Maddow and the Dems

I was looking forward to the Democratic Forum on msnbc last night, hosted by Rachel Maddow.

About 5 minutes into listening to O'Malley, I was sure that I would not make it 2 hours. But, surprisingly I did.

Governor O’Malley is a very accomplished and polished speaker. He says all of the right things, hits the right notes.

He is a handsome white man and in another time, it is possible that he would be the frontrunner.  But in this time, he is up against 2 formidable opponents and, unless something goes terribly wrong, does not stand a chance.

Senator Sanders. Last night is the first time I have listened to him speak for more than a minute or 2.  Listening and watching him for about 30 minutes, I understand why so many liberals are feeling the Bern. 

Secretary Clinton was her usual engaging and self assured self.  She does not promise the stars and the moon, because she knows, just as the rest of us should, that with a house divided, it will be difficult to accomplish the platform presented by her Democratic or Republican opponents.

The House will be in Republican control until 2020, and if Democrats behave as they have in the past, (not voting in off year elections) it will remain so for many years. And the gridlock will continue.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the 3 of them respond to excellent questions posed by Maddow.

I asked friends for their opinions and am including a couple in this post. Neither of them planned on watching the entire show, but did.

LW said: “I thought it was a good format to hear the candidates thoughts without being interrupted or attacking the others. It was a civil discussion and a chance to get to know these people.”

ST wrote: “It was wonderful, I enjoyed every moment of it. At first, I thought well I will watch for a while and see what they had to say totally not expecting to watch the whole thing. However, my eyes and ears were glued... I loved it! There was a very warm, friendly feeling about the whole thing, it's like they were in my living room chatting with me! It was not ALL political, it was very charming..if you can use that word for a Political forum.

‪Of course, the serious questions were asked and answered...they did not say anything that I did not expect, they were just reiterating their plans and policies....and BTW Bernie nailed it! He gave the other party what they deserve!! but there was also a FUN side to the whole thing that I really did not expect. Of course, Rachel Maddow was excellent as usual.”