That was Bill Richardson's very funny line Saturdy night after Hillary lost it a little on live television. And as I was watching, all I could think was how great a country it is, where anyone can watch a potential Presidential candidate implode before their very eyes.
It started a few minutes earlier, when, out of the blue, Hillary started attacking Obama for flip-flopping. And after Obama responds, John Edwards launched into an all-out Hillary attack, with three great digs. Within a matter of seconds, Edwards pointed out:
- that he and Obama finished first and second in Iowa
- that Hillary represents the status quo
- and that she's only upset because she's behind for the first time in her campaign.
That's when she went off, and it was pretty fun to watch. If you haven't seen it, the video is posted after the jump, along with one of her better moments.
Incidentally, according to Monday morning polls, Obama has gained as additional 10 percentage points over Hillary since Friday. I guess a few people were watching.
Here's the entire exchange, with Hillary attacking Obama, Obama responding, Edwards coming to his defense, and Hillary's explosive response
Just the Hillary part
And a fun moment for Hillary
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I'm not surprise Obama gained, he sounded damn presidential in his Iowa victory speach.
Agreed. That speech was amazing and I just read the the transcript. But the big states are still left to come and Hillary's got the cash.
I'm a full-on Obama supporter but I'm totally in the minority in thinking that Hillary won that debate. If you judge it on substance rather than style I thought her arguments about talking about change vs. actual change and her injection of "reality" into Obama and Edward's bragging about their laughably empty congressional accomplishments was pretty effective.
No doubt that Obama is the most presidential of the bunch though. I just think he does better in speeches than in debates.
Rich, I agree with you. Hillary was pointing out examples of accomplishments, vs. Obama and Edwards talking about what they "would" do if they're elected. And it will be interesting to see how the Obama campaign shakes out, as he gets pressed to deal in specifics closer to the election. But "tone" counts for so much, and unfortunately, many times sounding Presidential is more important than acting Presidential.
Also, I thought the speech was REALLY good, but I wouldn't say it's the best I ever saw. I was watching Chris Matthews this morning, and he was saying it was better than any speech JFK ever gave, using phrases like "make you want to charge the machine gun nest", and I was like, really? Aside from all that, I do hope he gets the nomination (if Edwards doesn't get it)
As a completely impartial observer on the far side of the world (New Zealand) I don't think Hillary "lost it", she just made a good point with a bit of passion. It's just a shame she sounded so damn shrill when she did it.