Hardball
Was flipping through and saw Kucinich on Hardball. First it was yet more evidence that Matthews is a bit of a right-wing shill, despite his near-endorsement of Dean. But it also brought up the question of what Kucinich was even doing on Hardball - isn't there a point where a candidate should consider that beneath them? Finally, Kucinich unfortunately let himself get railroaded by Matthews. He implied that the pro-life folks would be in support of criminal charges against women who had abortions. Matthews asked him to name a congressman who was on record as being in support of that, which was different than what Kucinich implied. He tried to avoid the question but then Matthews actually SCREAMED "Name one!!" ... and Kucinich blinked, and mentioned someone, Chris Smith I believe. So of course Matthews brought Smith on the next day and Smith denied it up and down and volleyed back all the softballs. Anyway, my point is that Kucinich blinked. A candidate HAS to be able to dictate his own terms of debate, and if he can't then in my mind it means he probably doesn't have enough power (the internal kind) to lead effectively. It's uncomfortable to watch someone fold like that, but it is a good indication of how susceptible someone is to the right's bullying tactics. I watched both Gore and Lieberman fold last election and I just think we need someone who won't do that. The best parriers I've seen so far have been Dean and Clark, so right now I'm torn between them.
Posted by Curt at July 17, 2003 03:47 PM