08 Presidential Candidates, Political Analysis

Last night, eight Democratic primary candidates each took a separate jet from Washington to South Carolina, raising criticism that they needlessly wasted money and fuel thereby making them financially irresponsible and environmentally hypocritical.  The jets cost anywhere from $7,000 to $9,000 per chartered flight.  This type of financial criticism has been leveled recently against Senator John Edwards for paying out of his campaign fund a series of $400 haircuts, leaving small donors feeling angered.  Edwards has since reimbursed the haircut money to his campaign chest from his personal funds.  http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-campaign-planes,0,4666247,print.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

The debate itself is being billed as tame.  The Democrats took few swipes at their fellow Democratic primary rivals and focused on criticizing President Bush.  Alaskan State Senator Mike Gravel pronounced the United States the largest violator of the non-proliferation treaty.  Gravel was given equal speaking time at the debate despite saving less than $500 in his war chest through the campaign.   He also asked Senator Obama who he was going to nuke.  Another third tier primary candidate, Dennis Kucinich, insisted that anytime you vote to provide funding for the war, you reauthorize the war.  This too, is non-controversial among Democratic candidates as Senators Biden, Clinton, Obama, and Edwards all voted to cut funding for the war earlier in the day.  http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/26/crowley.dem.post.debate/index.html

UPDATE:  USAToday Poll has Obama as the winner of the debate with 31%, Clinton in 2nd with 24%, Edwards 3rd with 14%.  Obama did more than twice as well among Independents.  Biggest two issues of the debate were Iraq and gun control.  http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReportEmail.aspx?g=ba1ebc70-a734-4185-8532-2e4a9ba45d96

UPDATE #2:  Candidates were NOT given equal speaking time by MSNBC.  Though their stage positions were determined by random drawing, the leading candidates coincidentally were on center stage while weak candidates such as Kucinich and Gravel were on the wings and often off camera.  Gravel protested at one point that the moderator was giving him so little time that he was being treated as a “potted plant.”