Ground Game

Based on the reactions of bloggers, Barack Obama comes away the winner of last night's Democratic debate at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. In particular, his focus on the war in Iraq won accolades from many in the netroots who have seen the issue diminish recently, with a heightened focus on the economy and the tactics focusing on race between the two remaining Democrats. The question is, how much will that assessment from the media and blogs actually help Obama before voters go to the polls next week?

Arianna Huffington:

It was the most effective sequence for Obama, and the most important for the country -- bringing Iraq off the backburner and placing it front and center

Over at Talking Points Memo, John Marshall adds:

In the context of the race, I think this [debate] helped Obama because it put the two of them on the same level, the same stature level. As I've said before, Obama in general has not been a good debater. But this was a good one for him.

Meanwhile, John Aravosis over at AMERICAblog seems to have warmed to Clinton even if Obama was seen as winning the debate. Could a thawing of Clinton's critics be the real victory, even if Obama is the perceived winner?

Joe and I are sometimes prone of late to harp on Hillary more than Obama, not that we don't think she deserves it, but still, after watching tonight's debate, I can honestly say that I'd be pleased with either Hillary or Obama as our candidate. It has been years since there's been an election in which I really liked our candidate, let alone liked both of the last two standing.