UPDATE: Here is the video of the debate:
Greetings from Lowell! Remember that you can watch a live-stream of the debate at this link. Because a live stream is available, I’m not going to do a play-by-play. Rather, it will be more of a stream-of-consciousness commentary. Please feel free to chime in – I’ll drop in as many comments as I can. Let the live-blog begin!
Please share widely!
I’m going to support DeFranco. Warren is a close second. Will be able to enthusiastically support E. Warren if she wins the primary, as long as she gets an actual campaign going.
I actually agree with them on social issues, and I like DeFranco because she is feisty. As a sort of conservative guy I still question their insights as to how jobs are created in a free economy. In this regard I have more faith in Khazei because he understands that you can’t balance the budget solely by increasing taxes on the rich.
strong and determined. We need that. I don’t think anyone thinks that taxing the wealthy will balance the budget. But they really do have to do more to get us out of the mess we are in. If middle class and poor families can send their kids to war and possible death, I don’t see why the wealthy can’t part with money to pay for the wars. It’s not hard to see who is making the bigger sacrifice. Yet they don’t even want to part with their money. They just want everyone else to do all the work and do all the paying too.
Anyone standout?
What did the Republican plant ask?
I’m trying to find a stream to watch, nothing posted that I could find yet.
There were no game-changers, IMHO. DeFranco did well – she definitely made an impression.
Actually, Scott Conway did great. His questions were as good as anyone else’s.
and compare.
I came with a home town women who has not previously been involved in politics. we came to hold signs for Elizabeth Warren and she gave an impressive performance. I asked my new friend other than her first choice who else impressed her and she thought Tom Conroy and Marissa DeFranco were very good.
We both disagreed with the candidates positions against a draft. Particularly with the earlier question on whether they encouraged their children to serve, it underscores how easy it is to vote for war if it does not effect your family.
The best line of the evening was from Elizabeth Warren, “Forbes magazines named Scott Brown as Wall Streets favorite Senator, and I was thinking, that’s probably not an award I’m going to get.”
Hopefully the debate gets posted.
From the iPad. I can see the first few comments, but can’t get the view to scroll to see the rest.
Not sure why that would be … is it a Flash-related problem? IIRC iPads don’t run Flash.
You can’t scroll through a CoverItLive event on an iPad. You also can’t see the debate video, and you can’t see the audio clips I posted here.
I wonder if Apple will get over its bizarre aversion to Flash now that Steve Jobs is gone. He can hate Flash all he wants, but an awful lot of people use it, and the fact that it won’t run in iPad renders iPad’s browser pretty lame.
Flash is the technical equivalent of a monster truck: it’s grotesquely big; it immediately consumes all available resources; it runs roughshod over everything in it’s path; and it leaves a lot of dust and destruction in its wake. Flash is more responsible for a wholesale shortening of computer lifecycles than any other single item. Compare battery cycle times for products comparable to the iPad running flash. So what if an awful lot of people use it.. they’re not using it because it is the most technically advanced thing out there, they’re using it because Adobe is piggybacking on it’s monopoly of PDF readers, which monopoly they gained by piggybacking on MicroSofts’ similarly monopolistic business practices.
Jobs’ (and Apples’) aversion to Flash is directly and precisely linked to an affinity for brilliant engineers and brilliant engineering. Why is that ‘bizarre’?? You wouldn’t purchase a car with oval tires, would you? Sure the car will run, but it’s going take a lot more energy and wear and tear so much sooner. But your statement is equivalent to say, “gosh, why doesn’t Ford get over it’s bizarre aversion to oval tires….?’
And so putting Flash on an iPad is like putting monster truck tires (oval ones, at that) on a Ferrari… From where I sit that’s the bizarre part.
I doubt you’ll see Flash on the iPad, since HTML5 can do pretty much anything Flash can do, and the iPad does do HTML5. What’s needed is for more Flash-based stuff to make the move to the future.
When I try and watch the debate at the link in the thread-starter, the flash doesn’t work. In Chrome, I can get it to say “buffering”, but there’s no video. I tried in Firefox, IE, and Chrome. Maybe the U-MA/Lowell server is overwhelmed?
I hope this gets fixed, I’d like to watch the debate (this looks like a problem on the site that hosts the link, not BMG).
as though that link was only for the live stream. I don’t know where (or whether) they’re going to post the archive video. I certainly hope they do!
Thanks for posting the archived version.
Warren and Khazei (and I’ve never been a Khazei fan).
I take it the the guy with the greasy head is the Republican plant? Have him ask the DUI question to Scott Brown the next time he attends WAAF’s Beer Fest.
(with the video posted, some of the early summary-stuff may be redundant…)
Outside the arena: pleased to meet up with fellow Massie supporters, but enjoyed the camaraderie with rival supporters. A good,passionate crew on all fronts.
Format: arrgh. Lightning-round questions are a complete waste of time, and there were too may “1 minute” restrictions well. This was the candidates’ first intro to a lot of people, who didn’t need the candidates’ positions on everything, especially when they’d all simply nod “yes.” Better they should get a sense of the human beings on stage. And the differences emerge in the details. There were some very articulate people up there with some well-thought-out positions; I would have preferred allowing them to elaborate. We all complain about sound-bites; debates provide an opportunity go beyond that.
Random notes:
Second best line of the night went to Massie: “One party has been sold–and the other is for rent” (Massie the most ardent critic of money-in-politics I’ve met outside the Green Party), in re stating that he and Khazie have forsworn PAC and lobbyist monies. Must have raised a few eyebrows. Best line went to Herb Robinson, a very nice man who will be not getting any money from anyone, who followed up by drily noting “I won’t be accepting PAC money either.” Brought the house down.
[In re which: I come to the Democratic Party via the Greens (mea culpa; I’m atoning), where touching corporate monies is anathema, and I can’t help but admire Khazie and Massie on this, especially Massie’s longstanding and fundamental critique of the infelicitious influence of money in politics. At the same time, as Warren points out, she’s not going to be getting any money from Wall St (I’ll be keeping an eye on opensecrets,org anyway), and I’m not sure that that 1. accepting bundled contributions from the likes of moveon is going to lose her any points, or that 2. she can win without the money, since Brown has piled up, what, ten mill? She’s everybody’s darling these days, but Brown’s far more popular than he deserves to be, and the elections’ still over a year away. In this world, god must serve the devil. I truly hope Massie continues to highlight the problem—one story in The Globe a week or so ago was positively embarassing–but I don’t expect it to be a ground gainer. Warren deflected the criticism, a few times, and with some humor, in positing that she’s not exactly WS’s pin up gal. ]
ALL gave vocal support to Occupy Boston. Khazie mentioned that he visited and talked with the protesters; DiFranco, that some of her supporters are there. Massie would join them (I hope he does—his history certainly bears that out).( Funny, my son just called me from U-Mass Amherst to tell me he just got word of a walk-out and march from the campus to the town common. Was wondering when this would hit the campuses). Note to all: Big day in Boston planned for Monday. Show up!
The most interesting set of responses came when one member of the student panel, a decorated combat vet, asked: “Would you encourage your children to serve in the military?” Three gave the “I would neither encourage nor disencourage but would support their decision.” Warren, who comes from a military family, said that she actually DID encourage one of her children to enlist. A very pro-military line throughout—could be a winner among some erstwhile Brownites? Khazie, conversely, struggled with his response, and allowed that, looking at his nine-yr old daughter, he couldn’t honestly answer affirmatively. Props for honesty there. Massie’s response best: he said that he came from a youthful mistrust of the military (actively antiwar during Vietnam),came later to a more mature respect for the services, had had the discussion with one his kids, but that he while he admires the US military, it is “not under control of political forces I fully trust.” Well done! (Also gave the best response in re ending the wars; they’re all down with getting out–Khazie perhaps most adamantly–but Bob talked seriously about helping out returning GIs. Oh, and Marisa DiFranco brought up the pay discrepancy between our enlisted soldiers and our mercena–err, our “contractors.” Great point).
Personal disappointment: 4 of the 6–each of whom would later earnestly intone the phrase “I support a woman’s right to choose”–stating that the right to choose does not extend to marijuana (the question, regarding legalizing weed, got the biggest round of applause from the predominantly young audience, which should give the candidates pause). And I’ll be honest: Massie’s response made less sense to me than anyone’s. Med marijuana ok, but schedule with the opiates—huh? There’s an element of the fantastic in believing you can control a substance that we can all grow in our basements. Pleased to hear Marisa DiFranco allow that she’d consider it and possibly vote to legalize. Yeah, I know this isn’t a huge issue for most folks, but isn’t just about disgruntled tokers unable to score at the Rite-Aid; we are talking billions of dollars in lost and squandered revenue (and a whole lotta jobs to boot); good peoples’ lives are still being ruined—and a hell of lot of people are being killed in turf wars both on the Mexican border and right here in river city. And if prohibition ain’t working, why continue perpetuating a wholesale and damn expensive farce? It’s hardly a make-or-break issue, but the stuff’s here, it’s everywhere, and it ain’t going away. Nor is this a political third-rail (Khazie: “I inhaled—and I enjoyed it.”) Get real. Barney Frank is.
This debate wasn’t all that interesting from a substantive standpoint, since they all pretty much agree on everything–this is a very progressive slate (I’m happy to report), and I’m gonna be okay with whoever emerges the winner. Fascinating to me, though, to see how each responds as a human being, and the strategies they employ, etc–all of which does have implications for how successful each might be when they get to the Senate, where the old ones will eat you alive. So, attempting to leave aside my own bias, everything else I know about them, and to judge them squarely on performance…
Winners:
1 st place: Marisa DiFranco overachieved. Heard lotsa good comments afterward, and I was genuinely impressed. She seemed the most comfortable on stage–genuinely relaxed and confident and wholly un-canned. And when she did the angry thing, she sounded genuinely angry. Liked her statement on how NOT to negotiate. She’s clearly a fighter and knows and struggles with the system in her everyday career. My suggestion: if this doesn’t pan out, do two terms as a state rep when the opportunity opens up and run for Governor. She’d have my support.
2nd place: Bob Massie. Provided creative answers without dodging the questions. Quick on his feet, and moved from thoughtful to raise-the-roof–his final statement was reminiscent, in its fire, of his rousing speech at the Convention in June, and I think folks dug it. His social justice vision shone through more than once. The only candidate to mention climate change, albeit only in passing—wish he’d talk more about that, and the window that dealing with that opens in terms of job development. It’s his strong suit, and it matters to many of us.
On the downside, he and Khazie are positioning themselves as uniters and deal-brokers. I personally find that very compelling, especially in that both have the credentials to back it up. But right now, I think Democrats catch a whiff of Obama’s failed tactics in this, and are looking for some a display of claws and red meat: “I’m gonna head down to DC and kick some GOP/Wall St. ass.” And, too, Brown is going to posture as a moderate bi-partisan type. Bare the fangs, Bob. Today’s GOP is not dominated by serious businesspeople who understand negotiation. An angry electorate isn’t looking for another BO.
3rd place: Warren: said pretty much what you’d expect. No surprises. My guess is that she’s going to play ball-control throughout the primary–no fumbles and no interceptions. But she’s going to have to turn it up a notch at some point when the focus is on Brown. That said, folks wondered how she’d do in a public debate: she was perfectly poised, nonplussed by any questions, and showed a wicked sense of humor. That matters. Took the time to shake hands with everyone afterwards and was gracious with rival supporters. Massie’s performance solidified my support for him, but to be sure, there ain’t much to knock when it comes to Warren. And in regard to the gushing Herald coverage, noted in a separate post above, the Brown camp has to be in serious WTF? mode. All in all, this third-place is based solely on on-stage performance, but it’s a very close third—close enough to secure her front-runner position and, no doubt, her eye-popping lead.
Losers:
Alan Khazei: I acually found myself liking him more than I expected to, but I don’t think he did himself any favors last night. His response to one question:[paraphrased] “I’ll be honest with you, we can’t solve our problems simply by raising taxes, we have to look at entitlements”–is almost suicidal; the Party went batsh** when Obama said something similar a few months ago. He’s clearly angry about the rockstar from OK jumping in late and stealing everyone’s thunder, but he’s not winning any points going after Warren. He strikes me as too smart for his own strategy.
Tom Conroy. Clearly a really smart guy, and I was impressed by his walking tour of the state. But he was practically a non-presence. Too many answers were pat; I didn’t hear anything especially creative, nor anything that touched the heart. He brings more legislative experience to the table than anyone, and I hope he loosens up a bit next time around. I’d like to hear more, but I need a little warmth with my wonk.
Herb Robinson. Falstaffian comic relief. No business being up there, but there’s something heartening to me about a non-politico doing what he is. Wants to tax corporations into behaving. Talked with him for a bit afterwards, since the press wasn’t. Nice solid citizen with an interesting background. Senate not for amateurs.
These are all very decent human beings. Massie, Khazie, DiFranco and Warren each have demonstrable success in fighting for what’s right outside of politics, and that says a LOT to me.