Few debaters walk off stage, wishing that they hadn't said this or that, kicking themselves one way or the other.
How much does it matter? Well, the importance of these debates is not clear. There is more downside than potential upside, most often.
The physical set-up was wrong. Two candidates, standing at attention behind austere podiums, facing off against their comfortably seated inquisitors, only emphasizes distance, in a debate that was potentially loaded with contention from the outset. Should have taken seats at a table.
Obama didn't keep his audience in mind in relation to the Press. He hesitated in going over the heads of the Press. Hillary did as well. "What use will you make of George Bush?". Ans: "I don't think that is a question on the minds of Americans, right now, whatsoever. I've taken a pledge not to have any paid lobbyists in my White House, etc." As it is, George H.W. Bush will be on the horn tomorrow to close any distance opened up tonight, just as he has before.
Obama and his campaign are having a really hard time turning lemons, of all kinds, into lemonade, without a lot of extra help by everyone else. I don't know why that is, but that goodwill will dry up one day. He seems to want to be liked, which is fine as a leadership tool, in many ways - it keeps one "open". But, when it interferes with talking firmly, raising your voice, showing conviction, it's not. He let himself get dragged into yet one more "clarification" of Wright, and Stephanopolous pounced, "You disown him?" Compare McCain who stopped answering questions about his lobbyist-gate, once they had all been asked and answered. If this keeps up, it is a bad omen for his first months in office, truly, if he wins it.
Obama missed hitting easy tosses out of the park. When you get a "free" patriotism question, you hit it out of the park, one way or another. Four weeks ago, he should have sat down and written a 400 word essay on "what patriotism means to me" to clarify his thoughts. Then, he should have honed it down to a few soundbites and a few stories. He may well have given a luncheon talk in Philadelphia on the patriotism of the Founding Fathers, knowing that it is an issue for him (that sounds corny, but he's got to be proactive). The fact that his campaign advisers don't see far enough around the corner politically to insist on this is seriously problematic. The upcoming week will show any unforced errors, like those that cropped up before the March 4 vote.
Obama campaign (and Hillary too) have policy work to do. Specifically on energy policy and on foreign policy. Their articulated message on energy is ... inadequate. They both lack a vision on how to shape a foreign policy, one that includes the struggle with radicalism and America's role as unwanted and reluctant hegemon. Obama talks about diplomacy, but one gets the sense that he's not able to mount a truly impassioned defense of it. Tonight, he talked about an attack on Israel, but failed to bring up the U.N. Security Council or working with other allies (or even to mention Israel's own, substantial counter-strike capability). This suggests that neither have a passionately held vision that ties together how they want to shape the Nation's foreign policy, apart from merely responding to events as best we can, or something.
Obama (and to a lesser extent, Hillary) missed the opportunity to shape the debate to their own needs. There are a lot of people watching and following, outside Pennsylvania. If I were Obama, I would have wanted to mention the words "Ohio", "Michigan", and "Florida", at least once in my talk and probably "Iowa", too. It's NOT that hard. "Will I pick Hillary for VP? Well, I'll tell you, when I'm the nominee, I'm going back to Ohio and shake hands with everyone who didn't vote for me the first time. And if we can double the hispanic turnout in Texas, that state could break out of its GOP trajectory." Something like that.
Questions are like ponds in which you throw your own skipping stones!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Debate Redux, Exhibit C - What Went Wrong
