A Senate Debate I'm Going To Be Watching Online Tonight...

[Lord Jim]

I make no bones about it, I can't stand Elizabeth Warren...

As I've said before, of all the Senate races in the country, this is the one I most want the GOP to win...

This is the flip side of the Indiana race, where that hideous Richard "compromising means agreeing with me" Murdock character unseated Richard Lugar...

A strident ideologue running against an intelligent, thoughtful person willing to compromise...

Some recent polls show Warren in the lead, but the most recent one shows Brown with a 5 point lead...

I'll give Warren credit for this, she's been running a smart campaign....

She knows she couldn't beat Brown in a popularity contest, so instead of running against Brown, she's run against Romney, and even more against the idea of a "Republican Majority in the Senate"....

But tonight she's going to be standing on a stage one-on-one against the affable Mr. Brown....

And I think she's going to get her head handed to her, in a very nice and affable way....

[Guinevere]

Hey LJ, if you can find where the debate is being broadcast, let me know. I can't find it anywhere.

[Scooter]

And I think she's going to get her head handed to her, in a very nice and affable way....

That's interesting, because the scuttlebutt on the Hill today was that Senate Republicans were trying to string out votes into the evening in order to give Brown an excuse not to show up for the debate, and that when Harry Reid caught on he postponed the pending votes until morning.

[Lord Jim]

Looks like we missed it:

Though they have been sparring back and forth for months, U.S. Senator Scott Brown and Harvard Law school professor Elizabeth Warren will debate face to face for the first time Thursday night in prime time.

The debate, sponsored and moderated by WBZ-TV in Boston, will be the first of three televised dialogues between the candidates. While only an hour in length, experts expect the debate—and the two scheduled for later this fall—will prove to be an important inflection point in the hotly contested Massachusetts U.S. Senate race.

With polls showing Brown and Warren neck-and-neck, the debates may serve as one of the last chances for the candidates to sway undecided voters before Nov. 6.

Whether you're politically interested or just a TV junkie, watch the debate at 7 p.m. on WBZ-TV or online at http://www.cbsboston.com.

Why they didn't schedule it for 9PM EDT, (which I assumed they were going to do as close as this race is,) I don't know...

[Guinevere]

It was 7pm. I've been hunkered down working and I missed it. Oh well, from what I heard Brown started with personal attacks while Warren talked about issues.

Scooter, I heard the same thing. It is clear Brown's "charm" is wearing on people. Not to mention his Mittens-like flip-flopping.

[Lord Jim]

Well color me disappointed...

I thought that would be 9 your time, 6 my time...

Well, I'll find a replay...

And they're going to debate two more times before the election...

I'm glad to see that, but I really think it's not in Professor Warren's best interest to do so...

The more the election becomes about her versus Senator Brown, rather than her versus Mitt Romney, or Mitch McConnell, the more she loses....

And every time they have a debate, it won't be Mitt or Mitch standing on the podium with her....

[Guinevere]

Linky: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Mass ... SenateDeb

[Lord Jim]

Thanks Guin!

[Lord Jim]

Wow, this Elizabeth "Injun Feather" Warren thing must be a lot bigger deal in Massachusetts than it is nationally...

I was surprised when Brown opened with it, but it really seemed to throw Warren on the defensive...

[Guinevere]

It's not that much of a big deal, as I said when it happened. There was some initial dismay and a sag in her polling, but she has come roaring back by talking about the issues. Frankly, at this date it says more about Brown (and the Rs) than it does about Liz.

[Lord Jim]

Brown must have polling that shows it's a big deal, or he wouldn't have opened with it...(I've seen a lot of political debates over the years, but I don't think even Dick Nixon would have gone at Helen Gahagan Douglas in a debate the way Brown came at Warren...Brown isn't stupid; there must be a reason for that..)

And then Warren spent her opening trying to defend it, rather than simply brushing it off...

One thing that's obvious, is that no matter who wins, that's going to be one very ugly campaign....

[Lord Jim]

Really, I have seen alot of debates... (Not just contemporary debates, but footage on CSPAN of the Nixon Kennedy debates, Reagan Carter, Carter Ford, and even lesser known debates.... like the debate between George W. and Ann Richardson when he was first running for Governor of Texas...(A debate in which George came across like a bloody genius, in comparison to how he later became known...articulate, spot on with details about the facts...you'd scarcely recognize the man)

I am such a political junkie, that four years ago I actually watched on C-SPAN the entire replay of the 1988 Vice Presidential debate between Lloyd Benson and Dan Quayle... (Yeah, I've got a problem... )

But in all those debates I have watched, I have never seen a situation where the moderator says "Mr. Candidate, please introduce yourself, and make an opening statement"...

And the candidate, rather than saying something innocuous and self serving along the lines of, "My name is Strongly Handsome Goodfellow, I have a wonderful family and I'm here to save America"...

Instead opens with:

"My opponent is a liar, and needs to explain her claims about being a Kickapoo Indian"...

And if that weren't strange enough, the opponent, in response, then launches into a detailed defense of why she always believed she was a Kickapoo Indian, since her grandmother had always told her she was...




I've never seen a debate like this...

I thought Brown had made a major blunder; I couldn't imagine a serious politician coming on like this out of the gate in a debate...

Until I saw Warren's response...

Which was even stranger...

I guess they have a special way of doing things in Massachusetts...

[Long Run]

I guess they have a special way of doing things in Massachusetts...

They never regained their equilibrium after they lost their Maine part.

[Lord Jim]

I have since watched the whole debate, and it got a little more normal as it went on...

I'm sure that part of what started that last night must be because Brown genuinely dislikes Warren...

And he has good reason to...

Beyond the fact that she's a person who's very easy to dislike, she's pulled some really sleazy moves in her campaign....

For example, Scott Brown was the very first major office holder to come out denouncing that moron Aikin in Missouri, but nevertheless, the day after that happened she was running radio ads trying to tie Brown into Aikin....

Looking at what he did in the opening of the debate in retrospect, it was actually pretty clever....

He must have known that was going to push a button...

Because as "unconventional" as his opening seemed to be , Warren's hyper defensive responses made her look worse....

She should have responded with something like:

"Scott, we've been all over that, I've said everything I'm going to say on the subject. I think it's telling that you've chosen to begin this debate with a personal attack rather than focusing on the issues that really matter to the residents of The Commonwealth. But I guess it's understandable given your record.

"And that's what we're here to discuss, and what the people of Massachusetts want us to focus on; the central issues of this campaign. How you have represented the Commonwealth, and what I have to offer as an alternative vision, and who can best represent the interests of the people of Massachusetts. Now let me tell you why I feel I can be far more effective.... "*

But that isn't what she did....the way she responded made her look "guilty" and uncomfortable over something she should have dismissed, and then moved on....

Which makes me suspect that Brown probably had a pretty good idea that would be the way she would react....

Because opening the debate the way he did was very high risk; if she had handled it well, it could have blown up in face....

He must have felt very confident that she wouldn't handle it well....






*If Warren uses that, I expect a consulting fee....

[oldr_n_wsr]

the central issues of this campaign. How you have represented the Commonwealth USA, and what I have to offer as an alternative vision, and who can best represent the interests of the people ofMassachusetts America. Now let me tell you why I feel I can be far more effective....

Fixed that for Romney to use.

your check is in the mail Lord Jim