Debate Wrap-Up

I don't know how many people saw it, given that Logo is in about four homes nationwide, but last night's debate was very interesting for three reasons.

The first was the format, which brought out candidates one-by-one, rather than having them on stage all at once, sniping at each other. This was as potentially transforming a format as the YouTube debate -- it forced candidates to answer the questions, rather than snipe at each other. It also gave a modicum of evenhandeness to the debate -- Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich got as much face time as Clinton, Edwards, and Obama.

That brings me to point two: Kucinich had his best showing in a debate last night. Unlike the big three, he can actually come right out and say what the vast majority of Democrats -- including, I suspect, Obama and Clinton -- believe: that there's absolutely no reason that same-sex marriage should be illegal, and that civil unions is a "separate-but-equal" dodge. Gravel and Edwards came off the next best, Gravel because he could make the same point (although not as eloquently), and Edwards because he really comes across as someone who is honestly struggling to get past his faith. (Edwards also spoke powerfully on being accepting if a staffer announced he or she was transgendered.) Clinton and Obama both seem somewhat cagey on the issue, as if they're afraid to admit that equality is a good thing, lest a bigoted voter in Oklahoma change their mind.

Finally, the name I haven't mentioned so far: Bill Richardson. Richardson had, quite simply, the worst performance in a debate that I've ever seen. He said he thought homosexuality was a choice, and when pressed, said he was "not a scientist." When asked if he'd sign a bill that authorized same-sex marriage, he sputtered that he was "trying to do what's achievable." He came across as someone deeply uncomfortable with homosexuality and homosexuals, and while that may, lamentably, not be that unusual for Americans in general, in 2008 the leader of the Democratic party needs to be someone who's gotten beyond that.

Kucinich gets an A for the debate, Edwards and Gravel solid B's, Obama and Clinton C-pluses, and Richardson an F. Frankly, if anything, I'm now convinced that I oppose Richardson's nomination; fortunately, he won't get it.