Sunday Morning Round Up--Durbin, Powell, Gingrich

Sunday was (for once) a striking contrast in styles in debates on national security. The two fascinating shows were Meet the Press and Face the Nation.

Meet the Press--for starters, the fact that a current Senate Majority Whip would go up against a former Speaker seemed like an unusual match up. But what struck me most about the debate (Newt Gingrich-R vs. Richard Durbin-D) was the fact that Newt didn't win the debate. Gingrich is in his element in these types of debates, and I was fully prepared to watch him wipe the floor with the latest Democrat who couldn't articulate his position clearly, or with passion.

Durbin hit Gingrich with stingers over and over again on Obama's competency, on Guantanamo, on Speaker Pelosi (asking if Gingrich felt Republicans should apologize and/or resign over similar actions), and it was a clear victory for Durbin.

The other message that was just terrible for Gingrich was this notion that he kept playing on, which was America "should be afraid". He kept coming back to the notion that fear is appropriate. Rightfully, Durbin hammered Newt on this point, saying that fear is not a platform on which to create a strategy and set of laws and actions. Durbin had the right message, and didn't miss the opportunity to draw the stark and correct contrast. Newt has now had a few bad outings on Pelosi, and on National Security. But he thinks he is right in his positions, and I doubt he will stop speaking out on this subject, unless he continues to look petty and hypocritical.

Face the Nation--This was a fascinating interview of Colin Powell. Primarily because it was Powell who started to articulate a platform for what a moderate Republican Party could look like. Powell seems like a sensible, strong leader, and should be held up as a model for Brand R to woo moderate, and even right of center Republicans, who do NOT wear a "Dittohead" button on their lapel. I think this could be Powell's swan song, as he has tried, in vain, to pull his party to his point of view.

The debates were ones that the GOP has been winning this past week. But today's talk shows were a clear victory, in these two instances, for the Democratic Party.