EUA, eleições 2008 (4)
(...) At last, questions about healthcare sandwiched togather due to the sheer volume sent in.
Obama gives a good answer, taking a sly shot at Hillary Clinton reminding everyone that she tried it and failed, and outlines his plan for universal health care.
Edwards is next, he says his plan is better - and gets a mention of his "three day poverty tour". Three whole days eh? Tells a story about failures in healthcare, and rightly points out that the US is the richest country in the world. "We should be outraged by these stories." True.
Clinton thanks the questioners. Sigh. "Yes I did try in '93 and '94 and I like to say I have the scars to show for it," she says. Nice response. Then says "decency and respect" requires good healthcare.
Chris Dodd says healthcare is an important issue and needs fuller answers than it's getting here, and mentions stem cell research. Bill Richardson agrees.
Obama gives a good answer, taking a sly shot at Hillary Clinton reminding everyone that she tried it and failed, and outlines his plan for universal health care.
Edwards is next, he says his plan is better - and gets a mention of his "three day poverty tour". Three whole days eh? Tells a story about failures in healthcare, and rightly points out that the US is the richest country in the world. "We should be outraged by these stories." True.
Clinton thanks the questioners. Sigh. "Yes I did try in '93 and '94 and I like to say I have the scars to show for it," she says. Nice response. Then says "decency and respect" requires good healthcare.
Chris Dodd says healthcare is an important issue and needs fuller answers than it's getting here, and mentions stem cell research. Bill Richardson agrees.
3 Comments:
Agradeço ao Xavier os longos serões para nos trazer, ao fim de um dia de trabalho, estas excelentes leituras que a nossa preguiça não nos permite procurar.
IT WAS a surreal affair. The first debate among Democratic presidential candidates to be sanctioned by the party’s national committee was co-hosted by CNN and YouTube and let the public submit questions as video-clips. The candidates stood below a screen showing questioners who asked about Iraq, gay marriage, Social Security and the like. The interrogators were innovative, although not probing.
Two (supposed) rednecks from Tennessee asked about a potential Al Gore candidacy. A snowman from Minneapolis worried about global warming. A man with a guitar sang about taxes. Two friends wanted to know if the candidates would work for the minimum wage (they would). A question on Darfur was even submitted from a refugee camp.
The debate will be remembered more for its format than for the candidates’ routine answers (the Republicans get their YouTube moment in September). A terse exchange between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the two leading candidates, over Iraq and how best to handle hostile countries raised the temperature for a moment. But there were no gaffes. Mr Obama said he would talk to America’s enemies if he became president. Mrs Clinton said she would pursue diplomacy, but would not promise to hand a “propaganda” victory to the likes of Hugo Chávez, Venezeula’s populist president.
With six months to go before the primaries, the pressure is particularly on Mr Obama to perform. The senator from Illinois has star power, but accusations that he lacks substance are beginning to bite. In one Democratic constituency he should be doing much better. Blacks made up 11% of the total electorate in the 2004 election and nearly 90% of them voted Democrat. Latinos may be more potent in the future, but in 2008 African-American voters will be vital, especially in swing states like Ohio. South Carolina, the location of this week’s debate, saw its primary brought forward by the Democrats precisely to give more prominence to black voters. Mrs Clinton is well ahead there; more than half the state’s black primary electorate back her (see chart).
Mr Obama has a problem in convincing blacks that he understands their particular concerns without turning away suburban whites who are suspicious of affirmative-action policies. A worry, too, is that Mr Obama is prone to waffling. Asked in the debate whether he was black enough, Mr Obama said that he was “absolutely confident that we’re going to be able to move forward on the challenges that we face as a country”.
He has had more inspirational moments, for example two weeks ago at a forum held by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. His idealistic message of inclusiveness went down well there. Mrs Clinton appealed to a more basic instinct by bashing George Bush for doing too little to fight poverty and to tackle Hurricane Katrina. The two leading Democrats (plus John Edwards) are also pushing health-care reform, an issue that should appeal to all colours.
Mrs Clinton is firming up her front-runner status. She is ahead in national polls and in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary. She is also level with Mr Edwards in Iowa, which holds a caucus a week before New Hampshire's primary. Even 53% of Republicans around the country think she will win the presidency. The front-loaded primary calendar (Colorado is the latest state to move its caucus forward to February) makes it more difficult for a candidate to brush off a bad result. By the end of January much could be decided. Florida, where Mrs Clinton holds a lead of nearly 16 percentage points over Mr Obama, is scheduled to hold its big primary on January 29th, the same day as South Carolina.
This is not to say that Mr Obama faces a meltdown. He has done well in fund-raising, outpacing Mrs Clinton in the second quarter, and he is the darling of the MySpace generation. Mrs Clinton is professional, but she could yet stumble. After low-key appearances at barbecue and crawfish events in August, the candidates will shift into top gear for the autumn. If he is to win, Mr Obama will then have to raise his game.
economist
Uma campanha em grande com um debate alargado e profícuo.
Este apontamento foi muito bem apanhado pelo Xavier sempre atento.
O senhor Obama, é ainda muito tenrinho.
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