I thank my lucky stars I am not a Dumocrat....

Stephanopoulos feels his coveted cabinet position slipping away. Thanks for the memories of the worst of the Clinton era outlined in the linked articles.

You're right Ed. It's much better to be a member of the republican borrow and spend party. Have you been paying attention the past eight years?

We're being taxed more than ever by the Republicans. The money's just going to oil companies and foreign governments like Iran, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia. And yet Rush Limbaugh's little sheep still have the nerve to think they're the smart ones.
A better phrase I heard for them is, "Stuck on stupid."

After watching Billary and Osama continue to destroy their tax and spend political party, I thank my lucky stars I am not a Dumocrat....

Oh, I see what you did there. You called Hillary "Billary" because of her husband, and you called Obama "Osama" because his name rhymes. That's really very clever. You should call Harvard Lampoon, I heard they need some new writers of trenchant wit.

Sigh.... I will never understand why some are putting so much stock into Sen. Hillary ( I was under sniper fire ) Clinton who has no credibility, or Sen. Barry ( The Great Black Hope ) Obama who has no experience or track record at all...

I have to laugh when I hear the Republican lurkers heaping trash on the Democrats. Economy is bad, war is out of control and being lost, inflation is rising, and a Republican nominee who is proud to offer more of the same.

The only way the Democratic candidate loses this coming election is if they find him/her in bed with a live boy or a dead girl. And then it would only close the gap.

Greg C

Tom Shales, the Washington Post's TV reviewer had it right....the cable news channels put on better debates now than the networks. If I'm ABC News, I'm embarrassed. The rehashing and stupid questions were a waste of everybody's time. Obama was right - enough with the ridiculous and neverending nitpicking about non-issues. I'm still waiting for the debate that put the two candidates into a studio for an hour with NO moderators and give them five or six issues they need to cover. I'd bet we'd learn a lot.

"The rehashing and stupid questions were a waste of everybody's time"

Yes, true..but this is the only thing the general public can understand and digest.

ABC/Disneymakebelieve TV is a 'plant,' as is all TV, as much bent on helping Hillary as Rash Lamebrain is, (I guess that's because TV and Lamebrain and LIARS and the fascist offensive front line has invested a lot of time and energy implanting in the massmind some 'image' of Clinton, for the public to be preconceived of, and (knee-)jerked around by, leading up to the election). I don't know that Obama is, or can be, going as president to make any effectual difference, in policy and what-not ... but I really like the idea that his popularity and grassroots appeal outside of the TV/rightwing/LIARS portrayals to defame him, means that all their time and effort were wasted trying to set up Hillary (for 8 years now, or whatever on that Big Prize Tee in T-ball TV, and then knock the props out and her out of the park, with a rigged ballot count done to her as was done to Gore, as was done to Kerry, but is NOT so all-fired sure to done to Obama). Hubris is its own downfall, and the fascists overreaching and falling on their face is the best hope we have that they are going down. Fortunately, History says its the most reliable hope.

MediaMatters collection of massmedia comments on the debate, the day after.

Altercation: We don't burn our draft cards here at ABC News ...
Just why ABC thinks that a presidential debate should entirely ignore, say, health care issues, environmental issues, science policy issues, our overstretched and under-resourced military, an epidemic of people losing their homes, the bailing out of megabanks, issues related to our disappearing civil liberties and political freedoms is a mystery to me. Instead we got a combination of trivial personal gossip and right-wing talking points, as if the anchors had been scripted by the bastard child of Liz Smith and Grover Norquist. [Read More ...]

Media criticize ABC moderators for "flat-out repulsive" debate performances, "specious and gossipy" subject matter
Numerous media figures have criticized George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson, moderators of the Democratic presidential debate on ABC, or the subject matter of the event, in part or in whole, as "shoddy [and] despicable," "specious and gossipy," "cringe-worthy," "banal," consisting of "tabloid trivia," "flat-out repulsive," "embarrassing," "seem[ingly] slanted against [Sen. Barack] Obama," "shameful," and "an outrage." [Read More ...]

Right-wing radio hosts suggested "damn good" Ayers question to Stephanopoulos day before Dem debate ...

MSNBC's Shuster claimed "[c]ampaign financing ... could help McCain tarnish" Obama -- did not mention McCain may be breaking campaign finance laws ...

Much is made of McCain's heroic service in Vietnam, but as cold and tragic as it may seem, do we really want a guy with a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder that close to the button? He could be a few snapped synapses removed from the burned out vet standing on the freeway on-ramp with a cardboard sign.

I didn't see the debate, and the MSM hasn't had much to say about it. Nothing about the tabloid questions in the NY Times today, though one of its blogs had a lot of comments, mostly negative.

I can't believe Joey and I saw the same debate. Clinton was dodging and weaving on her answer regarding her Bosnian tall tale.

C'mon, be honest. Obama was weaving just as much to the questions he was asked.

My favorite part of the whole debacle is crazy websites like the Daily Kos going batty over it being some kind of "right wing conspiracy" to make the Democratic candidates look bad. When in reality, the Democratic party is eating itself alive fighting over their own candidates. And they cant get over the fact that the MSM is completely "ga-ga" over Obama and they dont care about Clinton in the least.