Subject to Debate

I made an effort to watch the Democratic debate on MSNBC tonight. It's hard to pick winners of these contests, which is why I put up a poll on DailyKos for people to vote on who lost. More specifically, I asked which candidate respondents would eliminate from the field based on tonight's performance. Here's a whimsical notion: instead of the current primary-convention system, which leaves a growing number of states fighting to be first or at least early, why couldn't we follow the example of some "reality TV" shows and use the debates as a process of elimination, gradually winnowing out the field until we have a championship showdown. Especially if the party committee cut a deal with one network, the inherent drama involved in each make-or-break round could turn the selection process into a ratings phenomenon. People really seem to dig the decisiveness of people being voted off the archetypical island. It's as if they're having a race memory of the ostracism process that was part of old-school Athenian democracy. My modest proposal would tap into that feeling, and might just strike oil in the form of a newly engaged, energized electorate.

As for the debate itself, I was least impressed by Senator Obama, who seemed listless and uninvolved -- not a good impression to make on the day he skipped the vote on the odious Lieberman-Kyl bill, which ex-Gov. Gravel characterized as an "authorization of force" against Iran. Senator Clinton voted for this bill and defended that vote tonight, which on principle should make her the loser. Also, on a day when people had a good laugh at the President over his "childrens do learn" remark, Clinton offered, "Every one of us are ..." Gravel, however, had the line of the night, unintentionally. Answering a question about whether, as President, he would tolerate "sanctuary cities" that defy federal crackdowns on illegal immigrants, the old Alaskan asserted that the entire country should be a "sanctuary for the war." He corrected himself immediately, but fairness requires zero tolerance for poor public speaking. He gets points anyway for pinning Clinton to the wall over Lieberman-Kyl, while Senators Biden and Dodd get major points for voting No. Edwards, Richardson and Kucinich had their moments, and Kucinich really cannot tell the story of his battle with the utilities as mayor of Cleveland often enough. Overall, though, I think people are probably starting to feel frustrated that they still can't vote yet to get rid of some of these people.