1. While the Republicans at their debate two weeks ago mentioned some of the Democratic candidates by name (remember Romney’s line about Obama?), none of the Democrats at today’s debate mentioned any of the candidates in the Republican field. The only Republican mentioned was George Bush. And no one today quoted past presidents or past candidates like Bobby Kennedy, either. Biden did quote his mother…
2. Granted, there was a torrential downpour in advance of the GOP debate two weeks ago, but the Ron Paul people still showed up. Today, there were LOTS of candidate supporters ringing the Drake campus. A sign-war of sorts along the blocks of 31st Street between the Des Moines freeway and University Avenue — where Drake is located — went to Obama by a large margin over his only rival, Hillary Clinton.
Read the post below for notes on the fly during the debate. I’ll be back tomorrow with a wrap-up on all the August activity — including some final observations about Fred Thompson’s maiden voyage in Iowa.
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
I agree with Kay that the Obama group was by far the largest group participating in the pre-debate festivities. It appeared the Obama group was at least twice as large and vocal as the Clinton or Edwards groups.