Debate buzz

The PBS debate last night was difficult to watch because of the pressure on candidates to rush their answers.

In the end, the attempt to cover so much ground may it difficult to remember anything the candidates said of substance.

However, we should remember that these debates tend to be about poise and beauty anyway rather than examination of issues. Most of the great turning moments in past debates centered around a candidate's un-presidential behavior or appearance rather than on anything they actually said during the event.

You can watch the taped video of the debate at the PBS website:

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/special/forums/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_allamericanpresidentialforums_2007-06-29

The campaign has compiled some of the positive reviews of Barack's performance on their website:

Debate Reviews

Various Sources | June 29, 2007

• Politico's Roger Simon: Spoke with passion and conviction and has gotten better and more confident with each debate, which bodes well for him because we have plenty of debates to go. He had a certain kind of homefield advantage as the only African-American onstage, but he used it modestly. While others could show sympathy, he could show empathy. "We have made enormous progress," he said, "but the progress we have made is not good enough." And he did speak with refreshing candor when he talked about the high incidence of HIV/AIDS in the black community, and said: "We must overcome the stigma that still exists. We don't talk about this. We don't talk about this in our schools. We don't talk about this in our churches. It is an aspect of homophobia that we don't talk about it."
  Click here to read the article in Politico


• Democratic Consultant Jenny Backus: Democratic consultant Jenny Backus said Obama's effort to speak to whites and blacks resulted in his best debate yet. "Obama took his performance to a different level by showing the ability to have a conversation that was about race that wasn't just one way," Backus said. "He was talking to both whites and blacks in his answers."
  Click here to read the article in Forbes


• Washington Post's Chris Cillizza: Speaking of nice moments, Obama showed his ease in the debate a few minutes ago. After Sen. Joe Biden (Del.) said that both he and Obama had been tested for AIDS, Obama jumped in to note that he had been tested with his wife, Michelle -- jokingly adding that he didn't want anyone to think anything "funny" was going on. The crowd laughed as PBS showed Michelle on screen. The moment showed how Obama has grown in the first three debates; he appears relaxed and comfortable tonight.
  Click here to read the blog post in the Washington Post


• Slate: Howard University was Barack Obama's venue. As the only African American candidate he received the loud shout-outs from the audience.
  Click here to read the article in Slate Magazine


• The Nation's John Nichols: Illinois Senator Barack Obama, the only black candidate on the stage, was especially eloquent in his denunciation of the current court's assault on the protections set in place by the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling that barred state-sponsored school segregation Speaking of the courageous students, parents and civil rights lawyers who fought to bring the Brown v. Board of Education case to the high court more than half a century ago, he mused, "If it were not for them, I would not be standing here
  Click here to read the blog post in The Nation

Be inspired and be counted:
BarackObama.com/inspire