Fox wants Clinton and Obama to debate Lincoln/Douglas style.

[Yeahduff]

[Vorticus]

I don't know if Obama can grow a beard like that in time.

[Linkara]

*Slaps head.*

Lincoln/Douglas style lasted SIXTEEN HOURS. They took a break in between so people could go have dinner! There is a reason we have the brief 2-3 hour thing!

[Rkolter]

I'd rather see a Lincoln / Booth style of debate.

[Yeahduff]

Nobody? Really?

[Prettysenshi]

All of this is merely a way to distract those who are undecided. They want Clinton and Obama to make a total mockery of the Democratic Party by debating the same issues to death and fighting like chickens who just got their heads cut off.

Meanwhile, McCain's campaign is growing more and more by the day, he's surging in the polls, he's getting his message out there. DNC Chair Howard Dean already said that this fight between Obama and Clinton has to be over by June. It's official, so one of them is gonna have to drop out. He doesn't care who anymore. And personally I don't either. I'm a democrat, Moderate but whatever, so I'll support either candidate, but if Obama and Clinton don't shape up, by June, many people are just gonna give up on both of them.

[Rkolter]

They should have a fist fight. Bare knuckle, in a boxing ring. And they should rent paintball guns to the audience, so we can participate in the match.

[RobertBlake]

All of this is merely a way to distract those who are undecided. They want Clinton and Obama to make a total mockery of the Democratic Party by debating the same issues to death and fighting like chickens who just got their heads cut off.

Meanwhile, McCain's campaign is growing more and more by the day, he's surging in the polls, he's getting his message out there. DNC Chair Howard Dean already said that this fight between Obama and Clinton has to be over by June. It's official, so one of them is gonna have to drop out. He doesn't care who anymore. And personally I don't either. I'm a democrat, Moderate but whatever, so I'll support either candidate, but if Obama and Clinton don't shape up, by June, many people are just gonna give up on both of them.

Indeed.

Although I tend to vote for the Democrat in these things, it's getting to I may not vote for either one come election time. I may just vote third party or not vote at all.

[Prettysenshi]

We're in the middle of a war, (getting better, but still), the verge of a recession, the job/housing market has gone to shit, and gas prices are skyrocketing. We're in the middle of a culture war, where gay people might become second class citizens in the constitution, abortion could be outlawed no matter the cost, and our nation is becoming a theocracy. I'm sorry, but the last thing I want is more fighting, whether with words or fists or whatever.

It's a mockery of our political system to continue like this when so much is at stake. If you really would support whoever wins the nomination, Obama/Clinton, then one of you should be the bigger person, step down from the campaign, let the other campaign like hell to beat McCain, and then get the best of every advisor you can and fix the nation. If you ask me, I think it's an insult to the American people to think of this election as 'WIN WIN' than "how can we save the country?"

To Robert Blake: that would be the worst thing, ever. Because if you're a democrat, and you don't vote, you're letting McCain win. Not because every other democrat isn't voting, but because Conservative thinkers are the more dedicated voters. Their party, during elections, is very unified, and they'll vote in crazy numbers. McCain would win by a landslide and we're be in Iraq into 2100 and we'll fall behind all other European countries in terms of GDP.

[Cope]

Oh, I get it. They used a photo of the wrong Douglas, right?

[Yeahduff]

THANK YOU.

You're from New Zealand, right?

[Rkolter]

CNN has a tool that illustrates the mathematical near impossibility of Clinton's position. In it, you can award the remaining delegates.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/29/ ... index.html

Clinton needs to get 59% of all the remaining delegates - both super and state, to prevent Obama from securing the nomination. Anything less and he'll top 2025 delegates and win. That's a whopping 18% lead she has to pull off - in every remaining election and in the superdelegate race.

Trouble is, Clinton is not favored to win in all the remaining elections; the ones she is favored to win in, it's not by anything approaching 18%, and even if she does win by that much, because of how Delegates are awarded, she won't end up getting 18% more than Obama. To top it off, in the critical superdelegate race, Obama is accumulating superdelegates at a much faster rate than Clinton.

To actually win before the convention, she'd have to take 62% of all the remaining delegates (24% lead over Obama). To force him to the convention, she needs 59% (18% lead over Obama).

Mathematically I guess it is POSSIBLE. But it's not REASONABLE. In any form of close race, even one that she leads, she will lose. And she's not even leading.

[Cope]

THANK YOU.

You're from New Zealand, right?

Australia. I spend enough time around American political blogs to have seen this, though.

[RobertBlake]

To Robert Blake: that would be the worst thing, ever. Because if you're a democrat, and you don't vote, you're letting McCain win. Not because every other democrat isn't voting, but because Conservative thinkers are the more dedicated voters. Their party, during elections, is very unified, and they'll vote in crazy numbers. McCain would win by a landslide and we're be in Iraq into 2100 and we'll fall behind all other European countries in terms of GDP.

I really don't align myself with any political party, but rather the candidate. I tend to vote Democrat because I tend to agree more with whoever that candidate happens to be. If there ever was a Republican to come along that I agreed with and faced a Democrat with which I didn't, I would vote for the Republican.

As it stands, in this election, I plan to vote for Obama, provided he win his party's nomination.

[Yeahduff]

Australia.

Sorry about that. I'm an American. I don't have any concept of geography.

So I guess I'm the only person who thinks this is funny. OK.

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

Sorry, I haven't been in a laughing mood lately. It's funny, though.

[RobertBlake]

Sorry, I haven't been in a laughing mood lately. It's funny, though.

Have you tried nitrous oxide?

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

Sorry, I haven't been in a laughing mood lately. It's funny, though.

Have you tried nitrous oxide?

Hmmm, that's not a bad idea.

[Jesusabdullah]

Oh, I get it. They used a photo of the wrong Douglas, right?

D-oh. It didn't feel right, but I really really didn't want a major news outlet to be so wrong. So, I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

Fuck you Fox news for making me feel dumb.

Edit:

All of this is merely a way to distract those who are undecided. They want Clinton and Obama to make a total mockery of the Democratic Party by debating the same issues to death and fighting like chickens who just got their heads cut off.

Meanwhile, McCain's campaign is growing more and more by the day, he's surging in the polls, he's getting his message out there. DNC Chair Howard Dean already said that this fight between Obama and Clinton has to be over by June. It's official, so one of them is gonna have to drop out. He doesn't care who anymore. And personally I don't either. I'm a democrat, Moderate but whatever, so I'll support either candidate, but if Obama and Clinton don't shape up, by June, many people are just gonna give up on both of them.

Indeed.

Agreed. I'll almost definitely vote democrat, but this is seriously just silly. Plus, it's really the Obama-McCain Debate of DOOM that I want to see (or Clinton-McCain, I guess, but I really get the impression that Obama pretty much has this thing in the bag at this point).

[MixedMyth]

Honestly, I'm not sure why everyone is so out of sorts about the ongoing rivalry between Clinton and Obama. I mean, jeez, it's part of the democratic process. Granted one that needs some revamping (and I'm not a fan of the idea of superdeligates), but nevertheless I'd rather see it all the way through. I'd rather have them both give it their all than have one back out prematurely. In my mind, it's a fairer and fuller fight. It would be something else if the rivalry continued past the convention. Then I'd be pissed. But we're still in the primaries and the convention isn't even here yet. And I'm honestly not sure that it's hurting the dems and helping McCain as much as they say. There's something to be said for the amount of attention the dual has garnered. Besides which, the political/news scene shifts so rapidly that I'm betting entirely different issues will be raised, for good or ill, when the dem nominee and McCain go at it.

As to a Lincoln/Douglas style debate....it should be clarified that the debate style means a debate about "about morals, human rights, and philosophy", not necessarily a recreation of the 16 hour long debate between Douglas and Lincoln. So I think it could be valuable, but I suspect it would mostly be used as a means of out-patrioting each other. I'd rather have an issues based debate with a good moderator.