The Democratic candidates participate in a debate at the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago.(Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press)Debate Wrap We caught up with Joan McCarter, a contributing editor to
DailyKos and one of the moderators of the panel. She was thrilled with the way it went, saying the candidates seemed to feed
off the energy in the room.
She said the moderators were aiming for a more sophisticated debate than what transpired on YouTube last month, in which candidates were asked questions via video submitted by the public.
“We wanted to reflect that we have a highly involved, high-information audience, and we wanted to reflect their concerns,” she said.
The exchange on lobbyists and whether the candidates would accept their money, she said, “was one of the most honest moments we’ve had.”
That exchange may reflect a shifting of the power center of the Democratic party away from the moderates and toward the grassroots, or as they are called here, the Netroots.
One question she didn’t get to was why the candidates came to this bloggers’ convention but did not attend the recent meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council, the moderate group championed by President Clinton. “We’ve reached a point where D.L.C. politics are an anachronism,” she said.
Jeff Zeleny filed this article from the event.
Politics TV has posted video from the debate
2:50 p.m. (Chicago time)
Mrs. Clinton has been holding back from the populist dive, even when it comes to election campaigning. All the candidates said they would go to all 50 states as part of a nationwide campaign to seek votes. Mrs. Clinton said she did not know whether she would go to all 50 states or not, but she would have a 50-state strategy. She would say to Republicans: “You may think you don’t want to vote for a Democrat, but let’s have a conversation.”
Mr. Edwards got back on his hobby horse against Washington lobbyists, saying his rivals did not need to wait until the next election to start reforming.
Matt Bai, a writer for The Times magazine who was the moderator, noted that this was the second time he had made this point and turned to Mrs. Clinton, who raised
her arms like, hey, I’m just sitting here.
In her ongoing attempt to present herself as the most experienced candidate who knows her way around the corridors of power, she went on to say that she would not agree to refuse money from lobbyists. Based on her 35
years of public life, she said, no one would believe she would be influenced by a lobbyist. The audience sharply disagreed
with this response.
“The important thing is what you have fought for and what you will fight for,” she persisted, and pledged to “absolutely be on the front lines of the change we need.”
Fighting the resistance in the room, she went on to thank the people in the room “for being part of the progressive moment in America,” adding that she wished they had been around in 1993 and 1994 when she was trying to pass health care. That got some applause.
She was then asked if she would continue to take money from Washington lobbyists, she said: “Yes, because they represent real Americans, nurses, social workers, and yes they represent corporations _ that employ a lot of people.” Speaking as if in a general election and not to Democratic primary voters only, she added: I want to represent the entire country,” and by then she drew some applause.
Mr. Obama then brought the hammer down on Mrs. Clinton. He noted that it was the Washington lobbyists who had killed her health care effort when she was first lady. “They have an agenda,” he said. “They
aren’t participating in the public interest.” This brought the audience to its feet, with wild cheers and some cries of “Take down!
Take down!.”
Mr. Edwards got into the act too, asking the audience how many of them had a Washington lobbyist working for them. About two people raised their hands. “You are not represented by Washington lobbyists!” he said to applause.
Then Mr. Kucinich brought Mr. Edwards up short by asking if he would still take money from Wall Street hedge funds.
Mr. Edwards said he would never take a dime from drug company lobbyists and said that until there was public financing of elections, “we have to raise money from nurses, doctors, and people who work on Wall Street
to have a serious campaign.” But, he
concluded, he has never and never will take money from a Washington lobbyist.
That concluded perhaps the most spirited and vigorous encounter of the Democratic candidates yet.
2:30 p.m.Members of the public have joined the bloggers here, making this a large and spirited audience. The hall is crowded, with many others sitting on the floor and lining the side aisles.
In a segment about the war in Iraq and the war on terror, Mr. Obama, who has indicated in earlier debates that he would not retaliate militarily against an attack as swiftly as others might, said that there was no excuse
for 9/11 and “we need to hunt down
those who perpetrated that tragedy.” He added: “By the way, they weren’t in Iraq.” He said that the United States had acted in a way that
fueled anti-American sentiment, and “we now have chaos.” Al Qaeda is even stronger now than it was before 9/11, he said.
Mr. Edwards said that President Bush has relied on a “bumper sticker” about a global war on terror to justify everything he has done. “We shouldn’t accept George Bush’s way of framing this discussion,” he said.
Mrs. Clinton was asked if this was not a war on terror, what is a more accurate way to look at it.
She said the question wasn’t pointed enough, and added that there was not as much anti-American sentiment abroad as anti-Bush sentiment. She also said, “It is absolutely fair to say we have made some progress
in becoming safer” because the nation’s first
responders were better prepared and vigilant, but, she said, but we
were still not safe enough. “It is a global war against terrorists,”
she said. “Terrorism is a tactic.”
Perhaps the most enthusiastic response came when the candidates were asked if they would have a blogger in the White House.
Mr. Edwards again drew an enormous response, with this: “I will hire a White House blogger and her name will be Elizabeth Edwards.” His wife, a long-time blogger who is believed to have written on DailyKos under an anonymous name, has a huge following on the Internet and is a cult hero to some here.
(Former Senator Mike Gravel got a great laugh in responding to this question by asking why hire anyone else if the purpose was to communicate directly? )
2:45 p.m. (Chicago time) Mr. Edwards just scored again big time. He was asked how the would restore balance among the three branches of government and he was back on his populist pitch, regardless of the question.
He said that on the first day of his administration he would close the prison at Guantanamo. He said America would not engage in torture, there would be no more secret prisons. The applause rose with almost every word he spoke. He then switched subjects and said the Democratic party and his fellow candidates should not wait to reform Washington but should start now by refusing to take money from Washington lobbyists. He acknowledged that Mr. Obama already did not take such money, making it clear that he wanted to put Mrs. Clinton on the spot. The applause crescendoed, drowning out much of his statement.
In a subsequent question, a Freudian slip by one of the moderators showed just what he might be up against: the moderator referred to Senator Clinton as President Clinton.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich also scored big with his call for the impeachment of
Vice President Cheney.
FIRST POST: Now we’re over in the huge ballroom at McCormick Place, where Mrs. Clinton has joined the other Democratic presidential candidates — Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd and Mike Gravel. The candidates, who are sitting on stage, face more than 1,500 people.
Mrs. Clinton said health care would be her highest domestic priority and got some applause. Mr. Obama said he would help balance the budget by not spending $275 million “every single day in Iraq,” and he won more applause.
Then a fiery Mr. Edwards lit the room on fire with his populist pitch. “We need big change,” he said. He said he had listened to his rivals, but insurance companies and drug companies “aren’t going to voluntarily give away their power.” He got a rousing response.
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