All questions are moot! This election falters with regard to candidates having a clear picture of what is the Iraqi question. Debate or not but-Why has not one media outlet considered the thought that , “We Did Win the Iraqi war (now a Police Action) and we have given them a bordered land.” All other questions are moot to this election. Did any nation (including France) stay after we gained this land? They helped us win and left….

lol to CNN… toni

(ps - sorry if i could not find a link to the correct blog for this and tried to post it under the Korean story= my bad)

David thank you for your post. I always find them very insightful and I agree completely with what you said in this post. I am not sure how much Hillary Clinton can and is willing to grow and change. Her line about the SNL skit is really sad and pathetic and all other candidates who dropped out should speak up because for the first debates in this campaign Senator Clinton was usually asked the first question. She seems to have a selective memory.

Hi David,
I think you’re right about Obama. However, until all the votes are in from Texas and Ohio, I’d say never say never. I think if Obama wins, then that’s it. As far as McCain goes, I think he’ll have a whole new set of questions to put on the table in a debate. Questions that the Democrats have skirted very cleverly so far.

Lorie Ann, Buellton, Calif.

Hi David:

You are correct in your observation. I have to say that the debate last night was much more compelling than the one in Austin. Campbell Brown, John King and Jorge Sanchez looked like amateurs when asking questions and moderating the debate in Austin. It seems to be the way with CNN these days and I like CNN.

Last night’s debate was hard hitting, addressed practically every issue that has been out in the media for the past week and smart. When Tim Russert asked specific questions and made it personal (Hillary’s promises to create new jobs in Buffalo in 2000, his home state), it made his query much more substantive. As a result we had a debate on policy and it showed a very Presidential side in Obama.

I hope that CNN changes its roster of pundits and bring back INTELLIGENCE to news. Leslie Sanchez (fluff), Amy Holmes (irrelevant), John King’s ridiculous (albeit interactive) vote board are all time wasters. You and Candy Crowley are the two people I can watch.

I have been watching the debates closely. Last night confirmed what I thought I heard during the previous Democratic Debate. The so called “eloquent” Senator Obama mispronounced the name of the state of Massachusetts..not once….but FOUR times in two debates !

His close friend and speech mentor Governor Deval Patrick should have corrected him on that blunder. Senator Obama …. It’s not “MassaTusetts”. You would HOPE you would know the names of “these United States” before running for President !
Another SHAME ON YOU !

Kathy
Dudley, MassaCHusetts

I think Senator Clinton should be attacking the media full force, not Mr. Obama. After all this is a 100% media driven election, with the media manipulating the facts to conform to their goals. (If I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.) But it’s all starting to make sense to me. Just imagine all the great news you guys will get to deliver as McCain eats Barak alive! And all you will get to report on if he actually wins — the exciting international crises he will trigger with his naiveté, the incredible tax hikes we’ll need to pay for his social programs, the tanking of the economy, the loss of jobs, and the plunging approval ratings that occur when people realize he won’t be able to deliver on his awe inspiring promises. The terrorist organizations must be dancing in the streets, at the thought of us electing yet another inept and inexperienced President. As for those of us who vote with the thinking part of our brains and not for those who “move us” in a pep rally, this all just too painful to watch. This is one Democrat who would vote for McCain any day.

I am really tired of Sen.Clinton’s condescending attitude to Sen.
Obama , the press and the general public. The Clinton attack
machine has done it all to try and make Sen. Clinton the only correct
political choice. I wil never vote for her.

David, how can you say that Hillary was masterful? There is no doubt that Barack has become a stronger debater, but the truth is that Hillary is losing because she never seems to learn from her mistakes. How many debates will it take for Hillary to stop using the example of voting yes on the bill for a 30% cap on credit card interest (then stating later she hoped the bill WOULDN’T pass.) Only to have her opponent tell her once again, that voting yes for a bill is NOT the way to stop bills from being passed. Barack was given a free pass by Clinton, once again, to say that he didn’t like the entire bill, and a 30% cap on credit card interest is excessively high in the way of a cap.

Take away the slamming by each candidate, the accusations of biased this and biasd that, and what do you get. Hillary Clinton is the best candidate for President in this year’s election. Barack Obama follows her every statement on policy, except healthcare, in which he wants to leave 15 million Americans without, wit “I agree with Hillary”. Even when it came to REJECTING the fanatic Louis Farakhan’s Muslim beliefs. So why accept a carbon copy in Barack Obama, when we can have the real deal in Hillary?

David: I agree with your comment about Obama’s improvement as a debater. The debate last night was a draw with a slight edge to Obama for being presidential. The late biologist Steven Gould, who had a passion for baseball, was once asked why there were no more .400 hitters. His reply was that everyone involved, pitchers and batters, had adapted to each other. The same with Obama - he has adapted to Clinton’s well honed approach which prevents her from hitting the big one. Obama would turn aside criticism as trivial or agree with Clinton or make a contrast like the one on negative materials by saying that he is not whining about it.. They used to say that Reagan was Mr. Teflon. Maybe Obama has acquired that ability.

Dear Mr. David ,

I agree with you absolutely, life is all about learning and growing and coming out a winner with flying colors, Obama keeps his cool and composure and keeps dignified under all circumstances and i am sure we all want to see that in a President of this country , the whole world look s up to, no one wants o see a lady losing her demenor ad dignity just cause she sees failure in her face ..its really not befitting a presidencial candidate

As for lasing out at the press..and whining, again ..incase she is winning she has no complaint..its only when she loses, is that again befitting a presidential hopeful…its not an election for a small organisation but for the country..where the job will come with circumstances which will be even more difficult each day..how does she plan to cope with that?

Anyways hopefully Mrs. Clinton will learn from this race and come out a better person and senator..after all she says she wants to ‘work for people “, and even the senate is a good enough platform to do that.

regards,
Taruna

Clinton won the debate.

I changed my mind and my vote is for Hillary. Barack several times, seemed to stutter. It seemed as if he had a speech impediment marked by involuntary repetitions and pauses.

I would like to know why the press wont attack obama like you all do to clinton.there is only one reason i can think of is you dont want to deal with the ncaap asso i mean what saying obama middle name husssane iam not sure on the spelling of that but that his name wight if he becomes president his hold name will be wote just any other presidents.look what we have running for president in 08 is not much we need a person with a stong hand to get this country back on the right road thank you…………..

If Hillary was in possession of Barack’s spectacular lack of credentials and experience, the press would have made shishkabobs out of her by now. As it is, the fact that he managed to pull some votes through the sheer force of personality and charisma that he certainly owns has made him their darling. They declared him the de facto winner of the nomination the minute they started trumpeting his “momentum”.

The burning issue of whether she will make her tax return from last year public is the biggest non-issue I’ve ever heard. Her tax returns have been under a microscope for decades now. Does the term “Whitewater” mean anything to anyone??

The media needs to start questioning exactly what “Yes, we can” means. Can what? And who on earth is “we”? Are the Bubbas who have not the faintest grasp of long-term interest rates going to determine our economic future? Are those who don’t know a Sunni from a Shiite going to figure out how to manage this massive troop withdrawal? Will they decide whether to go back in when the genocide starts? Will they devalue the power of the Oval Office by playing low status and being grateful for the opportunity to speak to any psychotic despot who is willing to talk to us?

And will the media ever get around to asking Barack to defend the obvious discrepancy between his statements of today and his assessment of his own abilities a year ago? He wasn’t ready then, he knew it and freely admited it. So what happened to make him suddenly think that leading the country is no different from organizing a soup kitchen?

A successful campaign does not a leader make (see George W. Bush for details).

David
I still cannot figure out why the press does not challenge both candidates on their proposed unrealistic solutions. How long are we going to beat Iraqi war vote? Lets move on and find a solution for the Iraqi poeple. I feel it would be a mistake to pull of Iraq now, if we do we will be back there in a couple of years and cost us ten times more.

I think Hillary raised the issue about the first question is because she feels Barack is clueless about what is going on in the world and gets information form her response.

GET REAL PEOPLE. BARACK WON HANDS DOWN! If Hillary is so much about solutions, why did she promise New Yorkers she would create 200,000 jobs and ended up with a net loss of 35,000? ITs one thing to not reach your goal, but it is absolutely ridiculous to be worst off after the promise was made. AND THEN SHE BLAMED PRES. BUSH!!! COME ON! If she is soooo experienced, the results should have been different. The truth is that she is all talk and lacks the leadership qualities to acutually produce change. She will do better as a policy writer or admin assistant. Lastly, for her to take credit for everything good that happened in the Clinton admin and then try to distance herself from the mistakes is absurd. SHE supported NAFTA and the record SHOWS IT!

I agree with you analogy of the debate. Barack Obama is getting better each and every time he debates, while Hillary seems to be getting more and more frustrated. However Barack is not getting better in explaining his policies, he still lacks on that front while Hillary seems to have a good grasp of the issues and a real passion. Barack Obama showed a passion to change the country but it did not appear clear in what way, and he did not seem to genuinely care about healthcare.

David,
I did watch the debate last night, twice. First, I found Obama both condescending and sexist in his remarks that he and his campaign didn’t “whine” when Clinton’s camp sent out negative mailers, etc. regarding his policy platforms. Funny, he also doesn’t adequately defend his policy differences other than him being “right” about the war in Iraq from the beginning.

Obama is quite masterful in his choice of words. He “denounced” Louis Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic views in the past, but Obama had a real problem in “rejecting” Farrakhan’s endorsement. After a very uncomfortable exchange, Obama finally was able to concede to Clinton by both “denouncing” and “rejecting” Farrakhan’s views and endorsement.

I’m sure even this morning, Obama and his followers didn’t realize what Clinton had done. She scored the hardest point for being our next President by proving that there is a difference in just saying the words and having to make the hard choices.

It’s nice to watch a young man grow and mature and get polished in front of us, but do we really have the luxury of time to watch and nurture his growth as a leader of this country? Bottom line is that he may be getting there, but he’s not there yet, and we can’t afford for him to figure it out in the oval office. We did that TWICE with Bush and shame on us if we haven’t learned that lesson.

Clinton is now grabbing at the final straws in a pathetic attempt to save her chances at winning the nomination. What I saw was a desperate whiner. What I was hoping to see was Senator Obama slam her, but he has too much class for that. The stunt she pulled earlier misrepresenting Obama as a radical Muslim was just completely reprehensible. And her theatrical speech in Ohio mocking him was truly the last straw for me.

And the comment about Obama mispronouncing Massachusetts-maybe that’s a matter of dialect. It’s almost like people who pronounce New Orleans “Nawlins.” Whatever the case, it has no significance at all.

I have to say that I can no longer watch CNN,of which I used to be addicted, because I find myself yelling obscenities at my TV. It is hard to believe that these pundits and newsreporters can’t hear what is coming out of their mouths

Anything positive that Hillary does is either misconstrued or totally left behind,i.e., the State of the Black Union address,why didn’t anyone question where Obama was? Could it be that Louisana wasn’t important any longer since the state has already voted? Could it have been noted that the reason Hillary was there,was one of her flaws is she can’t say “no” to people who need help. I live in upstate NY and could recite time after time where Hillary bettered some desperate situation. And upstate NY is virtually all Republican!! Anything good she does is labelled “stategic or having an agenda”, anything good he does,really hasn’t been mentioned too much because the list is short(which I am sure will grow). However, his speeches are liken to Kennedy or King, now that will surely be effective name dropping! And on national TV,too. They are inspirational,and he is easy -going,but not Presidential material as of yet.

Anderson, I am especially disappointed with you,and the innuendoes and leading questions that are obviously very pro-Obama and anti Hillary. I have read a little about you and judged you as a person that could see beneath the surface, had depth as well as fairness, but I guess we are all human and flawed. And maybe it is difficult to go against the grain of other colleagues,to do what is right… except for people like Hillary!

However, Larry King seems to remain neutral and positive toward everyone. He seems to see the value in all human beings. No wonder every one calls him the King! So I guess I’ll turn on the “boob tube” at nine. Oh well ,I was watching too much TV anyway.!!

I think that Hillary was great in the debate last night. She does know what she is talking about and is consistant in her views. She is a shining star!!! Her problem is that the media (including CNN) is very biased in its reporting. Much more airtime and CNN support is for Obama. I just wonder if CNN is endorsing Obama and if they are why not just say so and give Hillary a break. It used to be that the citizens of the US elected our president NOT the media.

Elaine: It is unfortunate for you as a democrat to say that about McCain. I guess you like the state of the economy right now. The dollar is the weakest it has ever been in history, our foreign relations are in the dumps, the education system in this country has been dumbed down to the lowest common denominator and yet you think somehow the republicans who brought us into this state of demise is your hope for the future. I don’t know what looking glass you are peering into but it sure it a cloudy one.

Obama wants to mobilize the American people. That means you and me and everyone else. What do you have against that? The fact that he is winning after being the long-shot in this race is because of voting Americans. Hillary is frustrated that people are making their opinions known.

I would like to hear how you think the country will become the bright and sunny place you think it will be under McCain.

Clinton’s SNL remark makes her look desperate and [a bit] unprofessional. Criticizing and blaming the media — whining about it on national television (especially during a debate)? Come on.

You have brought up great points here.

I think that what we want is too see that the president can grow and change and respond to what is going on…while staying calm and collected.

Hilary has been a bit “Dr. Jeckle and Mrs. Hyde” and I don’t think that we want that as our president/representative.

She is also a bit hot-headed and that is not good either when dealing with a verbal attack.

The longer this goes, the better he gets. The longer this goes, the worse she becomes. We don’t need that in the White House.

THAT’s YOUR opinion … He doesn’t stumble ONLY because HILLARY ALWAYS is called upon in debates to ANSWER FIRST ! When Obama can’t B.S. an answer … he follows in agreement and spins a couple of new words on it to make it look like his own . YOU NEWS MEDIA are not fooling anybody … Go learn how to report without risking our sovereignty. The truth will show sooner or later … CNN will be responsible for manipulating and convoluting and steering an election and I think you should be held accountable for biased debates and reporting with a slant to favor the ones that best serve a perverted agenda.

TAKE SOME LESSONS FROM LOU DOBBS !

Both Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton are intelligent. What distingusihes Barak Obama is his temperment and personality.

Well put Mr. Gergen. It was pretty obvious that Obama’s strategy was to look presidential. She didn’t fare so well looking like a “whiner” as many in the media has described her debate performance. I think he did however, miss the opportunity to take it one step further and speak more to McCain or simply “name drop.” This would have shown “on the fence” voters that Obama knows he will be the democratic nominee and is confident on taking on McCain. At this point there if more than sufficient information (20 debates, candidate wesites, mailers, rallies, media coverage, etc.) for voters to decide. Like it or not, electability will be the deciding factor. Advantage Obama.

Hillary rocked last night. She was strong, intelligent, thoughtful about ALL the issues and took David Gergen’s advice, she started showing herself for what she is, a fighter and used it in the debate. I sure hope it helps her pull way ahead, I guess the polls say it’s still way close.

I want to know as well why on earth the news media/press are all about praising Obama endlessly and attacking Clinton? I have a hard time finding any news station that is fair to both sides anymore. CNN started out being fair to both with equal talk time but now it’s all about Obama. Ok, so he’s winning, that doesn’t make Clinton any less viable or important to the party and this race.

Obama may be inspirational but frankly, he’s going to need to work hard to come up with a careful and thoughtful foreign policy. If hes’ smart, he’ll pick Hillary as VP or someone more seasoned in that area.

Hello David,
First, I’d like to thank you for your remarks on last night’s show regarding Clinton’s original opinion on NAFTA. You didn’t have to put your personal professional experience in the White House in the spotlight, but I admire that you did to keep them honest!
(To those who missed it, She greatly opposed it.)
Secondly, we could take this “growing” concept to one more obvious conclusion….Obama needed to grow.
Is he at her level yet? Is he at McCains?

Hillary’s SNL remark and many viewer responses made on the blogs really had me questioning the role the media has played in the denouement of this campaign last night. Ultimately, I guess my position is: “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

It’s hard to know when the media is reporting the news or shaping it, or when doing one starts to amalgamate into the other. Today I saw a homebuilder (Toll Brothers) spokesman complain that the media is CAUSING slow housing because they keep publicizing recession fears. The thought is, if you talk about something enough it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But unlike the chicken and the egg, it’s easier to tell what came first this time.

People can argue that the media is jumping on the Obama bandwagon, but who hitched up that wagon? The press, pundits and networks were more surprised by the Iowa win than anyone else. Maybe it was caused by Obama’s growing appeal and the Clinton camp’s less than smooth response to it. If discussing what happened caused more positive attention to be focused on Obama, I’d say the media was shadowing public sentiment, not the other way around.

When it comes to running the country, I think the “change” motif, without more, is pretty useless. But when it comes to analyzing these campaigns, the issue is central. Obama has evolved and, for better or worse, Hillary hasn’t. Some think analyzing what has gone wrong is unfair to Clinton, but not doing so would be unfair to jounalism and the history it records.

If Senator Obama is nominated he will loose big time to McCain. He lacks experience on any level and his youth and likeness want help in voting time. People will be afraid to vote for somebody who had no chance to prove himself. He should let Hillary to deal with Republican nominee.

Dear David,

You are one of the few blog posters and commentators that I respect on CNN. I did watch the entire debate last night and I agree with your assessment of Hillary Clinton’s performance last night. She was “poised, energetic, and in command of policy.” Maybe I am mistaken, but isn’t that what we are looking for in a Commander-in-Chief?

Ms. Clinton is in a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation here. I think she was justified in bringing up the obvious media bias in favor of Obama. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had been a man and had made the same complaint if it would have been characterized by Obama and the media as “whining.” I doubt it; that word is always associated with women or meant to insinuate a sign of weakness, but as we know being sexist isn’t really taken seriously.

Yes, Obama has gotten better. I think that if you do something often enough odds are you will improve. When you start pretty close to the bottom there is no place to go but up and the opposite is true as well.

@Meg; Although I have lost respect for Candy Crowley, I have to agree with your assessment of the CNN pundits. They could use some new blood who are more objective and less predictable.

@Elaine; I agree with some of what you say. This has become a media driven election and because of that you will not see John McCain eat Obama alive. He will be handcuffed by the spectre of racism.

@Jan from Wood Dale,Il; I am glad that I was not the only one that thought Obama was condescending and sexist last night. I also think that the difficulty that Obama had with rejecting Farrakhan was a problem. Like the Rezko scandal, I find it curious that this “association” is being largely ignored by the media.

Jo Ann
North Royalton, Ohio

Dear David Gergen:
I think Anderson Cooper is the best prime time political and news host to come around in a long time - and - if you do not mind - I find your comments to almost always be the most incisive and penetrating about U. S. politics.
As a Canadian who watches AC360 nearly every evening (especially during this Presidential race) - I have not heard you or your colleagues alude to the following simple statement of fact:
“If Hillary Clinton were elected President, that would create 12 years of the Clinton Family residing in the White House. Further, The Bush’s Presidencies totalled 12 years . . . so, David . . . do the American people really want a quarter century of two families ruling?”

I truly hope not. I believe Barrack Obama would be a welcome relief from the past and especially - the tragic and shameless cavalier ineptitude of George W. Bush.

Dear Anderson,

First let me express that my intention is in know way to express an opinion in support or against anyone or anything. I have noticed something lately in the genreal reporting of things in the news whether it be you station or others. The problem is, I don’t recall seeing this in the past on CNN.

Having had relatives who worked for the newspaper I was around those who belived in reporting unbiased facts and letting others decide what those facts meant to them or whether they needed to dig deeper.

I have noticed of late, particularily where politics are concerned that there truly seems to be a push to guide peoples views in one direction. A sort of jumping on the band wagon approach.

In our world where many people claim to think and make up their own minds, the fact is most will still follow someone elses lead. That being said if a news organization tells us what we should think or illudes to an opinion on a matter as fact, it often will become so.

In other words if you keep telling people that this person is or isn’t doing well or this person is or isn’t good or bad then people will naturally follow that opinion.

This is power. The power of the press to help us form opinions that are not always based on any facts except the ones someone would like us to hear. That power should be used wisely and cautiously and up until recently I have always felt Cnn did that within reason. But not lately. The sides of the fence most of the guests and broadcasts represent show a clear opinion to anyone who is truly watching.

Anyway, as I said this note is not to express any view or support for or against anything. I just want to see reporting go back to the way it should be and for the most part has always been on your network. One that doesn’t have an obvious slant and instead lays the facts out and equally represents all sides of the issues without bias. I fear that this momentum which CNN has created will later carry into other reports and thus make truth in news challenging.

Thank you for listening. I do respect your work.
Cheryl

Senetor Hillary Clinton has certainly disappointed many of us and I have abandoned the HC Ship. She has repeatedly said that she is ready on Day One. How can she be ready on Day One when she is unable to control and monitor what comes out of her campaign camp! Saying that she did not know about the photo shows that she is unable to manage on Day One. Her “Soft Side” is just words. And her claim of experience really amount to mistakes she has made all these years. I am fired up for Barack Obama and I see alot of fireworks coming from his campaign camp. Count me in Obama.

Ojara

The problem with the debates and speeches Clinton and Oboma engage in are not on the real issues. I am speaking of experience, character, honesty, intergity and the needs of the American people. It is my belief that Senator Obama is running just to be the first black president, but not really knowing how to solve the problems. He keeps speaking of changes without fully explaining his plans. His ideas on foreign and domestic are sadly lacking any substance.

Clinton’s background has been fullly investigated but Obama’s has not and he simply refuses to discuss his total relationship with the slum landlord, Tony Rezko, on indicted on 23 counts of wrongdoing.

Kathy from MassaCHusetts:
Relax! At least Senator Obama doesn’t say “nook-you-lar.”

David:

I do feel Mrs. Clinton’s pain. The press has been very hard on her, however she has brought this on herself. Being a women, I would like to see a women President, but not this one. She is very intelligent, truely believes in what she wants to accomplish, but she does
not come accross very well. In several of the debates she tried bad jokes that did not make her look very Presidential or mature.

I really do not like ugly politics used against any candidate. With world affairs being what they are and the problems within our own economy and sociaty ( in general ), you think that our candidates would stick to the issues instead of attacking one another.

I am looking forward to the point when we are down to two candidates ,or three ( if Ralph is back ) and hope that we can debate the issues. It looks like the best man will win again.

Susan
Phoenixville,PA

I find that the presidential race between Clinton and Obama has become more like a popularity contest (who’s the nicest candidate). As long as the critics made by the candidates on his/her opponent make sense, they’re are entitled to point out what’s wrong in the other parties’ arguments, after all it is a debate. Hilary seems to reflect a mean personality because she’s criticizing her competitor, but she needs to prove that she’s the right candidate….

Your post-debate analysis on Thursday was completely scooped up by the Clinton campaign: she not only described herself as a “fighter” more than once during last night’s debate, but even invoked your comments regarding her private reservations on NAFTA when she was struggling to reconcile ostensibly incompatible public positions.

I hope they’re paying you for this…

Tell you what… Sen. Clinton, perhaps without realizing it, is helping Obama in his quest of becoming the next President of United States. Sadly enough, Sen. Obama’s development growth has turned into a detrimental exposure for Sen. Clinton.

Feels like turning the lights on in a dark room. You wouldn’t know the value of these lights had it not been for the presence of darkness.

Michelle Obama stated, on Larry King Live, that Obama is one persons that recognizes his short-falls (when they happen) and looks up to remedy vs. feel sorry about it with no actual action. Sounds like an enticing characteristic the people would want to in their leader.

With Hillary you buy one and get one Free….Would love to see Bill Clinton back on foreign politics with Madelline Albright…..:)

WILL VOTE FOR CLINTON ONLY! I DO NOT TRUST OBAMA>>>

With regard to Hillary’s holier than thou attitude during last night’s debate about REJECTING support from an anti-semitic group, I find it interesting that she has not REJECTED Ann Coulter’s support. In fact when asked on the Today Show about what she thought of Coulter’s statement of supporting her over McCain, Clinton laughed and said something about politics sometimes making strange bedfellows. Interesting - at least I was able to teach my son a new word - hypocritical.

i think that hillary should get out before she lose and than come back in 2012 that way if she say it for women that way she will go out strong be ready to respresent us

I agree w/Elaine. Mr. Obama has no experience. He is going to prove himself and bomb Pakistan. (He said it himself.) Perfect examples: Bush Sr. and George W. We can effort to get in a third world. This is why he is the worst choice of all.

Just read a story on Fox News that the sons of deceased Texas Governor Ann Richards denied permission to the Clinton camp to suggest that Ann Richards would be campaigning for Hillary in an add they are running. The Clinton camp apparently ignored the request of Richards’s sons, who felt that suggesting that Richards would support Clinton a year after her death was disrespectful to their mother. Just like the Clinton’s to dismiss the feelings of the family to get ahead in Texas - no matter what the cost.

David,

First up, you are the only one on the “Best Political Team” who is worth getting paid. Gloria and Roland should be paid with Blackberries. Since when did we start watching expert analysis by “Best Politcal Team” to get hear about text messages received by Gloria or Roland from the campaings? This is so ridiculous. Those two never say anything that is not expected or already mentioned by someone else.

As far as the media bias for Obama, dont even get me started. Everyone in CNN seems to focus on Hillary’s reference to SNL, but know one is talking about how in many instances Obama did not have anything to add once Hillary had answered a question. Noone in CNN highlighted that the Russia question should be asked Obama as well. Mr. Gottcha Russet conveniently gave out the name of the Russian candidate without asking the same question to Obama.

I have been a long time CNN fan and used to always laugh at my republican buddies who used to say the mainstream media is biased. Now I know what they mean.

Paul
Fairfax, VA

Hi David,
I thought Hillary was right to bring up SNL, after all the media really does play favorites to Obama.
I just want you to know that Hillary rocks in TEXAS!
I believe that SHE is more presidential.
It’s not about race, it’s about GENDER!
Men just don’t want a woman to be the ruler.
You do realize that blacks could vote before women?
Tisk, tisk, tis so embarrassing~
SHAME on the media!

Betty Ann
Nacogdoches,TX

I think it was a draw. Hilary was generally solid as with other debates, but nothing new. Obama improved from previous debates and did enough to maintain his standing with his supporters and with voters.

However, I need to throw a question out to the Media. In an effort to assess our candidates, do we know if the Obama campaign responded to the questions on his association with billionaire Auchi - who has had some questionable middle east associations.

to watch and listen Obama is sucha delightful experience……

David, don’t you think somebody on CNN should stand up for Hillary and at least play devils advocate that she won that debate. Don’t you think that would be fair. You said she should emphasize being a fighter but then you say that it was not enough. Who says she needed to land a knockout? Who says she did not land a knockout? NOBODY ON CNN. The media is being too easy on Obama to even say he could win the debate by not messing up. In fact he did mess up. He said he would reinvade Iraq if Al Qaeda was using Iraq as a base. Please tell me he understands Al Qaeda is currently using Iraq as a base. Please, look in your own heart and try to present the an objective analysis. Obama has plenty of supporters pertending to be analysts, there is room for somebody to be a devil’s advocate. He is not holding together well as the presure mounts. The media has not even turned on him yet. CLINTION WON THE DEBATE.

Barack won the debate - he stayed focused.

Hilary always wants to give the last word. She is emotional and is easily angered. She’s more on the defensive than the offensive. She has not disclosed her taxes and said ’she’ll get to it’. She did not follow the moderator rules and kept talking out of turn and interrupting. Would you keep an employee like this at your workplace…would you enjoy working with someone like this?

Obama is calm and collected. He gives respect to his oponent when he speaks. He was honest from the beginning about his views. He argues well and stays mature. He is educated with the facts and can convey them accurately. He inspires others to be hopeful again - this is a good thing. This is someone I want working at my company, and someone I want to work with.

A word of advice for Barack - Don’t be afraid to fight back and tell Hilary or the press what makes her a weaker potential president. Use more teeth.

A word of advice for Hillary - stop riding the emotional rollercoaster - It looks bad for you.

I’m sorry David. I agree with Hillary on this one…Our country cannot afford to give Mr. Hopeful the opportunity for ON THE JOB TRAINING. He wasn’t ready at the beginning of the campaign to be a REAL political candidate, he has only grown with the extremely relentess assistance of the media - and he ISN’T ready to run our country. I keep reminding Wolf and Cafferty (or atleast the people who read emails for them) that typically corporations do not award CEO positions to young enthusiastic individuals who have not “paid their dues” or worked their way up the corp. ladder. There is no difference. The country should not award the presidency to someone who is young and energetic and hopeful, just for those reasons…It should be hard work and experience that pays off. If that were the case, all television personallities would look like Anderson and Erica and NOT Lou, Jack and Wolf……Haaaa Haaaa.

how will miss clinton deal with a world where our image is not always portrayed in good light ? often times we are victims of criticism and negative press .

To Elaine,

Kudos to you for telling it like it is! I agree wholeheartedly with your perceptive and accurate assessment of this whole bizarre Democratic presidential campaign season. I have never seen such blatant bias on the part of the media in my entire life. Hillary has been hit with so many low blows and cheapshots that it’s a tribute to this strong, courageous woman that she is still standing and continues to fight on. Any middle aged baby boomer woman like myself can sympathize with her struggle to crack the highest of glass ceilings. Women of my generation knew that we would be held to a higher standard than our male counterparts in the workforce. It’s a shame that the media has jumped on the Obama express and abandoned any semblance of impartial reporting and analysis and become cheerleaders. Shame on all of you - CNN, MSN and of course, Fox News, which has never made any pretense of fairness.

I, too, share Elaine’s concern for the general election when the Republicans will make toast of Obama. They will not cut him the kind of slack that the media has all through this primary season. I think he will be unmasked for the inexperienced lightweight that he really is. The Republicans will tar him with the liberal brush and make subliminal attacks using his middle name and implying that he is Muslim. He will be “swift-boated” just as mercilessly as John Kerry was in 2004.

As far as the media, well just remember that it was all you folks who had a lovefest with George Bush and scorned Al Gore, the man who really did win the election and was our rightful president. That shows just how much the media knows. You couldn’t see who was the truly qualified candidate and subsequent events have shown that Al Gore was right on everything - right on the Irag war, speaking out when no one else would and being ostracized by his party, right on global warming with a Nobel Peace prize, Academy Award and Emmy to show for it. He would never have led us into this disastrous war in Iraq and let the deficit spiral out of control. So pardon me for not taking any of you in the media seriously as you crown your new darling of the moment, Barack Obama. I fear that the Democratic party will be led down the path of disaster if he is the nominee for president. And a truly qualified, brilliant public servant like Hillary Clinton will have to lick her wounds and wonder what it will take for a woman to break through the good old boys club of the presidency.

Mr. Cooper,

I agree with Arthur m. Whipple on his comment. A reporter must be unbais, I really miss Frank reynold, and the reporter on nightline peter jennings. Now a days you are a reporter and the judge. Mr. Obama has done good works, but Mrs. Clinton has been in the senate longer and more experience it does not mean she is being disrestpecful of that, is a fact. Being a women in this country you have to work hard and talk louder on top of your lungs and aggresive about everything you do. We know what a man has done for this country the land of opputunity. I am sure that the founding father of this country invisiion a woman president one day and that time is now. But I am not sure if american man are ready for her, I AM

David, You always have the best insights, hands down. I must admit i only watch CNN these days to see if you are on and listen to your analysis on events of that day. You’ve been careful, poised and fair everytime i heard you give your input. I frankly think CNN has lost a lot of its prestige and standing by keeping primitive thinking folks (i.e. Lou Dobbs). I am literally screaming as i quickly switch to another channel whenever i see his face on CNN.
It was a total act of desperation for HRC to bring up SNL. I would say she is becoming bipolar with all the different personalities she has taken on lately. Wow Obama has all this power, even on her yet she dares to try dimissing him and what he stands for with her pathetic “celestial choirs” line.

Is Obama complaning that he NEVER gets the last words in the debates? Hillary even got the chance to test the SNL line in Chicago… it didn’t seem to go over to well there! Yet, tries out the same poor line in the debate again? Her “experience” never learns her anything!

@Cheryl, 3:02PM; I have to agree with your assessment of the coverage in the media in general and in CNN specifically. CNN was always the station I turned to for fair and accurate coverage; I no longer feel that way.

You were correct when you said if you keep telling people that something is one way or another many of them will begin to believe it. Unfortunately, there are way too many “sheep” out here. Just ask Madison Avenue.

Many of us have expressed the same sentiment in numerous comments to this blog and others as well as to the 360 feedback, but I think it needed to be said again. Now if only they would listen.

Jo Ann
North Royalton, Ohio

I trully hope CNN will publish this comment this time; I have been “awaiting moderation” to all my previous comments.

What I want to say is Obama can be thankfull AMERICA IS NO LONGER RACIST. Voters are now CHAUVINISTICS / MACHISTAS in the extreme sense of these two terms, so much so that they are willing to trade the knowledge and the experience of Senator Hillary Clinton for the empty suit - AND THE UTOPIA OF CHANGE - of a novice guy called Barack Obama.

Latinos have been labelled “machistas” for a long - long time; presently, however, they have two female presidents: one in Argentina; one in Chile. As far as we know, the world keeps turning in those two places. (They could have elected some guy Bush / Chavez, I suppose)

On March 4th, latinos in Texas are going to give Senator Hillary Clinton a well deserved victory. THIS ELECTION, AFTER ALL, IS NOT ABOUT RACE OR GENDER, RIGHT? … IT IS, one would hope, ABOUT REALISTIC PLANS TO BRING AMERICA BACK TO IT’S RIGHTFULL PLACE IN THE WORLD.

ENOUGH TO UTOPIC - PIE IN THE SKIES - SPEECHES AND DISCOURSES. ENOUGH OF OBAMA !!!

Senator Clinton: THE WORLD CHEERS FOR YOUR VICTORY !!

David, I always find your analysis insightful and look forward to your appearances on CNN’s 360, which I watch regularly. I am a loyal CNN viewer and have seen all the debates. Last night was the first time I have ever tuned into MSNBC and was pleasantly surprised. I thought the moderating was right on target and tough on both candidates….. a far cry from Anderson Cooper’s whisper, “time” some debates ago. As a home work assignment , Jon Klein must ask all his staff to view this debate and its moderators who are both highly seasoned news anchors. Unlike the SNL sketch, they did ask the tough questions, questions that long should have been addressed by CNN. It is the least I can expect from the “Best Political Team.”

David, I want to pose a question that I think has been overlooked in the debates. If the “tables were turned” and Hillary had Obama’s limited experience on her record, do you think she would have even gotten this far in the presidential election? ? I believe the answer is no.
An inexperienced woman would not have gotten past New Hampshire.
Obama’s advantage is that he is a male running for president. He does not need fancy speeches or a promise of change. All he needs is to be the one wearing the suit and tie. I guess I will tell my daughter that maybe in 100 more years we may see a female president.

I belive precisely because Barack Obama has improved so much we are willing to wait for his answers and marvel that he can respond. In short we do not hold him up to the same standards that we hold HIllary. I think that Hillary was right to complain about the media. After all look at Gloria Borger. There is no mistaking that this woman hates Hillary with a passion. If the democratic process is to work the media has to be impartial. Women in politics are expected to be tough to overcome a world dominated by men and yet when they are tough they are no longer women. It is unfortunate that the hate for Hillary seems to come precisely for women like Borger who must have had their own sare of hardship to get where they are. I think Hillary is right to say that her winning would be a sea change. We, women have to stop perpetuating discrimination against our gender.

CNN is practicing sex discrimination by favoring Obama at every turn. Commentators such as Jack Cafferty, Gloria Borger, John King, Susanne Malveux and Campbell Brown have negated everything Clinton says and turned her own words against her. CNN has made up it’s mind. This is objective analysis, this is journalism or is it an asassination? Texas and Ohio - it’s up to you to play fair - unlike CNN. Whatever happended to ethics?

Hillary’s tongue lashing of the moderators during yesterday’s Democratic debate concerning being asked a question first, and subsequent comment about offering Senator Obama a “pillow” once AGAIN demonstrates that she does not possess the temperament to hold the Office of President of the United States. She cannot seem to control her behavior, and most especially her mouth! Moreover, the latest poll (10 or 11 consecutive now) indicates that Senator Obama beats Hillary on the “electability” issue.
Come on Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island Democrats, Republicrats and Independents let’s rally behind Obama and put an end to Hillary’s madness. Let’s allow Obama ample time to focus his efforts on defeating McCain in the General Election!!!

Anderson,
I believe that I can truly speak for the vast majority of Hillary supporters that the blatent lack of equality in this campagn that has been played out in the media is extremely sexiest. Hillary has been berated and downplayed so much in this election that it has put a total spin for Obama. The Media (including CNN) has been, as it seems,is one of his biggest supporters! Hillary has been scrutinized for every little thing that she say’s and does. But, does he? How about stopping the Love Fest and start reporting on the real Barack Obama…..How about looking into how his wife feels about our country? Or how about the fact that there is a report out that the church he attends only allows african americans? And making excuses for his wife and his former pastor is just not good enough for me. What about real pressure on him to really answer some tough questions…Instead of him mirroring Hillary in the debates.

David, what really turned me off watching last night’s debate was Hillary’s demeanor, as well as her obvious mean-spirited remarks: She looked like she couldn’t stand Barack throughout the ENTIRE debate, and it’s obvious that what she calls her “fighting spirit” is, in actuality, her sinking to as low a level as she deems necessary — whether it’s criticizing SNL, blaming the press because she is no longer the front-runner, or arguing with Barack over semantics. It’s “win at all costs” and I, for one — who spent 2007 in Canada — never understood why, upon returning to the U.S. in January — she had been “anointed” front runner status in the first place. Whereas, Barack has had to run against the “Clinton machine” from Day One, yet he has acted dignified — which we desperately need in a president — at all times. Barack’s past actions demonstrate that he will work with the Congress and Senate to make positive changes. Hillary’s past actions demonstrate that she is much too intense to ever have the capability of bringing people together. Her single-minded approach to health care in the 1990s proved that, and last night’s debate demonstrated that she hasn’t changed.

The debate wasn’t the all that it was suppose to be…Hillary screaming about shame on you and let’s debate….I didn’t see that last night. Also, what about her taxes and WH papers….why are they staling…..see CNN news article, not WH fault waiting for the Clintons to release.

I don’t know how many times I have read articles on Obama’s studder..OMG….we have to trash someone that just doesn’t say the first thing that comes out of their head. I too, talk like that and what it is that you have a lot of information in your mind and you are trying to get it all out at once, so you mentally have to tell yourself to slow down. But yeah, I was teased in school and got through it. Oh wait there is a elder person that is using a cane, let’s laugh at her too. PLEASE…..pick on the issues.

WHY Hillary keeps being asked FIRST????
On questions for NAFTA, Putin, and Cuba change of leadership on past debate, she was asked first. Obama’s response was “I agree with Se. Clinton…” and continue on saying exact same things she had already said. In fact, Obama agreed NOT to talk to Castro, even though his position has been to get in discussion with all leaders including the rogue nations. Hillary said “only with preconditions and evidence of improvement” will ever sit to talk with Castro’s brother. Obama agreed! I bet he would have a different position if he had gone first. Proof?
In the Farakhan question, Obama had the first word and he messed up. She quickly said she would have “rejected” his endorsement, and Obama accepted the responsibility.
The point is, that if Obama had these tough questions first he could have messed up and have given an entry to Hillary to state her position and differences with him.
YES. The media treats her unfairly.

Hillary certainly has command of issues, but she is increasingly grim. She glared at Obama the entire debate. She comes across as a scolding school marm.

Although it might be difficult at times, people in the media need to try to remain neutral when talking about each candidate. It’s really not that hard. I love politics and love discussing it with others in my daily life. I can discuss it without getting emotionally envolved and favoring one candidate over the other. If I didn’t tell you who I’m voting for you would never know it by these discussions. I do believe that the media has given Obama a free pass and have criticized Hillary’s every move. She is in a lose lose situtation! The media needs to show America who the real Obama is before it’s too late and we are stuck with a candidate that’s not who we thought he was.

David, you make very good points as usual. I enjoy your posts, they are not biased and they are insightful. I felt Obama looked more presidential. He was calm and matter of fact in his answers. I felt he was trying to stay on the high road. While Hillary had some strong moments, I also felt she had some weak ones where she appeared to be petty and that is something that really turns me off. Obama did hold his own and you are right, he has really grown.

I agree with Cheryl from Louisville.

David, I agree with you about Obama but Hillary displays arrogance in her command of the issues. Obama, I believe is a much better debater than he is letting us know. I think he has been holding back and his strategy all along was to wait to the fourth quarter to show his best debate performance. Look out John McCain.

David Gergen,

Actually, on that New Hampshire debate, Obama stumbled on his answer how to handle foreign affairs in relation to the War in the Middle East and Hugo Chavez. It was not really Hillary Clinton who beat him, her solution on foreign affair showed more stability at the time and still is.

Hillary’s major downers are:
-drawing in interest from people of a younger generation who are first time voters - she still offers the “old school” method and shows little flexibility to other method’s to offer solutions to problems (health-care, education. etc). She seems already be set in her ways.
-the absence of major female political leaders in the past on which she can draw her inspiration from (offers no continuation in American history).

In the opposite, in Hillary downer’s are Obama winning points.

I agree with most of what ever Gergen has to say, and true he is the only intelligent, honest, and real analyst on CNN, the most BIAS name in news. I loved it when he put know nothing Borger in her place 2 nights ago regarding Hillary’s true position on NAFTA on 360.The media wants Obama to win so they would have more to talk about and get more ratings.What’s wrong with pointing out the truth in being asked first all the time. People remember better the last agrument made, and that’s a fact. The polls taken clearly show the media bias for Obama-twice on Dobbs’ show.

I truly think Obama has improved in debates, but that comes with being a good speaker; however the truth is that identity and popularity politics is what has caused America to be in the state it is today. Although I don’t personally like Hillary all that much, I know she’ll at the very least put the country back into surplus, not deficit. Obama is the most liberal senator, so he might try to reach across but no one will be there and he’ll put us into a larger deficit. Tangibles count not dreams and hopes.

I watched the debate and I don’t think there was a winner. I did note that Hilliary easily dealt with questions that dealt with substance while Obama did not. I also noticed that Obama has gotten very skillful at taking a question and appearing to answer it but actually doing the old political trick of talking around the question and going into his stump speech. I was not impressed with Obama.

I happen to think after 8 years of Bush that intelligence and experience are must haves for Presidents. It pains me to see that voters are flocking in droves to someone who has little experience and not much substance - how many times do we have to make the mistake we made with Bush before we learn that experience is a necessity for the job?

I think Obama will one day make a great President - just not this time. He needs to get more experience in the Senate and then run in the next election or the election after that. With experience that the intervening years will give him he could well be one of our greatest presidents - right now he could be one of our greatest mistakes.

Annie Kate
Birmingham AL

its the same thing over and over. they want to give the job to the young man and have the woman who knows the job inside and out train him. i hope its clinton/obama and not obama/clinton. if obama wants it , let him do the work he is taking credit for. if he messes up, he’ll blame us. nothing sticks to him. hillary can find good works to do without being muddied by obama’s catastrophies.
if you want to lead the american people, your name, past, family, etc is fair game. you dont get to hide by saying your sensitive to that issue and get a free ride. we need to know about you, mr obama.
if he denouced and rejected farrakhan, then what about the trinity church? what does farrakhan think about it?
i hope hillary clinton wins and chooses a running partner without so much baggage.

You are right. He has grown up as you said.
I listened to the debates in January and she could blow him away and she talked of healthcare and sounded very presidential.
In January all he mentioned change but I saw no economic blueprint or anything.
Since Super Tuesday and he got the winning streak I understand Obama more and I’m backing him.
Originally I voted for Hillary for I knew nothing about him and he wouldn’t tell me anything about him.

Hillary definitely won the debate. I wish she had brought up Saturday Night Live as a quick “Thanks Tina for the Support” in her closing when she commented FINALLY that we have a chance to show the world a female in the top job, and a new way of diplomacy. The press DOES give Hillary a hard time. Mr. Gergen, if you had seen the whole debate, you would have seen what Obama’s “calm’ or presidential look is all about. He doesn’t know what to say without a script. He stammers as much as Bush! He knew nothing about Putin and the successor, all he could say was Yes - all that too. And then he changed the subject. She was very substantive from healthcare to laying Russert out on how jobs increase, to knowing what else is going on in the world. Why do the Obamas get a pass all of the time? Michelle made that comment about pride twice - check the files - it was no fatigue mistake. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to vote for a cute guy who has taken a year to learn how to look and act in a debate, and cannot find any time to call his committee on Afghanistan to order. Wasn’t he the guy who knows how to clean up the mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan? Wake up people! Didn’t we already endure a “uniter” for 8 years?

I’m tired of the fluff and media to be honest with you. Hilary for all the talk about her experience and what she has done. Or her saying what would show more change than a women president? If Barack every chance he got said having a black president would show the biggest change, everyone would be saying he is playing the race card. She is using the gender card. How can Hilary be allowed to use her time as first lady as good experience, and it not be associated with all the bad as well. Lets look at the facts she says she has 35 years of experience, Barack has 20 years, Hilary is 14 years older than he is. So if they were the same age experience would be the same. So you get penalized for being younger? Last I checked there is only a 1 year difference in senate terms between them. I think Hilary has in the past and is still displaying bad decision making and poor judgment. From her health care blunder in the 90s , to the Iraq situation (we all know that), to not being prepared and having a strategy past 2-05-08. To not having enough money to run a campaign.(how can you fix the economy?) loaning the campaign 5 million dollars but cant account for it? How can you lead if you cant make adjustments? If she was a sports coach she would have been fired lol Crying as a sign of strength, since when? when you think Hilary you think bill , its not fair but its the truth, because if it was just her running Barack would have been won. I have never in my life seen someone complain about how hard the presidential race is, start crying, and people rally behind that. I think Hilary is great personally but is just not the best candidate last night she clearly lost, if you had to pick a winner. I didnt even talk about the media yet lol.

David,
I think you are more fair than anyone on CNN. When everyone was bragging about Obama and Clinton was ahead, you were the only one who spoke up and said. “In all fairness to Mrs. Clinton she is ahead.” I used to love CNN, but not anymore.

I totally agree with your analyses. As for Hillary getting a bad rap from the press. She is the one out there shaking the flyers and saying shame on you, mocking Obama at a rally, etcetera. She is the one on the attack. Therefore the news media are going to report it and then get a response from Obama. If she wasn’t doing these things then the media wouldn’t have any thing to report and analyse and she wouldn’t be getting negative press. It would be real boring. After all how many times can you analyse the candidates policies. The candidates don’t have any new policies or details to explain to us. The more detailed and specific a candidate gets the greater the chances that the other candidate or the republicans will trip them up. So we hear the same generalities and arguments over and over again. How many times will we tune in to hear the same old same old. No we tune in to hear what the latest scandal/fight between the candidates is today. There is a saying that bad publicity is better than no pulicity at all.

Hi Anderson
I support Barack Obama but respect the views of the other candidates.Its sad to see that people like John Beck /Bill Cunningham,Rush Limbaugh and others try to use racicm and dirty politics to ruin the chances of an intelligent, classy, inspirational and humble patriot win a nomination which is the wish of the majority presently.

I’m sad to say I agree with Elaine. It will be hard for me to vote for Obama. I’m a democrat from Chicago and until he ran for president he was the stealth senator. He has not changed my life in any way since becoming US Senator from Illinois. His greatest claim has been his ability to bring people together. Yet the Cook County Illinois Democrats and Democrat Illinois governor and legislature have been at each other throats all year. Did he bring together the governor and legislator to head off the shut down of the region’s public transit system? No. Where’s Barack? Has he brought together the Cook County Board (Democrats) to avoid drastic cuts in public health? No. Where’s Barack? I’m afraid to tell you Obama is a media created phenomenon. Feel good now. Pay later when he’s elected and shown to be way over his head. Cao.

i just remembered. barack is going to fine the polluters for their share of pollution. when asked how he would solve pollution, he said he would pay that money to people to think up ways to solve pollution. so who gets that job. thats going to be a lot of money and another one of his ideas that creates a flow of money to him to redistribute. all his ideas come out of our threadbare pockets to him for his ideas. this plan would close hundreds of businesses. im sick of his ideas. we’re paying too much for gas and milk and food and his plans all cost us more money. i all out of money. how about you.

I really think its a shame how its exceptable for Mr. Barak who is expected to denounce Farakhan, but when Mc Cain denounces this radio idiot its a problem. Its one think to make fun of someone’s name, but he not only made fun he tried to tie this man to being a terroist. Keep up this childish behavior. Thats one of the reasons why Barak is winning. I applaud you Mr. Mccain. One day this world wont see color and religion and we will just be people with different cultures, and it will be exceptable to be anything but a white liberal one day….