Edwards Above Fray at SC Dem Debate

Dateline: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Democratic candidates for president gather for one last debate before the primary here. With the heat surrounding this campaign of late, this is a golden opportunity for the candidates to show that they are above it all.

Let's sit back and enjoy, as the candidates stick to the issues and really respond to the questions on everyone's minds.

Update: 10:55pm- CNN focus group of undecided voters say Edwards won the debate, but that they would vote for Obama because "he has a better chance of winning the nomination."
The Economy: Hillary wants "the right kind of stimulus." Cut it out! She hits Bush for leaving out people who don't pay income tax but do pay payroll & sales tax, etc.

Barack hits Bush for the war. He also implies Hillary is following on this issue. Edwards agrees with Barack and Hillary that Bush's plan leaves people out. He wants to stimulate with green jobs. He knocks the Peru trade deal.
Wolf and Barack are chiding Edwards for answering too long term. Obama namechecks Edwards' dad, slams Hillary on Nafta, and defends Peru. Then he slams Edwards for supporting trade with China.

Hillary makes a good point. She wants to reserve money for rebates, but wants to avoid using them so that the Republicans in the Senate can't mess with taxes too much, trying to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

Edwards wants to start green jobs in 30 days. He says Bush can't enforce regulations with Peru, Obama says, "Well, in a year, it'll be me enforcing them." Big applause line.

Barack calls Hillary and Bill out for having pants on fire. The look on Hillary's face? Priceless. There's your stimulus!

Hillary, no, don't drag Reagan into this! Hillary also says Barack's plan doesn't explain how he pays for it. Barack is pissed! Oh, crap, they're arguing. Oh, snap! Hillary worked for Wal Mart! This is getting ugly. Edwards: "There is a third person in this debate!" It's a pie fight!

Barack re Clinton: I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes. Oooof!!! Hillary took it THERE! Rezko, the indicted fundraiser, that was dirty! There's nothing there, it's crap.

Edwards is scolding them. How many children is this helping? Yeah, you go, John! "Lord knows you let them go on forever!" LOL.

Edwards says he has the most progressive agenda, and he is right. Edwards says subprime lenders targets black Americans, acknowledges current discrimination, talks about payday lenders. He proposes a match on savings accounts.

Obama responds to the Rezko charge. I read the story, he's right, but he's closer to the guy than he lets on. Still, guilt by association, if there's nothing else there, is crap.

Oh, crap, they're distorting their records. Edwards jumps in. They're talking about a cap on credit card interest rates. Oh, sh#t, they're booing Hillary. Dirty! Crapping on a "Present" vote "keeping sex shops away from schools", what the f@#% is a sex shop? Barack explains why you vote "present" sometimes. This is why campaign ads are crap. Sometims, you have to vote against something that seems good, but has a poison pill in it. They've all done it, they all know it.

Edwards and Obama is literally toe to toe with Barack. These candidates need to calm down. I think Barack is winning this thing, and we're all getting a lesson in how campaigns distort things.

Healthcare: Don't get me started. The Democrats' plans are better than what we have, let's leave it at that. I've looked at the candidates' plans, they are similar, Edwards' is the best.

Obama: Why doesn't your plan cover illegal immigrants? Basically, Americans first. I guess the money fairy pays for ER visits. Let's be clear, when they say Universal Healthcare, what they mean is Universal Health Insurance. As long as we have a for-profit healthcare system, costs will continue to rise. Market forces cannot contain costs for something that people have no choice but to get.

Edwards says none of them cover illegals. He also says he's the only one who doesn't take corporate money. Barack slams Hillary and Edwards for mandating coverage for adults. We're paying for them now, Barack. Edwards is comparing Barack's argument to Bush's social security plan. Hillary and John win this point. Hillary finishes him off.

LOL, Edwards wishes Obama luck responding in 30 seconds. Did he say "Mass-a-two shits"?

Iraq: Hillary says bring them home. She thinks Iraq is behaving to pressure the U.S. to continue the gravy train. Edwards gets a laugh at Bush's expense, then correctly points out that the political progress, such as there's been, is not meaningful to solving the core problems of the conflict. Breaktime! Is anybody reading this?

OK, we're all getting comfy now. So far, I've found the gloves-off tenor to be refreshing. I hope people are paying attention to the substance here. So far, I think they've succeeded in showing us the difference between real policy differences and noise.

Knowlesie, I agree. Edwards is firing on all cylinders, and he needs to. He's not gonna win in SC, but he needs to make his case.

I have a cranky baby in my lap now, I'll do my best.

Should black folks consider race? Edwards says it's up to the individual, but on the substance, he's the best on equality. He's right again.

Hillary tries to compare her poverty bona fides with Edwards. Now she's bragging about Bill's record. Risky.

Barack and Edwards are joshing about boring policy papers. Bwah-ha-ha. Barack is addressing the media's injection of race, saying we need not to focus on our divisions. LOL, "in a race where we have a woman, an African American, and...John"

Edwards is bringing up Billo. Good applause line. Another race question. Barack, was Bill Clinton our first Black President? "Bill Clinton did have an enormous affinity with black people." LOL, he has to investigate Bill's dancing abilities to determine if he is, in fact, a brother. Hillary: "I think that can be arranged!" Awesome! Krump battle!

Now, that's how you settle things!

Barack is talking about the justice system, very courageous. Democrats too often agree with stupid laws to not seem "weak on crime."

Hillary chimes in with pay inequality and correctly points out that the Republicans don't disagree about these things, they don't even talk about them.

Edwards' dad worked in a mill! Edwards sums up nicely.

Ooof! Should Bill Clinton shut up? I want to see if they ask Edwards and Obama about their spouses. "Ready from day one" talking points, zzzzz.

David, you're right. I'm even a little sleepy now. Ooo, Barack gets some applause with, "The one good thing Bush and Cheney have done is to give their party a bad name."

Edwards says McCain will be the GOP nominee. He's pitching himself to help win the South. Is he campaigning for Vice-President, too, here? He's right, too, about that poll, didn't you do a story on that, David? Link?

Obama is talking about attracting independents, but isn't that McCain's base? Now, he's talking about faith. He makes a good point. If you don't swing at the ball, you can't get a hit.

LOL, Hillary: Don't pay attention to polls. Oh, now she's claiming she's better on national security. Edwards, go! He points out McCain's stand on campaign finance reform, ooh, then he asks Hillary if she'll pledge not to have lobbyists in the White House...crickets...

Hillary throws a pejorative "triiial lawyers" at him. Barack steps in and agrees with John pretty much. On national security, Barack doesn't think Democrats should run like Republicans, but to overcome the politics of fear. Nicely done.

Why would MLK endorse you, if he were alive today? One of them should say, "He wouldn't, he'd be running against me."

Edwards: His work on poverty and voting rights.

Barack: He wouldn't, he'd hold us accountable. Close.

Hillary: She seemed to be echoing her LBJ comments, but this time saying they "finally responded", and that we deserve politicians who will be responsive.

This was a great debate, but it seems like, no matter how easygoing and sensitive the candidates are about race, the media is determined to flog that issue. I feel a little like this debate had a cleansing effect, like family therapy.

I've said it before, I think Edwards is strongest on the substance, and he did a good job jumping in at the right times, highlighting key differences, especially about cleaning out lobbyists. He faces impossible odds in South Carolina, but he's well positioned to pick up delegates on Super Tuesday, and if Barack and Hillary's fighting cancels them out a little, John's right in there.

Between Barack and Hillary, I think Barack Obama came out of this the winner, on every issue but Healthcare. Hillary threw a lot of mud at Barack.

All of this may be a little moot. There is a gathering storm of race vs. gender that is forming despite the candidates' best efforts, and aided by the news media. Since South Carolina is supposed to be a fait accompli for Obama, it seems that Super Tuesday will tell the tale. I don't see South Carolina affecting Super Tuesday, I think it is going to be a high-turnout war no matter what. Every bounce that SC can take results in an energized electorate. See you there.

Update: To Wish Belkin, first of all, Ron Paul for President (that is the greeting of choice for his people), and second, you are absolutely right that Dennis Kucinich is a great candidate who is not bought and paid for, but I think the same can be said for Edwards and Obama.

RomneyGirl, Edwards waded in there a couple of times, at the right times, but you're right, the moderators again did a lousy job of maling it a 3-way conversation.

Sandy, I disagree a little with you. For me, I came away with the same overall ranking I went in with (Edwards, Obama, Clinton), but there were 2 major surprises for me. First, Barack got spanked on healthcare by Hillary, but Edwards' plan is still best. Second, I was shocked at how dirty Hillary got, both on Barack's record and that Rezko thing. I didn't have time to go into it, but I hope the little thumbnail I sketched about distorting voting records was coherent.

One last thing before bed. I do want to give props to Hillary. Although she fought dirty, at least she did it to his face. This is what I meant when I said this debate, to me, was a cleansing exercise. Maybe we'll have a cleaner campaign after this.

Edwards may see a bump from this, I'll watch for it, but the meaningless 4% finish in Nevada as a result of the crummy caucus math really hurt him. All I can say is, vote your conscience, people. Let the votes be counted.

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