...I was looking for. Douglas Burns of the Iowa Independent declared Dodd the winner in the recent Democratic debate, despite his shorter amount of air time. Not quite as much impact as the endorsement of a paper's editorial board, but still... it does show that there are some reporters who are covering more than just the horse race.

With a command of details on China, foreign policy and education, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, who also just seemed more alert, on the balls of his feet intellectually, this afternoon displayed a separating statemanship in The Des Moines Register Democratic Presidential debate on Iowa Public Television. It was his day on the stage.

Barely registering in the polls Dodd's "win" in the debate is something to be seen in a vacuum.

[snip]

In barely a minute, Dodd managed to sum up the United States-China relations, why "we don't have access to their shelves" and the need for more "thoughfulness." It was one of the more impressive substantive -- and eye-opening -- answers I've heard during the debates.

On his A-game again, Dodd had a wonderfully constructed answer about the marriage of security and concern for human rights in our foreign policy.

"It ought to be a part of the seamless conduct of our foreign policy," Dodd said.

Because of the dynmatics of the race here in Iowa -- with a varsity and junior varsity contest of sorts -- you have to examine Dodd and Obama separately. Or do you?

For weeks now, I have had the theory that Dodd would make a strong running mate for Obama should the Illinois senator get the Democratic nomination -- even though this would run counter to conventional wisdom about picking a vice presidenntial candidate from a key state (Florida or Ohio) or going with a Southerner or Latino.

As I reported earlier, Dr. Steven Kraus of Carroll observed something a few weeks ago at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner: Dodd, a U.S. senator from Connecticut, and Obama clearly have respect for each other.

Dodd is simply a classy senator who can answer questions with reliable competency. Yes, the Southwest likely will determine the 2008 election, and sure, a Richardson vice presidential nomination makes sense because of this. But Dodd is fluent in Spanish as I saw firsthand when Lorena Lopez of La Prensa and I conducted a joint interview with him. If Obama gets the nomination Dodd complements him in a number of ways as a running mate -- including his ability to campaign in Spanish.

Dodd won't make mistakes out there and with his reassuring white hair, the elder statesman would be a nice balance for Obama. Youth and wisdom. Age and experience.

I only wish that Burns were not so quick to give up on Dodd as leading the ticket. Iowa is still up for grabs. And if there really is a significant Hispanic population, as his interview in Spanish suggests, then he's probably not been polled properly.

Burns: http://iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1639

YouTube video of interview, including Spanish portion: http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1349

I suspect that FDL is having server issues due to heavy traffic, rather than anything sinister. It always seems happen to them during one of these big events.

Oh, wait! My firefox tab finally quit spinning... and FDL is now loaded again. It did take awhile, though.

...but not domestically. This one is happening in Bali. The rest of the world is pushing back against Bush.

http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article3255614.ece

Leading article: The world gets the better of Bush

Last week was the week, and yesterday was the day, when the world finally showed that it was terminally fed up with the simple-minded, short-sighted and self-serving outlook of George Bush. The moment came not, as it well might have done, amid the dust and bloody debris of Iraq or the torture and state terrorism of Guantanamo Bay, but in Indonesia's lush and lovely Island of the Gods. And, appropriately, it came over climate change – the issue on which the "toxic Texan" first showed that he was going to put his ideological instincts and oil-soaked obstinacy over the interests of the rest of the world and of future generations.

Read the rest... you'll feel better.

And another shorter one:

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/286040

U.S. backs down after needling

In fact, I barely had time to keep up with Glenn's posts, the comments, and all of the other sites full of the day's events, but what a great day!

Thanks to everyone who did have time to comment for your contributions to the discussion.

I especially enjoyed the question of whether it was all kabuki, not at all, or some combination. I think I lean toward the third possibility. And now we've seen what happens to kabuki when not everyone follows the script. Back it goes to rewrite. Strike or no strike.

A writer named Jeffrey Sweet wrote a book some time ago about Second City (Something Wonderful This Way Comes), about the process involved in improv and how much integrity is required for it to be successful. He also makes the connection between the the writer and the actor, and how organic that relationship is. Essentially, they are one and the same.

Whatever there was of political theatre or kabuki today, and in the days running up to it, we certainly did get to see in another sphere how the actor and his or her words must be well-integrated (that same root word). Dodd was able to survive-- nay, he thrived-- in the moment today, improvising however was necessary, despite the script that others were following, because he and his words were fully wedded to one another with his own integrity. Such a rare sight these days... Clearly, his leadership affected some of his colleagues today. Perhaps we can help him to affect a few more over the next month.