Barack Obama Wins Groundbreaking YouTube Debate on CNN
July 25, 2007
The first ever YouTube debate aired on CNN last night and the consensus appears to be overwhelming — Barack Obama won by a landslide.
Some choice quotes from the media:
CNN: Randi Kaye on Focus Group Votes for Debate Winner: “When the debate ended the same group moving meters actually rated each candidate’s overall performance. And here is how they stacked up: take a look, Obama, Biden, Edwards, and on the bottom Clinton, Anderson back to you.” [Image: Who do you think performed the best during the debate you just viewed?: Obama 33%,Biden 21%, Edwards 17%, Clinton 8%]
Fox News South Carolina Focus Groups (Frank Luntz): “He is off the charts. I mean, this is as high as it can go. He’s explicit. He has drawn the contrast. He has hit a home run. What I would like to do is I want to play for you the sound of what they had to say about Barack Obama so you can really understand it’s not that he is a good politician and not his experience. It’s as much his presentation and more importantly it’s that he seems to represent people rather than politics. If you guys back there can roll the sound, this is why Obama will be shown as the winner of tonight’s debate.”
Time: Mark Halperin on Overall Performance: Grade: A- : When he was good, he was very, very good. .. Still, his best performance to date, positioning him to return in later forums to the change-change-change contrast he wants (and needs) to define his candidacy.
It’s now beginning to become clearer to more and more people every day. Despite those national polls that show Hillary leading Obama, the tide will turn as the primary election nears. He’s smarter, learns quicker and will continue to gain as more people get to know him and his message.
Hillary is staged, boring and flat-with absolutely nothing new to say.
Obama is fresh, exciting and represents the change that so many voters are yearning for. As second tier candidates drop out (and they will start soon) and the field narrows down to Hillary and Barack, the choice will become obvious.
He’ll win in Iowa, New Hampshire and steam roll to the nomination in Denver.