Update 3: Apparently, the big applause and laughter stuff for Biden was when he was making fun of Giuliani. It served him well, too, as he shot up to fourth in the Drexel Dems poll with 12% after the debate (up from 2%). Edwards was a little ahead of that, at 13% (up from 6%), and Clinton was a little further ahead, at 18%. Obama had a large lead at 47%. These numbers come from a press release I received in the audience from Open-Vote.com.
What did I learn from this experience? I learned that, without question, the number one issue for college students is education. When that subject came up later in the debate, it was a never ending series of applause lines from the audience. If you want to reach young people, talk education.
I also learned that Biden consistently does well in debates. I don't think anyone would have expected him to do so well, but yet again he surprises in post-debate polls. He has a very good presence in these debates.
Finally, it also seems that most applause lines were given for things other than the candidates themselves. Calling on Democrats to win in 2008 no matter who the nominee is, saying the Democratic Congress was doing enough (that got applause even before Kucinich even said what they weren't doing enough about), attacking Rudy Giuliani, decrying the level of attacks against Clinton--it always came from something outside the candidates themselves. I think that is a good sign--no creeping Dear Leader syndrome to be found.
Update 2: There are no outlets in the auditorium, and my computer lost battery early in the debate. So, here is a breakdown of the crowd reaction to the debate so far.
First, the clear winner among the crowd is Drexel. Chants of "Let's go Drexel" went on for two mintues before the debate. Philadelphia came in a close second. Thej students are clerly very excited and proud.
Second, here are the aplause lines for every candidate so far:
--Kucinich: "The Democratic Congress must stand up."
--Obama gets applause and laughter for his statements on Iran that followed Clinton's "pledge" exchange with Russert.
--Biden really knocked the crowd out with his whoole speel that ended with "I'm not running against Hillary Clinton, but to lead the country." Several laughts and applaiuse line. Biden also earlier ahd an applause line on comparing the Pakistani and to Iranian threats.
--Clinton socred a small appaluse line on "I oppose the war but support the troops fighting it." She has scored laugh lines on several occassions though, starting with the "pledge" exchange with Russert.
--Edwards scored applause, laughter, and "oooooo"s when he attacked Clinton for leaving troops in Iraq. Although mixed, it washhte second biggest response of the night, ahead of Kucinich exhorting the Democratic Congress and behind Biden's mid-debate monolouge.
--Richardson scored applause when he asked why the other candidates were attacking Clinton so hard.
--Dodd scored applause when he said we need a Democrat in the White House next year.
Interesting stuff to see the crowd reaction. Kind of like a primary focus group, except we all live in a state where our primary votes don't matter. More updates later--I have to actually leave the hall in order to write them.
Update: I'm sitting in the "second" rooom--that is, I am in an auditorium next to the debate where we will watch the debate on a large movie screen. I think I had imagined being able to set up my laptop at a table, and mill around a bit while eating appetizers or something. Silly me...
I probably won't be able to update much during the actual debate, because my computer charge is low. Governor Rendell just spoke, and now we are being entertained by a dance group. A few minutes ago the crowd was asked to applaud for who they thought would win the debate. Every candidate got a small amount of applause, except Obama, who got about twice as much as everyone else. It is a college crowd...
****
Fortunately for me, tonight's Democratic debate is in my neighborhood, taking place only 15 blocks from where I live in University City. I am about to head off to the debate site, for what I imagine should be a fun evening. The last major political even I attended at Drexel was the Rick Santorum Social Security forum when, through a group effort, Tim Tagaris, Anne Dicker and myself caught local college Republicans on tape chanting "hey-hey, ho-ho, Social Security has got to go." (Anne told me about it, Tim got the tape, and I posted about it online.) Ah, memories!
Speaking of Social Security, even leaving aside the problems associated with using "fixing" Social Security as a line of attack in a Democratic primary, isn't it generally a bad idea to tell someone you are going to hit them in the face before you actually do so? Not only does it make future attacks from the Obama campaign appear like attacks for the sake of attacks, but it also means your opponent can see it coming from a mile away. Clinton will be prepared for any Obama attacks tonight and, well, so will everyone else. Just seems like a bad strategy.
I also like the question Meteor Blades suggests for tonight's debate, given the reticence of the top tier to say they will pull out all troops by 2013:
"If you win the Presidency and you aren't tossed out of office in the 2012 elections for failing to get us out of Iraq by the end of your first term, could you give us any reason to hope that maybe maybe maybe all the troops will be out by the time your successor takes over in 2017?"
Maybe promising to end the war in a decade is a reasonable request for Democratic candidates. Speaking of which, here is a plan from a Lt. Colonel who now specializes in logistics analysis demonstrating that it is entirely reasonable to pull all troops out in six to eight months:
Total Iraq Redeployment Plan (link removed--update coming tomorrow)
It is nice to know that there are some good wonks out there. Bill Richardson and The Center for American progress does not stand alone on this issue.
This is an open debate thread.
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