A Good Night For Democrats

After the Democratic debate in Nevada and the Republican primary in Michigan with the third winner in three contests, it feels great to be a Democrat. Trapper John liveblogging the debate at Kos said it best: "We've got three potential presidents up there -- they've got Lord of the Flies."

The three Democratic candidates came together to make the Democratic party stronger going into the decisive part of the primary campaigns and especially into the general election against the Republicans. This will help whoever the nominee will be, and also it will help elect a more Democratic and progressive Congress, which each will need to govern effectively.

Individually, I thought each had moments that helped them and hurt them, but on balance they all helped themselves. I feel better, although I don't think I'll soon forget how the Clintons behaved when they felt they were losing, in contrast to how Obama has behaved since his loss in New Hampshire.

As an Obama partisan now, I was glad to hear him focus on the economy in his first few answers. He's matched Hillary with his own economic stimulus plan. And he gave a great answer when asked about that Clinton pollster quote that Latinos don't vote for black leaders: We didn't have that problem between blacks and Latinos in Illinois--they all voted for me."

Michigan gave Romney his first primary victory. It's impossible to predict what it will do to their race but it is likely to shake things up a bit for South Carolina. We're rooting for Fred Thompson there, and then Rudy in Florida. (I'm also rooting for Rudy so I can call my blog entry "Rudy Tuesday.") Let's go for the record--five contests, five different winners! Some of the pundits are wondering where Romney wins again, and others say that in a fractured field he wins because he's got the money to go on, in his personal bank accounts.

There was voting on the Democratic side, but Hillary was the only candidate on the ballot, because Obama and Edwards dropped out when the Democratic Party sanctioned Michigan for violating its rules. So it was Hillary v. Uncommitted, and she avoided disaster by getting more than 50% of the vote, but the exit polls--for what they're worth these days--suggest she ought to be worried. She won a majority among women, older voters and committed Democrats. But she lost young voters, Independents and upper income, was about even among men, and lost black voters by a stunning margin--she got less than 30% of their votes, while Uncommitted got 70%.

The questions in the Nevada debate were not as bad as they usually are, and with just three candidates sitting at a table, the interplay and followup was
good. But while they got asked one Nevada question--the proposed nuclear storage dump at Yucca Mountain, which they all oppose--the NBCers failed to ask about the attempt by Hillary's campaign to change the rules of the caucus voting, to outlaw the "at large" sites. It's assumed these sites will favor casino employees, but no objection was made until Obama got two key union endorsements. I'd like to hear that debate.