I can't speak to the early hours of the debate, but I did tune in for Hillary Clinton's answer on driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, and unlike everyone else, I thought it was a damn good answer. She did seek a couple sidesteps and refused to give a flat yes or no, but she defended her reasoning on the issue, accurately explained the forces and pressures behind Spitzer's decision, and refused to offer the truly craven evasive answer of a simple "no." When Dodd challenged her, and she struck back with, "well, if an illegal immigrant hits you in a car, how are you going to identify them," I thought it was one of the night's better moments. But maybe I'm bad at judging these things. Watch it here:
Meanwhile, I wasn't much impressed with Obama. His problem in debates is that he gives answers rather than makes points. On a question about medical malpractice, he began talking about reimbursement rates. That's an interesting policy discussion -- particularly to me -- but it won't win him one more vote, or help him advance an ounce of narrative. It sounds cynical, of course, to say that he should respond in a more politically calculated manner, but he does have white papers and a policy page, he needs to use these debates to raise his profile.
