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NBC tried to instill a sense of urgency into the Presidential debate to be conducted on MSNBC by its pair of anchors, Brian Williams and Tim Russert of Meet the Press. "Only 65 days before the first votes in Iowa," Andrea Mitchell counted. "This is it for them," announced Russert (at the tail of the Mitchell videostream), referring to second-tier candidates Christopher Dodd, Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson. "They know they have to make a mark in tonight's debate--two months to go."
The other storyline of the night was whether top contenders Barack Obama and John Edwards would be able to mount a challenge to frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mitchell aired a couple of candidate soundbites against her. Edwards' complaint was substantive: Rodham Clinton "defends the status quo, takes money from Washington lobbyists." Dodd, behind in the polls himself, cited polls, which happen to show her with a commanding lead, to render a horse race criticism against her that he himself conceded was unfair. "When you have got 50% of the American public say: 'I am never going to vote for that person.' That is a liability and that is a reality." Russert pointed out that Obama "has to be very pointed in separating himself" from Rodham Clinton yet he predicted that Edwards would be yet edgier: "He is absolutely going on a no holds barred, take no prisoners. I believe he will be more candid, more blunt, more acerbic in his language than Barack Obama."
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