Huffington blew it

Ariana made Bustemante look bad, made Arnold look good by attacking him and making herself look foolish, and the Green looked like the only one who knew what the hell he was talking about. And the 2 repubs never said a word against each other, so it's obvious they followed the Repuke Operations Manual to the letter. Discuss...

Your argument is weak on facts, weak on logic, and demonstrates a less than sophisticated understanding of how things work in politics, in debate, and in the ability of the public to grasp ideas, much less nuanced argument.

It isn't an argument, it's an opinion, designed to stir debate. I'm not writing a term paper here.

Why ya gotta be so mean?

Go to a happy place.

I said this in another thread, but I believe McClintock fell on his own sword last night by emphasizing his positions on social issues that are unpopular with a majority of California voters: He's pro-life, pro-prop 187, against the driver license bill for illegals, and pro-gun. He said that all in one sentence. IMO that just about assures a Schwarzenegger victory if Davis goes down.

I say this because if the recall passes, the next governor will get about 30% of the vote. There are about 30% of Californians who agree with McClintock's ideas.

Just my thoughts.

A lot of Californians, even Republicans, are turned off by a pro-life stance.

First, I thought McClintock was by far the most articulate, restrained and to-the-point candidate.

I also noticed that Tom very conspicuously refrained from almost all forms of attack against Arnold.

I enjoyed Camejo's passion but I don't share his philosphy on the "fair tax" concept.

Arrianna was a horse's ass with the "treatment of women," blast and others.

And Mr. Whipple alternated between boring and condescending, constantly trying to remind Arnold that he just doesn't understand how Sacremento really works.

McClintock "won" the debate on sheer professionalism and eloquence.

I thought she did great. I wish she was a Democrat.

she's just trying to cause trouble for Arnold and the Pubs!

She's got a way with words, and she kept getting in those digs at Bush. Love that voice too.

Arianna's performance had both pluses and minuses. Many will no doubt be offended by her baiting of Arnold, but many will also admire how gutsy & well-prepared she was.

She was willing to risk incurring some degree of ill will, in the effort to goad Arnold into being a bully -- a trap he certainly fell headlong into. She revealed a very ugly brutish side of him. When he made the jibe about having a role for her in Terminator 4, I think many people were rightfully revulsed by what a pig he actually is.

It's true that Camejo (the Green) came out of it very well. He & Arianna are good personal friends; it's possible that they had some understanding that she would be the bad cop & he'd be the good cop.

Bustamante was not bad; I'd say it was mixed. He is smooth, articulate, witty & confident. Somewhat supercilious, however. He's defending the incumbent team -- there's no way he can soar to great heights defending that record.

In order from best to worst, my scorecard had it: Camejo, Arianna, Cruz, McClintock, Arnold. And Arnold didn't even earn the right to be on the same stage with the other 4. He's a bush-leaguer, 100%.

and if I didn't think I'd be throwing my vote away, I'd vote for Camejo.

Don't you know anything about politics? She did that on PURPOSE. She cost Arnie tons of women's votes. I've been following Arianna for a long time and she did all that for a reason. She's a smart lady - very politcally savvy. She's like Bill Maher - she "Politcally Incorrect" and doesn't really care what people think of her.

And yes I know that Arnold was referring to pushing a woman's head into a toilet.

Maybe that kind of thinking will get the votes of adolescent males whatever their age, but those people weren't going to vote Democratic anyway.

Actually, I know quite a bit about politics. And I know she did that on PURPOSE. I'm just saying she didn't do it VERY WELL. She could have been more clever in her goading of him (and being a big fan of hers, having read her stuff for quite a while now, I was dissapointed), and instead came across as slightly desperate. He laughed her off a few times, and made her look bad. As far as attempting to turn women off of Ah-nold, I think women already are well aware of what an ass he is, and have already decided how to vote. If not, Huffington didn't suddenly reveal him to be a jerk, he's already done that himself.

I've said many very negative things about Arianna recently, but she did that on purpose and I thank her for it. She showed Arnie's sexism, brought the issue to the forefront of the debate, and revealed how nasty he can be.

Thanks Arianna. She may have just saved Davis and the Repuke power grab.

Arnold and Arriana. They dominated the debate. The other three just faded into the background. If you're a Bustamante supporter, then yes, Arriana overshadowed him and hurt his chances. But she raised her profile in the media, which will be good for her career as a pundit. At first I thought Arnold was just so so because some of his answers weren't articulated very well. But now a day after I realise how clearly he won last night. He had alot of great one liners. And thats all I'm hearing and reading in the media today. Also all the polls I've seen so far show that he won by a big margin. His performance was kinda crude, but lets face it, people love it.

to attack him, he would have scored HUGE. She challeneged all his pre-scripted one liners and made him look like a fraud. I thought she did a great job and put him in his place. The other candidates were unwilling to touch him.

david

Arianna made Arnold look like an egotistical jerk. Some people like egotistical jerks, but I don't think there are enough of them in CA for Davis to lose the recall and Arnold to defeat Bustemante in the election.

(second time today!)

She baited Arnold into making an ugly comment, AFTER he just interrupted her.

She knows she's expendable, and can use her candidacy for throwing the others into high relief.

The progressives in CA are working at a different level than the rest of us. :)

Bush and the Republicans.

using this opportunity in the spotlight to repeatedly attack Bush. She's the *ONLY* one (not even Comejo is doing this, though I think he's fantastic) who is going after Bush. If Bustamante can't stand on his own, then he deserves what he gets. Arianna is doing her part and doing it well! I think she should be receiving all our praise

Plus I think that Davis will weather this in the end, so it'll be a net minus for Bush and Arnie, and a net plus for even the moderates among us. Just watch the Davis media extravaganza that's about to be unleashed...

david

Kucinich 2004

Arianna YES
Recall No

was clearly biased against the left of the spectrum particularly her, and biased pro right clearly for Arnold. How could he chastise Arianna for an ad hominem and then not say anything about Arnolds adhominems. Not to mention the freudian slip calling Arnold "Governor" He also gave the republicans alot more time to speak. Arianna clearly gave the left more time by being assertive and helped the whole left side of the spectrum by doing so including Bustumante.

I thought the moderator was great. He gave his biggest slap-down to Arnold, who was rambling incessantly about something and the moderator snapped at him, saying, "We've covered that topic enough." or something to that effect.

I thought Arianna did well to go after Arnold. Arnold looked silly, and made clear to all that he's a hypocrite, because he said at the beginning of his campaign that he wouldn't go on the offensive, yet that is all he did last night.

Cruz came off as either subdued or pompous; I think he'll get hurt the most from this. I'll still vote for him, but he definitely did not help himself last night.

McClintock was the only one who remained civil throughout; but he's still a wingnut.

Camejo was impressive, and may have improved his standing.

The moderator was clearly biased, and at one point actually said something like "Arnold, I KNOW you have something to say about this", insinuating that he was well aware of Ah-nold's position and wanted to hear it.

I love Arianna. Unlike your average media whore, she uses her public forum to tell the truth about the chimp. She is the WOMAN!

Did you watch the same debate? She called him on his contradictions and muddy politics. They all seemed to know what they were talking about except Arnold.

Bustamante had some very good zingers to what was a dedicedly shrill broadside from Huffington AND Ahnuld. I thought he held his own and kept his cool while a shouting match ensued between Huffington and Ahnuld. Green-boy did have alot of good points, but so did Nader's penis back in '00. Let's hear it for spliting the vote. At least there's two repukes to sever the vote nice and neat in THIS fiasco. Blech...