When did Hillary Clinton become a mediocre debater?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I see the implicit suggestion on this board that she's Rick Perry in a pantsuit. Where's the evidence of it ?

[JI7]

1. probably Coming from her own team to lower expectations

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. I see it coming from this board.

eom

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. From the several posters that suggested she is afraid to debate, that's where.

Oh, welcome back.

[virtualobserver]

36. only afraid of unnecessary risk

not cowering in fear. The frontrunner never wants to debate.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

39. Hmmmm

[kenfrequed]

43. Uhm...probably because of the delay in the debates..?

Who is pushing for delaying the debates anyhow?

No other candidate benefits from this delay and the party's messaging gets delayed by two months. Why?


It only benefits the front runner and it only does so if they think that the debates will razor away support for them. A candidate good at debates would be willing to go to bat right away and brush off the competition.

[wendylaroux]

3. She is FAAAAR from rick perry!

he is an idiot,she is intelligent.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Thank you.

She is intelligent and quick on her feet...After all she was a corporate/trial lawyer with a JD from the most selective law school in the nation. She also has debated the leading Democrats of this era.

[Mike Nelson]

5. Never saw that view expressed...

...until you posted.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. I see several posters suggesting she is afraid to debate.

If X says Y is afraid to do something it's logical to infer X doesn't believe Y is good at it.

[AgingAmerican]

16. Her handlers are afraid the more she debates the more exposure Sanders gets

So they are limiting the number of debates.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. Debates will remind voters of her presidential countenance.

eom

[AgingAmerican]

20. Didn't quite work out that way last time

Against Obama she came across as negative and sunk her own boat. All Obama had to do was shake his head in disgust and he won. Maybe she won't self destruct this time?

If she goes negative while debating against Sanders he will mop the floor with her.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. Bernie Sanders has as much chance of mopping the floor with her as...

If she goes negative while debating against Sanders he will mop the floor with her.

Bernie Sanders has as much chance of mopping the floor with her as Winona Ryder would have of wiping the floor with Ronda Rousey.

The woman is unflappable.

But thank you for confirming my original observation.

[GeorgeGist]

42. Perhaps you should have addressed your question to poster X.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

44. I prefer to use a megaphone. I was never the retiring type.

eom

[djean111]

31. The hyperbole runs deep here. When it suits. Soon, it will be accepted that someone else's

supporters literally said Hillary is Rick Perry in a pant suit, and the poutrage will continue.

[peacebird]

7. I think she is a good debater, if equivocating and dancing around to answer what you want to

Instead of what was asked is good debating.
The problem is that Bernie will answer the question that was asked, while she will dance around it, this will make her look like an evasive politician.

[whatchamacallit]

8. Yes, opinions on this board shaped the impressions of Hillary's debate skills

for pundits, journalists, and the electorate in general.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. I edited it just for you.

Yes, opinions on this board shaped the impressions of Hillary's debate skills for pundits, journalists, and the electorate in general.

I edited it just for you.


When did Hillary Clinton become a mediocre debater?

I see the implicit suggestion on this board that she's Rick Perry in a pantsuit. Where's the evidence of it ?

[tularetom]

41. Implicit suggestion? I think you mean "explicit"

Explicit means somebody actually posted that she was Rick Perry in a pantsuit.

Implicit means that somebody implied that she was Rick Perry in a pantsuit. So I want to see the post where it was implied (or stated) that she was Rick Perry in a pantsuit.

I think you pulled the "Rick Perry in a pantsuit" line out of your posterior and posted it here to continue the passive aggressive victim card the Clintons have employed so consistently for 20 years.

[Eleanors38]

54. Don't know about her debate skills. Speaking style is ponderous boilerplate.

[PoliticAverse]

10. 2008. n/t

[BooScout]

11. I've seen that tossed around here as well...

I think someone thinks that if they say it often enough it makes it true.

Hillary is very intelligent and articulate. She'll do just fine in the debates.

[stevenleser]

13. President Obama would be the most surprised to hear such a sentiment. nt

[TexasProgresive]

14. I don't know that she is a good or poor debater

Last edited Thu Aug 6, 2015, 03:10 PM - Edit history (2)

What I do know is that front runners run from debates because it is their's to lose. Generally there is no benefit for someone ahead in the polls to debate.

[NCTraveler]

22. Sums it up respectfully. It simply makes sense and is normally understood.

DWS running interference is the problem.

[Maedhros]

37. But there is benefit for the VOTERS, and that is more important. [n/t]

[MADem]

18. I seem to remember that the moderators always asked her the questions FIRST.

And all the other candidates said "I agree with Hillary..."

I remember she made a point of NOTICING that the moderators did that, too!

Who is characterizing her in that mean and wingnutty fashion?

[Iliyah]

19. HRC can defintely keep up and probably run with it!

[NCTraveler]

21. It's simply offensive.

I think some are in for a rude awakening at who they think will run away with these debates. I feel it will end up solidifying it as Hillary / O'Malley. Sanders has a record of being very uncomfortable when facing off against someone. Reactionary, defensive, stuttering, uncomfortable, reflections of the past with few ideas to go forward..... Here he is next to someone he should be able to handle. The people trashing Hillary with respect to being run by handlers and the debate thing are all Sanders supporters. This is what they are banking on in a debate.

[askew]

24. For as much flack as Obama took for saying it, he was dead on when

he said that "Hillary is likable enough". That's her problem in a nutshell. People don't really like her a whole lot and putting her on live tv is just going to remind people of that problem. And with her polling #s cratering, it's no wonder the DNC is trying to help hide her away from the public until it is too late to pick a different candidate.

[NCTraveler]

28. Her poll numbers are astronimical. She could lose as much support as Sanders has and still lead. nt.

[askew]

23. When she flip-flopped mid-sentence on driver's licenses for undocumented Americans.

It was so blatant that even Chris Dodd called her out on it.

It's not that she's a bad debator. It is that her record has so many flip-flops in it and she is being so evasive on issues that voters seeing her on stage with O'Malley and Sanders who are both consistent and willing to state their opinions on any issue is going to be a bad contrast for her.

Then, there is her problems with compulsively lying. It's gotten her in trouble over and over again.

[Vinca]

25. I don't think she's that bad in a debate situation.

Her downfall is giving a "formal" speech. She always enunciates words as if she's talking to a room full of slow learners. Very unnatural . . . almost robotic.

[lovemydog]

26. In 2008 I thought Hillary and Obama

were two of the best debaters I'd ever seen. I watched every debate. I think she will do quite well again.

[Agnosticsherbet]

27. Because people supporting other candidates want and expect it that way.

[Renew Deal]

33. I agree. And they've over inflated Sanders.

I'm not sure he can handle the pressure.

[Agnosticsherbet]

34. I thing all if them will do well.

All debates are scripted and planned to the last detail.

If #blacklivesmatter, Code Pink, or some other group managed to get in to protest, it could go off the rails and we would see a little spontaneity, though I think there is even a plan for that.

[Armstead]

56. So give him and chance to prove or disprove that

If he gets in the debates and screws up, or turns people off, so be it.

Butt he and the others should be given a chance to start showing their stuff so people can make comparisons based on the candidates themselves.

[Renew Deal]

58. I agree

The debates should have begun already

[BainsBane]

30. She did very well in 2008

which I recognized at the time despite not considering supporting her.

[Renew Deal]

32. Those that think she's a poor debater are in for a big surprise

[Lil Missy]

35. DU is not a reliable source of facts. Du is part opinion and part wishful thinking. n/t

[bobbobbins01]

40. I don't question her debating skills

The problem is the contrast between her and her opponents. Usually the democratic candidates all share the same general ideas, its just the details that are debated. Bernie, and for the most part O'Malley as well, are coming from a different place altogether and they're pointing out the major problems most other candidates wouldn't bring up.

It's sort of like trying to do a magic trick while someones in the crowd yelling out how you did it. I think that is what the true fear is here, people are going to see through the smoke and mirrors, realize that a better way is being offered, and the establishment is shitting themselves because people might actually take it.

[tularetom]

45. I suspect her handlers worry about her tendency to "misspeak" when the heat is on

Like she did about sniper fire in Bosnia.

Or being "dead broke" when she left the WH.

Or getting fired from the staff of the House Judiciary Committee for "misspeaking". Only her boss there was a bit more direct. He referred to her as a liar.

[Metric System]

57. Wow, you're really bringing up that BS story from the Watergate era? I think you better look deeper

into the supposed facts of that story, because it is a STORY- as in, fantasy.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/clintons/zeifman.asp

[DisgustipatedinCA]

46. "afraid to debate" is a far cry from "mediocre debater"

The former is standard for someone far ahead in the polls. The latter seems to come from your imagination.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

47. I have seen posters say Sanders "would wipe the floor with her."

I have seen a number of denizens of this board suggest Senator Sanders "would wipe the floor with her." If someone was going to "wipe the floor with me" i would be afraid but thankfully I never had to ponder such a scenario.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

48. Yes, but you saw that AFTER you posted this thread, and you saw it in this self-same thread.

You also forgot the conditional if/then. IF Hillary goes negative, THEN Sanders would wipe the floor with her. I'm not even sure what that has to do with my response. I don't think Hillary is a mediocre debater. I don't think the person who mentioned wiping up the floor believes that either--it's just the sort of tough talk one hears before a debate, boxing match, or other face-off. None of this changes the fact that candidates far ahead in polling would prefer not to debate, since there's nowhere to go but down.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

49. I didn't say anything about Senator Sanders. He volunteered it on his own.

He's going be in for a rude surprise.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

50. um, ok. You're wanting to discuss something other than your op.

You may want to take that up with the other poster, as I was concerning myself with replying to, you know, what you actually wrote up at the top of this page.

[Adrahil]

53. I don't know about "afraid", but....

you are right that the front-runner rarely has anything to gain from debates. Though I remember seeing some numbers on this. Unless an election is quite close, the debates don't usually matter terribly much. Not many people actually watch them, and most people who do watch debates already know who they are supporting.

[rock]

51. Hillary is a GREAT debater

Anti-Hillary people thought, "Let's accuse her of being a terrible debater!" Voila! Everyone reluctantly agrees she's a mediocre debater. I was there and saw this unfold with a wide-open mouth, maybe even caught some flies.

[Adrahil]

52. She's not. She will do well in the debates.

The whole debate thing is kind of silly, IMO. They are not going to change the course of the primaries. This is mainly a hope of the supporters of other candidates who are far behind and really need a game-changer.

[Armstead]

55. That's not the implicit suggestion

The explicit suggestion is that -- for whatever reason -- the fact that the DNC, which is not exactly hostile to the Clintons, is preventing other candidates from gaining the visibility debates offer.

The campaigns HAVE started. Most that plan to run have declared (other than wild cards like Biden).

Clinton is cruising on vastly more name recognition, and the longstanding assumption that she is the President in Waiting. So the rest are not given a chance to at least gain some of the face time and talk time that campaigns are supposed to give. And as time ticks away, perceptions harden and Hillary seems ever more inevitable -- without any chane for a real contest.

Maybe Clinton will come out of debates stronger than ever. Maybe she'll be weak, or make a major gaffe. Maybe people will be favorbably disposed to Sanders and/or O'Malley, etc. Who knows?

But there is NO REASON not to have at least one or two debates sooner rather than later. And it is not fair to voters or other candidates to put them off.