"The Clinton Scream"?

It seems quite a few people are having coniptions over Clinton's defense of her record during the debate. Jonathon Cohn lays it out on The Plank here. The first reviews of the debate I read today were from Sullivan, a somewhat notorious anti-Clintonite, and he skewered the moment. Since one commenter (a new commenter!) asked me about my “hatred of Clinton” after the Iowa caucuses let me use this opportunity to respond.

I don’t particularly hate Hillary Clinton but I much prefer Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee. The giddiness of my post was a response to my guy winning more so than Hillary losing. In fact, I thought this so called “Clinton Scream” was one of her stronger moments in the debate. She outlined her accomplishments. It was a resume moment. And being in response to a double challenge from Edwards and Obama the forcefulness of her response, what others are calling shrill, was completely appropriate.

Cohn also mentions Obama’s comment when Hillary was responding to the question about voters liking Obama more than her. I nearly spit out my beer laughing when he said it. It was an incredible back-handed compliment and interrupted her moment to gain sympathy. Yeah, it was a little rude and I’m sure violated all kinds of Oxford debating rules but those weren’t in effect. In my mind it was also very effective jab used at the right time.