EDWARDS PRAISED AT DEBATE FOR LEADING ON THE ISSUES
WashingtonPost.com’s “The Fix”: Edwards “Seemed the Boldest of the Three in His Call for Bold Action.” Chris Cillizza wrote after the debate, “While the dominant dynamic of the night was between Clinton and Obama, it was former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) who seemed the boldest of the three in his call for bold action. ‘If you want real change you need someone who has taken on these people and beat them over and over and over,’ said Edwards. At another point in the debate, Edwards warned: ‘We can't trade our insiders for their insiders.’ Edwards also powerfully seized a question on health care to talk about a man in West Virginia who had been unable to have a cleft lip surgically repaired until he was 50 years old. While anecdotes can be too cute by half, it was clear Edwards was affected by the man's story; it was a moment of real emotion for the former Senator, and a good one.” [http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/07/change_vs_experience.html, 7/23/07]
ABC News’ “Political Radar”: Edwards Found His Voice on Health Care. ABC News’ “Political Radar” noted, “8:50 pm: Edwards finds his voice on healthcare, and even Anderson Cooper can't cut him off. ‘We should be outraged by these stories.’ An effective answer -- Clinton's talk of a ‘national commitment’ and Obama's promise to fight the insurance companies come off as rather hollow by contrast.” [http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/07/live-blogging-f.html <http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/07/live-blogging-f.html> , 7/23/07]
NBC’s Chuck Todd: Edwards Appeared to Get the Best of Clinton and Obama on Health Care. NBC’s Chuck Todd wrote, “We're getting toward the end of this debate but on the issue of health care, Edwards appeared to get the best of both Clinton and Obama on the issue. Until that answer, it wasn't clear Edwards was going to have one memorable moment.” Todd also wrote, “His story about the man who couldn't get the operation in order to talk until he was 50 was riveting.” [http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/23/285777.aspx <http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/23/285777.aspx> and http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/23/285828.aspx, 7/23/07]
MSNBC’s “First Read” Highlighted a “Poignant Moment for Edwards.” MSNBC’s Mark Murray wrote that when Anderson Cooper referred to Citadel grad, Shane Childers, who died in Iraq, “His picture was on the big screen in the debate hall. When the camera turned to the candidates, some were scribbling notes, except for Edwards (in that particular screen shot), who just stared at Childers' photo. It was a pretty powerful moment.” [http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/23/285671.aspx, 7/23/07]
Marc Ambinder: Edwards “Seemed on His Game.” After the debate, Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic Online wrote in his report card on the candidates, “A brief report card in no particular order: John Edwards -- He seemed on his game, although a noisy audience deprived him of the chance to impress a questioner on gay rights. His calling out of audience members didn't seem forced.” [http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/07/tonights_debate_was_supposed_t.php, 7/23/07]
WashingtonPost.com’s “The Fix”: Edwards’ Frank Talk Helped Him Stand Out. Chris Cillizza wrote, “Edwards, Clinton and Obama have all started off well… Edwards' aggressive tactics and frank talk have helped him stand out.” [http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/07/how_are_they_doing.html, 7/23/07]
AMERICAblog.com: “Edwards' Video Is Brilliant.” John Aravosis blogged on AMERICAblog.com, “CNN is doing a bad job actually showing us the candidates’ YouTube videos. I had no idea the ‘Hair’ video was from Edwards, or what it actually showed. Looking at it now, it's brilliant. See if you ‘get it.’” [http://www.americablog.com/2007/07/edwards-video-is-brilliant.html, 7/23/07]
ABC News’ “Political Radar”: “The Edwards Ad Was Clever.” ABC News’ “Political Radar” wrote, “7:45 pm: From ABC's Karen Travers: "The Edwards ad was clever - I thought, hmm a dig at the media, but it allowed them to spin that issue to their favor. I think the use of ‘Hair’ and seeing the images used under the song will make people think more about the 60s and protesting an unpopular war more than they will think about Edwards' pricey haircut. I thought it was a clever way to address the point but make it about something larger.” [http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/07/live-blogging-f.html <http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/07/live-blogging-f.html> , 7/23/07]
MSNBC’s “First Read”: “Pretty Clever.” About Edwards’ video during the CNN/YouTube debate, MSNBC’s “First Read” wrote that Edwards video “had the song ‘Hair’ playing....pretty clever.” [http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/23/285654.aspx, 7/23/07]
Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall: Edwards Video “Was Pretty Good.” Josh Marshall wrote about Edwards’ YouTube video, “Most campaign videos are pretty lame. But this one from Edwards on the Youtube debate tonight was pretty good.” [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/015726.php, 7/23/07]
Politico.com’s Ben Smith: Edwards Uses New Media to Criticize Media Focus on the Superficial. The Politico.com’s Ben Smith wrote, “Like Dodd, John Edwards uses the new media forum to criticize the old media focus on the superficial, but with a bit more of an edge: The song ‘hair’ juxtaposed with images of America in crisis.” [http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0707/Hair.html, 7/23/07]
