MSNBC Presidential Debate Forum

If you like debates, I hope you had a chance to see the MSNBC Presidential Forum sponsored by the AFL-CIO & moderated by Keith Olberman. If you missed the live broadcast, the forum will air again at 12 midnight EST.



So far the MSNBC political pundits are saying that Obama, Clinton and Kucinich were the big winners and Edwards did not come across well.

Here's my take --

Obama did a great job of clarifying his position on Pakistan and addressed Dodd & Clinton's comments that he was inappropriate in saying that he would go after Bin Laden if there is good intelligence that he is there. This was Obama at this best. He chose his words carefully but spoke from his heart to the hearts of the American people. And if I was hearing correctly, Joe Biden in some ways, backed Obama up by stating that it is "supposed to be" our current policy that we would go after Bin Laden in Pakistan if necessary. I'm going to watch the re-broadcast to make sure that is what I heard.

I agree that John Edwards was not at his best tonight but he did make his points. John was definitely on the offensive and challenging the other Dem's records. This is not when he is at his best. John is at his best when he speaks from his heart and lays out his plans.

Hillary made her case and was splendid. She has finally stopped that horrible pandering to the audience and is being genuine Hillary. That is her strength. She's strong, she knows her stuff, she's out of Bill's shadow and yes, she's a woman. And Hillary you just well may be "our girl".

The biggest winner of the night was Dennis Kucinich. He was very strong on his foreign trade position and I think that he may have won over many people that might have viewed him as a fringe candidate.

Joe Biden was straight shooting Joe and I love that about him. You may not always agree with his positions but you know where he stands. In all his years in the Senate the only thing that I wanted to tar and feather him over was his vote on the change in bankruptcy law. I felt that he sold out then to the banking interests in Delaware. But I totally respect Joe and always will.

Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson did not do well at all tonight. They were not terrible they were simply upstaged.

The most moving moment was the gentleman on crutches who explained that his previous employer declared bankruptcy to avoid paying employee pensions and now he is unable to provide his sick wife with medical coverage. He was choking up when he made his statement and I was near tears listening to him. This was John Edwards' case on healthcare reform for all the world to see.

Keith Olbermann was far more balanced in his questioning than Anderson Cooper had been during the CNN You/Tube debate and he did his best to let any candidate that was directly challenged by another, the opportunity to respond. The only thing I had a problem with was that Barak Obama was the only one that was asked a question about Barry Bonds. What was that all about?

Well that's just my take. If you missed this debate, I would highly recommend that you catch the later broadcast or check out some of the YouTube videos. I will try to post a few clips when they become available.