Richardson gives stronger debate performance

Gov. Bill Richardson gave his best debate performance of the 2008 Democratic presidential race on Monday, but he was still bested by a number of his opponents.

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Joe Biden all performed better.

But Richardson’s statements were strong and definite. His voice was firm and he appeared confident and more passionate than he has during past debates.

His strongest answer of the night – and perhaps his best in any debate thus far – came in answer to a question about what to do in Darfur. The question was asked by three people in a refugee camp in the war-torn region of Sudan. Richardson answered first by pointing out that he had visited the camp earlier this year and met a woman who had been raped and seen her husband murdered.

“She said, ‘When is America going to start helping?’” Richardson said.

His speech quickened as he conveyed passion and principle in answering the question.

“The answer here is caring about Africa. The answer here is not just thinking of our strategic interests as a country, as oil and Europe and the Middle East,” he said. “It should be Africa, Asia and Latin America, doing something about poverty, about AIDS, about refuges, about those who have been left behind. That’s how we restore American leadership.”

Richardson gave other strong answers in response to questions about Iraq and No Child Left Behind.

“I would scrap it. It doesn’t work,” Richardson said of the controversial educational accountability system, while also finding a way to point out that he wants to raise starting teacher salaries to $40,000.

On Iraq, Richardson reiterated his position that he wants all American troops out of that nation by the end of the year.

The format of the CNN/YouTube debate was such that candidates were asked tough questions and, because it had never been tried before, didn’t know what to expect.

The questions, mostly presented by members of younger generations, were edgy. This was youth involvement at its best, and it kept the candidates on their toes. Richardson, who has struggled with bumbling answers in previous debates, still experienced some trouble with selecting the right words as he spontaneously answered questions, but it wasn’t as noticeable as it has been during past debates.

Clinton was her usual calm, collected and intelligent self and emerged victorious. Obama was his typical self in attempting to answer questions with more depth than most candidates, and, more often than not, succeeding. Edwards was the same angry and intelligent candidate he’s been for awhile.

Biden surprised many by keeping up with the frontrunners. He was blunt and came across as credible.

‘I’m trying to provoke a debate’

Biden essentially called Richardson a liar for the governor’s assertion that the United States can withdraw its troops from Iraq this year, calling that logistically impossible.

That came after Richardson gave a passionate answer in response to critics who say a quick withdrawal would plunge Iraq into civil war.

“There is a civil war,” he said.

Richardson openly picked a fight – saying, “I’m trying to provoke a debate” – and he got it.

“Let’s start telling the truth,” Biden said, adding that pulling all troops would mean the 3,000 American civilians in Baghdad would also have to leave.

“So while you’re taking them out, governor, take everybody out,” he said.

Biden said it would take at least 9.5 months to withdraw all American troops from Iraq, and said even that would be too quick to do it safely.

Clinton agreed.

“Joe is right,” she said. “With all due respect to some of my friends here, yes, we want to begin moving the troops out, but we want to do so safely and orderly and carefully. We don’t want more loss of American life and Iraqi life as we attempt to withdraw, and it is time for us to admit that it’s going to be complicated, so let’s start now.”

Richardson also unveiled, at the debate, another television ad in his humorous “job-interview” series.

After the debate, a focus group in Nevada hosted by CNN said Richardson and Clinton were the best candidates in the debate. Obama was the best, according to a focus group in New Hampshire.

A SurveyUSA poll conducted after the debate found that 39 percent of Americans thought Clinton won, while 15 percent said Obama won, 14 percent said Biden won, 10 percent said Edwards won and 4 percent each said Richardson and Mike Gravel won. Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd were at the bottom of the pack with 3 percent each.

The survey of 717 debate watchers has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.

The Politico said Richardson finished fourth behind Edwards, Clinton and Obama.

“Quick response is clearly not his strength. But when he can make himself relax, he can demonstrate his knowledge,” the Web site analyzed.

You can read Part 1 of CNN’s transcript of the debate by clicking here and Part 2 here. You can watch video clips from the debate by clicking here.