What did you guys think of Richardson tonight?

I think he is a great leader and a great ambassador for our country, but I was turned off by his STYLE tonight. Seemed to be the Democratic version of Rudy from a few Rep debates ago, where he kept on talking about his accomplishments about this and that. I know accomplishments are important, but they turn off the average voter when you harp on them so much. I think he has some good ideas, and I disagree on a few points with him. And when he made the bold (and incorrect) statement that he was the only person up there that had negotiated with a foreign leader, I cringed knowing Biden was going to correct him.

Again, I like Richardson, but his debate style didn't do it for me tonight.

He just doesn't come across well. The only question he did good was when he talked about his resume and bringing the hostages home.

and set the minds of the rest of the "freaked out world community" at ease. :thumbsdown:

Nope, Clark would be an excellent Secretary of State and/or Defense, but VP is just a little too Pakistani-like for my comfort. :shrug:

The one question. Otherwise, he's a snore, which is a shame because he has a really impressive resume. He's no slouch

He just doesn't do this format well. With his credentials, he should be on the short list for any number of Dem administration posts..including VP and Supreme Ct.

Personally, I say Sec of State.
Bill Clinton for UN Ambassador

I've seen him on TV and he is much warmer and personable.

If a candidate has to spend their time telling people how great they are, that's just pathetic. Why not show them by just speaking with authority and wisdom and demonstrating how they'll be as president.

Whenever a candidate resorts to this, it turns me off.

I Wanna Be Teacher's Pet! (IMO - the beltway bubble - has Richardson CONVINCED that HRC is going to snag the Democratic Nomination and he was getting a little early campaigning for the VP slot. :shrug:

Teacher's pet (pa dum pa dum pa dum)
I wanna be teacher's pet (pa dum pa dum)
I wanna be huddled and cuddled as close to you as I can get
(That's the lesson we're guessin' you're best in)

Mm, teacher's pride (pa dum pa dum)
I wanna be teacher's pride (pa dum pa dum)
I wanna be dated, paraded, the one most likely at your side
(Ya got a burnin' yearnin' to learn)

I wanna learn all your lips can teach me
One kiss will do at the start (are you really?)
I'm sure with a little homework
I'll graduate to your heart (to your heart)

Teacher's pet, (pa dum pa dum pa dum)
I wanna be teacher's pet (pa dum pa dum)
I wanna take home a diploma and show Ma that ya love me, too
(That ya love me, too)
So I can be teacher's pet long after school is through

(Oh, teacher's pet) Mm, mm
(You wanna be teacher's pet) Ah. ah
(You wanna be huddled and cuddled as close to him as you can get)

I wanna learn all your lips can teach me
One kiss will do at the start
I'm sure with a little homework
I'll graduate to your heart

Teacher's pet (you love the teacher), I wanna be teacher's pet (pa dum pa dum)
I wanna take home a diploma and show Ma that ya love me, too (Wow!)
So I can be teacher's pet (yeah!) long after school is through
(Teacher, teacher she loves you)

The first couple of times I was impressed. But now -

It's obvious he is running for VP, and he's actually ruining his chances every time he opens his mouth.

He would say or commit to whatever they wanted him to. How can he guarantee that Iran won't get a nuke on his watch? The others had the right answer, do everything to prevent it, but some things can't be controlled.

that he would put a big, ole wet sloppy one right on HRC's lips. And he did - big time. Tweety was right on in his earlier prediction - he'd kiss her real good because he wants Bill to raise money for him later on a predicted NM Senate run.

I had heard he was a fraud, tonight proved it. After spending all this time differentiating himself from the Clintons, he threw it all away to pander to her. Pssht. Done with that guy.

other than that, I like him and his policies.

Substance or style?

My problem is that I like Richardson best on substance, but I think it's realistic to say he can't win unless his style improves. I could overlook it earlier, but it's getting late in the game. He needed to be ON in this debate and mostly he wasn't, and he annoyed me with his own harping on his resume. There are less direct ways to remind people of what you've already done, while telling them what you will do if elected.

Seems like he wants to please way too much. Guess he thinks that if he keeps talking about himself long enough, we'll get it. What we get is bored though....cause someone trying to tell you everything great about themselves in like 60 seconds is kind of not understanding that it should not be possible to list all of your accomplishments in that short a period of time. Guess that's what happens when one barely gets any coverage. :shrug:

Okay, I get the death cult thing that christianity definitely has, but of what great significance is getting six sets of remains from the Korean War?

He was terrible again tonight, not as bad as other occasions, but awful nonetheless. There's a sort of odd bleating to the approach: I'M the one with all the diplomacy experience, why aren't you listening to ME?

Isn't there some correlation between public speaking and negotiating? Perhaps he's great when you close the doors behind him and a couple other people, but he's just really out of his element in a situation like this.

I will have to disagree with most of you, I think Richardon did fine. Not exceptionally well, but neither did any of the other candidates.

The reason he kept talking about his experience was because he has the most, and I think that should be taken into consideration. He has served in Congress, in the Cabinet, as Governor, as UN Ambassardor, as a hostage negotiater. His resume is long and varied and needs to be looked at more.

I always hear about Governors being mentioned for senate runs, but it rarely happens, especially when they are in the middle of a term, which is where Richardson is.

And I also noted that when he mentions his experience, he's inevitably interrupted. But most people *don't* know how much experience he has. (Look, for example, at the "six corpses" comment made above.)

Richardson hit the nail on the head when he said that governors and not senators win elections. 7 of the 8 last presidents were governors, and we haven't had a senator pres. elected since 1960.

Being that Richardson is the only Dem candidate that's been a governor, coupled with having the most experience and the best ability to carry swing states, he's the best candidate.

Hillary will lead us to another close election. And we all know how those last 2 close elections turned out.

but he just seemed so awkward last night. He has this clunky way about him that just doesn't fill my with confidence. I know he has a great resume, but his style is just so..off that I can't just can't seemed to get too chuffed about it. I know this format is one he doesn't perform the best in, but sadly this is the place the most people are going to see him and it doesn't play well for him. Sad, because I think he could be a fairly good candidate.

after the first debate, and it gets worse in every debate thereafter, but he won't let it go!

Richardson claimed that he was the ONLY candidate to work negotiations and that wasn't true.

I was not impressed with Richardson last night. Not that I'd vote for him anyway because he won't deal with illegal immigration.

sorry. He's a great governor, but he is not Presidential material. JMHO.

He can win that one and do some good.

Bake