Meet the Press Cardin and Steel

[LA lady]

Sunday, Oct. 29
Ben Cardin, Michael Steele

Exclusive! With less than 10 days to the election, our "Meet the Press Debate Series" continues with our final debate of this election season -- Maryland.

Watch live Sunday morning -- for the full hour -- as Rep. Ben Cardin (D) squares off against Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R) in this tight race to determine who will replace retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D).


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3898804/

[AnnieBW]

1. Got the Tivo Set!

It's ready to roll!

[AnnieBW]

2. Watched It Earlier Today

What struck me is that:

1) Ben is very wonky. He doesn't speak in sound bites the way that Steele does. He's in the same mold as Sarbanes - doesn't showboat or do the gotcha quote, but has a firm grasp of the issues. Maybe too much of a wonk to ever get the notoriety that Babs does. But hey, one firebrand is enough for Maryland.

2) Steele doesn't sound like he has a very good grasp of what happens in the House vs. what happens in the Senate. He said several times that the Senate voted for something, then asked why Cardin didn't vote the same way. On stem-cell research and abortion, mostly. If I recall, the stem-cell bill that the Senate passed was different than the one in the House.

3) I haven't seen that much tap-dancing since Gregory Hines died! Steele tap-danced around the abortion and stem-cell issues. He never really did answer the questions.

[Nancy Waterman]

3. Steele also didn't make much sense on Iraq

He kept harping on letting the Iraqi government take control, ignoring the fact that it is too weak to take control which is why it isn't doing so.

Cardin kept talking about the "international community", almost like a mantra. I wanted him specifically to mention Iran and Syria and that we need to talk to them. Even so, he was far more articulate about the issues. Steele didn't make a lot of sense.

As usual, Russert gave the Republican far more time to speak and the Repub hogged it happily. I found Steele very unlikeable. And his aggressiveness was nasty, not impressive.