Great Dem Forum in Philly

As I watched the forum on CSPAN I looked for two things. First - what candidates looked like on television. A lot of people cast their votes by TV impressions.

Winners - Dean - short but engaging, Kerry - Lincolnesque, Gephardt - OK.

Losers - Sharpton - sounds great, looks freaky, Kucinich - sounds strident - poor on looks , Lieberman - looking much worse recently, jowly, needs a voice coach so he doesn't sound whiney.

Better than usual but still not presidential - Braun. She is a nice lady who would make a good Senator, ambassador, or Secretary of HUD.

So I thought three "looked" presidential.

Edwards and Graham were no shows to the forum but from other events they are OK except sometimes Edwards looks too young, particularly when he is badly prepared on a question.. Wesley Clark, who will get in this race, also looks presidential.

Second, were the candidate stands on the issues personally agreeable, did they seem mainstream enough to be winable and did they make good short points.

Dean, Kerry and perhaps Gephardt got the nod from me. Sharpton and Kucinich were too left for the general election and Lieberman too right for the Democrats but OK in the general election. Braun does not quite have the caliber of the others but would be OK if she was more prepared and perhaps more forceful in her arguments.

I could support all the candidates stands with minor disagreements except for one thing, Kerry, Gephardt, and Lieberman continue to make Bush's case on Iraq for him. That is a losing position. It may not be the mainstream position yet but to see Kerry in particular have great stands on all the issues and then say that Bush wasn't misleading the American people was too much.

I think Gephardt would make a great Secretary of Labor but I wonder if his more liberal stands than Dean on health care and trade would work in the election. Kerry is very good except he doesn't have the fire and the problem with the war.

Rob Kall of OpEdNews.com went in person and noted Dean's organization and his enthusiasm although Kall may be a Kucinich supporter.