Eight Is Enough

A few observations after watching the first hour of tonight's Democratic debate (I flipped it off when they switched to the "town hall" format. There may indeed be wisdom in crowds, but the questions asked by individual citizens in these forums are usually pretty lame):

- Wolf Blitzer did a nice job as host, especially when he followed up if the candidates were not answering the question which is too often par for the course in these debates. He really nailed Bill Richardson for refusing to address the possibility of genocide in Iraq if US troops withdrew.

- Speaking of Richardson, why was this guy ever considered a serious contender? Tonight, he reminded me of nothing so much as the Democratic version of Tommy Thompson, a capable enough governor, but not ready for the prime time national stage.

- Judging solely from what said tonight, the candidate who came across as the having the most reasonable, common-sense views on how to build a strong and secure future for America was...

...Hillary Clinton. I know it's hard for a lot of conservatives to swallow, but you gotta give Hillary her due here. If you have to have a Democrat in the White House in 2009 (and odds are that we will), from a national security perspective, the country could do a lot worse than her. At least based on the rhetoric she's pitching now.

- An illuminating moment came when Blitzer asked for a show of hands on who would support making English the official national language of the US. Gravel was the only one in favor and the others were not only opposed, but, led by Obama, basically came out and said such issues shouldn't even be discussed because they were "divisive." Divisive you say? As opposed to what, the war in Iraq, gay marriage, abortion? Our entire political system is based on disagreement on issues. Every time there is an election, we are "divided." Just because it's an issue that you can't make political hay with, doesn't mean it isn't one that we should debate and I applaud the fact that it was even brought up. And just because English is the official language of the US, it doesn't mean that we won't encourage Americans to learn others. That little non sequitur was embraced by at least four of the candidates.