If there's a single moment when Obama did what he needed to do tonight, it's the brief answer he gave regarding what's being called his theory of change. I'll put up a video if I find one at YouTube later, but for now Marc Ambinder has the rush transcript:
Look. I think it’s easy to be cynical and say it can't be done because Washington has been designed to resist change, but there have been periods of the American history where presidents have inspired American people to do better, and I think we’re in one of those moments right now.Well, it was either that, or his quip about watching the Redskins instead of the GOP debate.
...Words do inspire. Words do help people get involved. Don’t discount that power. When the American people are determined that something is going to happen, it’s going to happen.
With Edwards (rightly, I think) deciding that his best bet for continued viability is to join Obama in taking the knives to Clinton, I think this debate only increases the chances of an Obama victory on Tuesday, maybe a landslide—and I think it'll significantly boost Edwards's numbers as well, at the expense of Clinton and especially the embarrassing, past-his-expiration-date Richardson.
Aside from Gibson's utterly horrible moderation—he led with bogus right-wing talking points for the first 45 minutes and at one point interjected himself directly in a petty squabble with Obama—the only other real story tonight is the huge intellectual gulf separating the Democrat candidates from the Republicans. The gap, I think, was inescapably stark. The Republicans had no ideas and nothing to say, only the same old slogans to repeat over and over again.
UPDATE: Here's the full transcript, as well as the promised video.
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