REVIEWS ARE IN: DES MOINES REGISTER DEBATE
Focus Group of Iowa Voters Declares Edwards the Winner.
Fox News’ focus group of Democrats in Iowa watching the debate declared Edwards the winner of the debate. Luntz: “I want you to raise your hands if you walked in here with John Edwards as your first choice. One, two of you. How many of you thought John Edwards won the debate? [Majority of crowd raises hand.] What was it about John Edwards – you didn’t pick him – but what was it about John Edwards you thought stood out?” Democratic voter: “I had John Edwards coming in number three, and he was very believable, he didn’t beat around the bush, he talked about the strong interest groups that he’s been fighting for all the time, and he has a plan. He came in there with answers.” [Fox News, 12/13/07]
Mark Halperin’s Debate Grades:
Edwards A-
Obama A-
Clinton B+
Richardson B+
Biden B-
Dodd C
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ABC’s Rick Klein: “Edwards Though Wins On My Scorecards.” “3:25 pm ET: Edwards though wins on my scorecards -- he was relentlessly on message, sounding strong, and making a very good case to keep this a three-person race.”
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Des Moines Register: “He’s Good;” Praised Edwards’ Answer on New Year’s Resolution. Edwards' strength Posted 12/13/2007 2:19 PM CST “‘Somewhere in America tonight, a child will go to bed hungry.’ said Edwards. ‘Somewhere in America today...a father will lose his job.’ All of us are going to be just fine, he said of fellow candidates. ‘What's at stake is whether America is going to be just fine.’ He's good.”
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Fox News’ Major Garrett: “Edwards: Looks Crisp and Confident and Has Clearly Honed His Populist Message.” “Edwards: Looks crisp and confident and has clearly honed his populist message about the role of corporate influence on American political life, his line ‘corporate power and greed have literally taken over the government,’ will stand as one of the punchiest of the day and crystallizes his campaign theme. His fumbling of his desire that this generation leave the nation in better shape than it was found left a humanizing and humorous feeling in the air.”
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ABC’s Rick Klein: “Edwards Is ‘Driven in [His] Gut.’ Once Again, He Brings It Back to a Clear, Concise Message.” “3:22 pm ET: Edwards is ‘driven in [his] gut.’ Once again, he brings it back to a clear, concise message.”
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Marc Ambinder: “But Who Did Best?... On Balance, Clinton and Edwards.” “But who did best?... On balance, Clinton and Edwards.... Why them, and not Obama? Because Clinton and Edwards repeatedly wove their answers into a larger argument…. Almost every other phrase out of John Edwards’s mouth contained the words “corporate power..” or “entrenched interests.” And Edwards wasn’t aggressive.”
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Fred Barnes: I Thought One Person Did Well: John Edwards. “I thought one person actually did well, and that’s John Edwards and you know why? Because he relentlessly stuck to the same point. He got it across- that the biggest problem in America is corporate power and greed.” [Fox News, 12/13/07]
ABC’s Rick Klein: Fox Dialers Love Edwards’ Message “Join Together to Take This Democracy and Take This Country Back.” “3:02 pm ET: Here's Edwards shooting broad once again – ‘join together to take this democracy and take this country back.’ At least the fourth time he's sounded that theme -- if you're an angry Iowan, you've got to love that message. And the Fox dialers certainly do.”
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NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann: “He Knows His Iowa Audience.” 2:43 PM “Edwards named the closing of the Maytag plant in Newton as the ultimate illustration of how corporate America is hurting the middle class. It was an emotional and much-publicized event for plant workers here in Iowa, prompting cathartic displays such as the public demolition of a washing machine. Edwards visited Newton, Iowa, the week of the plant's closing. The crowd hit hardest by the factory buyout is the one with which Edwards' anti-corporate populism resonates the most. He knows his Iowa audience.”
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ABC’s Rick Klein: Fox Dialers “Have Been Friendly to Edwards.” “2:53 pm ET: Two-thirds of the way through now, roughly, I don't see this contributing significantly to the campaign's storylines. The Fox dial tests have been friendly to Edwards and Obama, if that means anything.”
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TAPPED’s Dana Goldstein: “Edwards Is Great On Education.” “Edwards Is Great On Education:” “I'm always impressed with John Edwards' discussions of education policy during these debates. He begins with the importance of early childhood interventions, he criticizes NCLB while holding out hope it can be reformed, and he highlights the privileges suburban schools enjoy that rural and inner city schools lack. He circles back to discuss free college tuition for qualified high school graduates.”
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ABC’s Rick Klein: Edwards “Quite Literally off the Charts with That Answer About the Tax System Being Rigged.” “2:11 pm ET: Fox News is doing running dial-testing -- and John Edwards is quite literally off the charts with that answer about the tax system being rigged.”
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ABC’s Rick Klein: “Edwards Is Looking Strong Today.” “2:25 pm ET: Edwards: ‘What makes America America is at risk.’ ‘We need to take them on.’ Edwards is looking strong today.”
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New York Times’ Katharine Q. Seelye: Edwards’ Catchy Line: Americans “Should Be Patriotic About Something Other Than War.” “2:44 p.m. Catchy Line Mr. Edwards has a nice line that he uses all the time, but it’s still catchy: that Americans ‘should be patriotic about something other than war.’”
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ABC’s Rick Klein: “Edwards is Making Just About Every Response About His Fight-the-Establishment Message.” “2:41 pm ET: Edwards is making just about every response about his fight-the-establishment message. He's good at hitting a message over and over -- often what you need to do in a debate that doesn't have major highlights.”
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CNN Focus Group Declared Edwards the Winner. A CNN focus group of 23 undecided registered Democrats in Iowa who watched the debate declared John Edwards the winner of the debate. CNN’s Mary Snow: “Twenty-three registered Democrats came in here undecided. We asked them who they felt performed the best in this debate and they concluded they felt that John Edwards performed the best, with Senator Clinton right behind him. Now of course, this is unscientific, but also the other question posed to them. If the election were held today, who would you vote for? And in that question, John Edwards came in first, Senator Barack Obama second, and Senator Clinton came in third.” Those participating in the CNN dial group said they would vote for Edwards. “If you were going to vote today, for whom would you vote?”: Edwards 39%, Obama 26%, Clinton 22%. [CNN, 12/13/07]
CNN: Edwards’ Answer on Education Was One of Debate’s Strongest Moments. CNN’s Mary Snow: “Also when the candidates were talking about education, that really resonated with the people here in this room, 23 registered democrats who are undecided. Take a look at how they responded when John Edwards was talking about his education plans.” Video of Edwards: “We need to radically change No Child Left Behind. And if that doesn’t work, we should get rid of it.” Snow: “Those were two of the strongest moments.” [CNN, 12/13/07]
NBC's Chuck Todd: “Edwards Seemed To Do a Good Job of Talking to Iowans Specifically.” “Edwards seemed to do a good job of talking to Iowans specifically; he strikes me as being the John Edwards of late 2003; Could he be on a similar comeback trail that he experienced in '03 in Iowa? Time will tell.”
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TIME’s Mark Halperin: Edwards “displayed with mechanized efficiency the same confidence and warm populism that he has nearly perfected on the campaign trail. Grade: A-”
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CBS’ Vaughn Ververs: “If There Was a Winner, It May Have Been Edwards.” “If there was a winner, it may have been Edwards. His answers to almost every question hewed to his populist themes of sticking up for the disadvantaged and sticking it to corporate America. That should play well among Democrats in Iowa.”
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Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza: “One of the Most Gifted (if Not the Most Gifted) Debater on Any Stage.”
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“John Edwards (First 45 minutes): Edwards is, without question, one of the most gifted (if not the most gifted) debater on any stage. And, for the first 45 minutes of the debate his populist ‘us versus them’ message really hit home. ‘Corporate power and greed have literally taken over the government,’ he said at one point; ‘You have to be willing to fight....I have been fighting these people and winning my entire life,’ he said at another.”
Bleeding Heartland Blog: “Edwards Did Indeed Win the Debate.” Chris Woods wrote, “I'm going to argue that John Edwards did indeed win the debate. He articulated a coherent message that blamed corruption, greed, and entrenched interests for the problems America faces. He also clearly told viewers that the only way to enact the policies and proposals that the candidates have promised is to elect a president that will unite America to stand up and fight back against these people. His criticisms were constant, his answers honest, and his leadership potential was clear. He told us how he is fighting for the middle class, and how he's the candidate to truly enact change.”
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Focus Group of Iowa Voters Declares Edwards the Winner.
Frank Luntz: “I want you to raise your hands if you walked in here with John Edwards as your first choice. One, two of you. How many of you thought John Edwards won the debate? [Majority of crowd raises hand.] What was it about John Edwards – you didn’t pick him – but what was it about John Edwards you thought stood out?”
“Very believable…He came in there with answers”: Democratic voter #1: “I had John Edwards coming in number three, and he was very believable, he didn’t beat around the bush, he talked about the strong interest groups that he’s been fighting for all the time, and he has a plan. He came in there with answers.”
“Refreshingly authentic…I was very moved”: Democratic voter #2: “I thought he was refreshingly authentic. I didn’t expect it and I was very moved by many of his words.”
“I was really moved”: Frank Luntz: “Susan, you weren’t an Edwards person when you walked in…” Democratic voter, Susan: “Edwards was my third choice when I walked in.” Luntz: “And yet you thought he won.” “He was concise, he got to the point, he answered the questions without beating around the bush, and I was really moved when he talked about how he has worked all his life like David v. Goliath. That impressed me.”
“He was my third choice, now he is my first”: Democratic voter #4: “That was my line exactly. Authenticity, number one. I think he would go after the corporations that are causing much of the trouble in the world today. He was my third choice, now he is my first.” [Fox News, 12/13/07]
Iowa Focus Group Gave Edwards’ Answers Two of Their Best Scores. Frank Luntz said about a focus group of Iowa voters watching the debate: “Well, the Democrats, and this has been consistent from when we started, the Democrats are happier with their candidates today than the Republicans were with their candidates yesterday, and so it's very tough to choose the top dial scores - John Edwards had two of them.”
Edwards’ Answer on Education Was a “Homerun, But It Goes Even Higher When He Gets Specific.” Luntz: “Remember that our yellow lines, our gold lines, those are [liberals], the blue lines are moderates – the higher the lines go the more favorable the reaction. Edwards had begun this clip talking about education and it was a homerun, but it goes even higher when he gets specific, let's take a look. [JRE answer] He is off the charts.”
“When He Is Talking About Health Care, Middle-Class Tax Cuts. ..These Lines, at Certain Points, They Can't Get Higher Than That.” Luntz: “When he is talking about health care, middle-class tax cuts. ..these lines, at certain points, they can't get higher than that. John Edwards also did a clip on education; let's roll that second clip. Again, it was not just the generalities and the principles. When Edwards talked about exactly what he was going to do, it scored as well as anything we have tested in the debates. [JRE answer] Once again, he’s off the charts. The Edwards language was very effective today on all these issues, because he had passion, he had focus, and as our participants said, he had a beginning, middle and an end. Very impressive.” [Fox News, 12/13/07]
