Am I the only one that thinks Obama wasn't himself tonight?

[Catherine Vincent]

He did great but he was subdued. And if you look at him now, he doesn't look happy. Wasn't a story about to come out about all the threats he is getting? Or maybe it really hurt him what Rangel said? I would be too, that was awful what Rangel said about Obama. I think he should apologize. I know Rangel has said off the cuff remarks about others before but he shouldn't have said what he said against Obama.

[TwilightGardener]

1. I thought he looked relaxed and showed a sense of humor.

[Catherine Vincent]

7. Maybe that's what it was, relaxing.

I did miss some of the debate because of iterruptions.

I still think Rangel should personally apologize to Obama.

[KathieG]

31. I agree...I believe he showed his personality a little more tonight, and yes...he seemed relaxed

[Barack_America]

2. I think that his calmness played well against Hillary's shouting.

I thought that Edwards looked a little tired, IMO.

But he obviously won the crowd ove (Obama, that is).

[Catherine Vincent]

10. There you go again with the shouting. nt

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Barack_America]

25. Thanks for the personal attack!

So surprising coming from a Clinton supporter.

[Catherine Vincent]

29. Kristi is right.

You should take that back. Not cool.

[Barack_America]

24. Dude. I have a good sound system. Her voice was uncomfortably loud.

I'm surprised my ears aren't ringing.

[jlake]

3. Yes, I think he was subdued. And I liked it much more than his usual

brashness. I think it will play well because those who already liked him still will, but this will make others give him a second look.

[jasmine621]

4. He wasn't as good as he has been but he was himself.

An inferior candidate to HC.

[Barack_America]

6. Thanks for your "unbiased" opinion, Clinton supporter....n/t

[Colobo]

5. He was fine. He was relaxed and he looked presidential.

[Barack_America]

8. Exactly! I would say he looked poised....n/t

[jackson_dem]

9. The intimate, sit down format does not suit Obama as much as the normal one

[Avalux]

11. What is "himself"?

No, he wasn't behind a podium with a cheering crowd, but I thought he was relaxed, confident and even soft-spoken which was good. He was the only one to get a few laughs from the crowd.

[TeamJordan23]

12. One of his best performances. nm

[ripple]

13. The man is tired

The campaign trail doesn't offer much rest.

I wasn't going to mention this at all and I definitely don't believe it's worthy of it's own thread, but did anyone else notice the rash on Edwards' neck? I know he usually wears open-necked shirts, so I wonder if the starch in his collar was causing a skin irritation. I hope it didn't itch- that would suck in that situation.

[Quixote1818]

14. I thought he won tonight. I really liked how he came across. However,

it was the first time I watched it full screen.

[Cha]

15. Yeah, I can tell you really

care.

[Bluerthanblue]

17. I think he did very well, he seemed self assured, mellow,

and like he was not struggling to get a chance to speak.

He was by far the least frantic of them all, while still being very present and on point.

I wasn't online to catch the first part, but from what I saw- he was excellent.

I especially liked when he spoke about deciding to run for president- ...."and my children are above average".

Powdermilk Biscut time:silly:

[dkf]

35. His "My children are above average" came with the cutest grin

I thought he was adorable.

[Bread and Circus]

18. I think he was amazing. Debates are not places to "rev up the crowd"

but rather to engage the issues, get a good zinger or a laugh in, and avoid "gotcha moments".

[global1]

19. Obama Was Calm, Cool & Collected - Very Poised And Spot On .....

Hillary seemed screechy and yelly and Edwards just seemed desperate.

Clearly Obama was the clear winner today.

[aquart]

20. I think Rangel spoke to him directly.

Rangel knows power. And Obama knows he knows. It would have been appropriately respectful for Rangel to call Obama and tell him what he was going to say in the Channel 1 interview...and give him the opportunity to get in front of it.

I expect Rangel was extremely pithy about what he thought of Obama's tactics.

Obama probably issued his statement of conciliation ten minutes after Rangel's call. Then Hillary issued her response to it, maybe after her own call from Rangel.

THEN Rangel did his interview.

But we'll never know, will we?

[Catherine Vincent]

23. Regardless, I think he should personally apologize.

Maybe he did. We'll never know. :shrug:

[zulchzulu]

21. I thought he answered intelligently without YELLING

He was a lot easier to listen to than the other candidates. I was wondering why Hillary kept yelling. It reminded me of a drummer who overplayed in a band that I was once in.

[bellasgrams]

22. I thought he was good. It was nice to not hear any cocky or

rude remarks coming from anyone. No one can talk like Hillary because they don't have the knowledge yet, if Obama sticks with it he will. You can't learn everything overnite. Give him time.

[Blue_In_AK]

26. I thought he was fine.

He seemed more down to earth this time, which appealed to me -- not quite so messianic. I thought everybody did great, and I liked the cooperative tone. I wish they could be a co-presidency.

[David Zephyr]

27. He looked presidential tonight. I liked that.

They all did well.

[CyberPieHole]

28. I'm no fan of Obama, but I thought Obama was fine and better than he has been in the past...

I liked the fact that he was not overly cocky and I am glad that he and Edwards didn't tag~team Senator Clinton. I listened to Obama more closely and tried to be more open to what he has to say than on any other occasion and Obama's appeal became apparent to me. Not to the point that I am switching my support, but I am beginning to see that Obama would be a good and positive President, if Clinton were not to get the nomination. Perhaps what you saw as subdued, I saw as calm and collected...something that clicked with me.

[Catherine Vincent]

30. That's a nice pic of Hillary. nt

[CyberPieHole]

32. Thanks...I thought it was a good one of her, as well...

:hi: to you.

[Samantha]

33. I thought he was subdued and something was bothering him

He seemed calm, but did hesitate in his answers. Perhaps he was just tired. Hillary was wired and seemed proactive in her body language and trajectory of words, as if to send the message once again, I am inevitable. She acted condescending towards both Edwards and Obama, and at least once to the mods. Edwards was very passionate and scored well.

I do not think I would decide who I would support based on this debate, but perhaps many in Nevada will. My personal opinion is that Edwards and Obama are okay; regardless of how well Hillary does on the issues, she has a fatal flaw -- she voted for the resolution to give Bush* the authority to go do war and refuses to admit that was a mistake. I said at that time I would not support anyone who signed that resolution in the affirmative and I have not backed down. I will cut Edwards some slack because he did submit an outright apology to the public.

[dkf]

36. I like how he held back and thought things through.

I felt I understood his process better.

Personally I can be very reactive and sometimes get into hot water. That is my weakness.

I have confidence that he won't be like that.

None of this "Dead or Alive" Bushie rhetoric.

[Renew Deal]

34. Obama is always downbeat during debates.

It seems to be his style.

[Awsi Dooger]

37. Subdued is natural for a sit down format

I remember the debate coach telling us that in junior high, and it almost always proved true.

Remember how ridiculously blase Al Gore was in the 2nd debate in '00? It was the only sit down debate, and came after the sigh criticisms of debate #1.

[BenDavid]

38. I wrote Tuesday afternoon the comments by Charlie Rangel

might have been the reason Obama wanted to stop the bickering. I also wrote that since James Clyburn did not throw his support for Obama on Monday was a sign he too understood what HRC said was in no way disrepectful to Dr King and then after Rangel said what he did.Mondau afternoon "How race got into this thing is because Obama said ‘race,’”

“But there is nothing that Hillary Clinton has said that baffles me. I would challenge anybody to belittle the contribution that Dr. King has made to the world, to our country, to civil rights, and the Voting Rights Act,” said Rangel. “But for him to suggest that Dr. King could have signed that act is absolutely stupid. It's absolutely dumb to infer that Doctor King, alone, passed the legislation and signed it into law."

I think the words above stung Obama and forced him to take stock and that led to his asking for this to stop....

Charlie Rangel spoke truth to power

[AtomicKitten]

39. Clyburn didn't throw his support to anyone because he pledged not to.

That was the condition of moving up SC's primary.

Forget the apology owed to Obama from Rangel; they almost always come with the back of a hand from the Clinton camp the many times before they've been caught playing dirty before.

http://www.alternet.org/story/73782

No worries, Justice. The black community is catching on to what is going on here and will weigh in at the ballot box.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4081644

[Venceremos]

40. Relaxed, not subdued....

I'm a Clinton supporter but I thought Obama did better than Hillary tonight. She seemed too wound up but he was relaxed, and his sense of humor is always appreciated. Most importantly, he gave some solid answers about where he stands on the issues, as opposed to the vague "hope and change" message I saw in an earlier debate. Now that he's sharpening his message I'm willing to give him a second look.