Think Progress

8.3 million:

By Ali Frick on Feb 1st, 2008 at 6:00 pm

8.3 million:

Number of people who tuned into last night’s CNN Democratic presidential debate, “making it the most-watched primary debate in cable news history, and the second-most watched on TV this election cycle (ABC’s Democratic debate on Jan. 5 drew 9,360,000).”



48 Responses to “8.3 million:”

  1. PollM says:

    Biggest-Ever Primary Day Super Tuesday

    Will you be voting in a Primary or Caucus on Super Tuesday?

    http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=1682

    .


  2. VerbalKint says:

    Salon had a good article a few days ago about how Fox is getting killed in the ratings since the Democrats refused to debate there.


  3. Buckie Boy says:

    I believe that the polls showing McInsane neck and neck with either Dem are going to be proven very wrong.

    I know of only two people that will still vote repuke, everyone else I know, yes even the repukes are gonna vote Dem because they are sick of the lies and corruption that the repukes represent.

    Unfortunately the two are my mother (ignorant as all get out) and my sister (bigot) neither will I speak with, hell I even just toss their xmas cards in the trash unopened.

    Buck Fush


  4. Fritz says:

    I guess a lot of people are beginning to realize that regardless of who the repugs put up as candidates, the Dems are going to win the Presidency.

    I suspect that the Democrats could put up Zippy the Pinhead and win…Zippy would still be head-and-shoulders better than the current moron in chief.


  5. RUCerious says:

    hell I even just toss their xmas cards in the trash unopened.

    Buck Fush

    Comment by Buckie Boy — February 1, 2008 @ 6:07 pm

    Goddamit Bucky, Recycle them, unless that would contaminate the rest of the load…


  6. RUCerious says:

    In November, countless Americans will go to the polls and won’t be able to make themselves pull the lever for four years of McCain = four more years of pain and suffering. It’s going to take at least a year to extricate ourselves, so it’d be more like 5 – life…


  7. Buckie Boy says:

    Should have said recycle, hehe, I am one of the best recyclers I know, worm bin, compost bin, I even sort the trash at work for those that are too lazy to recycle things correctly.

    ;-)

    Buck Fush


  8. RUCerious says:

    I knew that, Bucky, was just facking with you@!!


  9. Jackie says:

    I went to the LA Debate and it was great. Either one could be President but together their unstoppable. Now the surprise for the GOP will be when Ron Paul wins California for the GOP. I went to vote today in California and to my surprise the line was longer for Republicans getting forms to change party before the Nov. election. McCain is to well known on the west coast and is known as a loser and sell out. Mitt tried but failed with his attempt to buy votes.


  10. Buckie Boy says:

    RUC my mother calls me a “God damn environmentalist” because I recycle.

    With the huge numbers of Dems showing up to vote against the repukes numbers it seems to show that it could be a landslide.

    Buck Fush


  11. RUCerious says:

    All signs are pointing to a rout of the Repuglycans in November, but we shouldn’t get complacent, or count too many potential omelets too early…


  12. wisedup says:

    I liked the ”UNITY” so called debate, while the repukes jabbed about who told the most lies. The repubs I know are verrrry quiet these days,they HATE thoes repubs running and are shaking about Hillary winning as they have bought in to HATE Clintons for the last 20 years.


  13. Saint Augustine says:

    RUC my mother calls me a “God damn environmentalist” because I recycle.

    With the huge numbers of Dems showing up to vote against the repukes numbers it seems to show that it could be a landslide.

    Buck Fush

    Comment by Buckie Boy — February 1, 2008 @ 6:23 pm

    When my mother died she was recycled back to earth. I spread her ashes in the back yard at her request!


  14. katy says:

    rachel maddow just now talking about all the camera shots of the celebrities there… that was pretty bogus… the SCLM doing it’s best to propogate stereotype of “hollywood libruls”…

    i thought it was gratuitous and cheap… and invasive…
    those are the citizens of that area and have just as much right as any to be there listening and learning and enjoying the process…

    randi rhodes felt the celebrities should have given their tickets to those less fortunate and most needy of the experience…

    i can’t agree, entirely… “stars” are people too…

    i did enjoy recognizing and appreciating seeing the many popular and
    influential people there…


  15. missmolly says:

    I know of only two people that will still vote repuke, everyone else I know, yes even the repukes are gonna vote Dem because they are sick of the lies and corruption that the repukes represent.

    Comment by Buckie Boy — February 1, 2008 @ 6:07 pm

    You don’t say what state you live in — is it a Super Tuesday state?

    I find it difficult to use the people I know as an accurate polling sample, since I mostly hang around with progressives. I remember vividly when I was much younger, how surprised I was that Nixon won in 1972 because everybody I knew voted for McGovern — even some Repubs who were sick of Nixon. Yet Nixon won in a landslide, so somebody must have voted for him.


  16. andy42302 says:

    Missmolly, this ain’t 1972.


  17. missmolly says:

    Missmolly, this ain’t 1972.

    Comment by andy42302 — February 1, 2008 @ 6:37 pm

    This is true. Bush’s actions have received far more exposure than Nixon’s had back then (the armor started falling off Nixon AFTER he was re-elected). And not only do I know plenty of Republicans who are sick and tired of the way the GOP has been running the country, there are polls that suggest this isn’t limited to my friends and co-workers. I am encouraged by the number of people I know who see that the emperor is buck naked.

    The point I was making was that it’s always a good idea to pay attention to what people are thinking outside one’s own circle of people they come into direct contact with. There are still an alarming number of people around who will vote for anyone who will keep them safe from terrorists and gay people kissing.


  18. Doc Rock says:

    It’s the economy, stupid!


  19. RUCerious says:

    Bert, you shoulda been watchin your normal fare, WWE entertainment.


  20. had enough says:

    One of the better debates I have seen. Hillary still will NOT admit her wrongness in voting to allow Bush to invade Iraq. Why? Because she may lose the votes from those wanting to protect Israel? She wants it both ways.
    Also, while listening to KGO,I am hearing the plants bashing Obama…. with the second sentence these callers, Hillary supporters, are claiming they have heard Obama is Muslim.


  21. Ret. Col. Jack Ripper says:

    I thought they were both great. There are far, far more similarities than differences between them. I was very encouraged by the warmth between them at the end. My favorite moment was when the crowd booed and jeered Wolf Blitzer. I think I heard someone yell, “can it, Wolf!” Beautiful. Either one of them is going to beat that tired old warmongering crackpot like an old drum.


  22. had enough says:

    RUC my mother calls me a “God damn environmentalist” because I recycle.

    With the huge numbers of Dems showing up to vote against the repukes numbers it seems to show that it could be a landslide.

    Buck Fush

    Comment by Buckie Boy
    Both of my parents, siblings and their spouses all have similar attitudes towards me -The Liberal and it is said with a snear. Soon once again, I will venture out to their territory for another family reunion…In an upscale GATED community… Faux news will be on…and I will be exposed to their selfish and isolated views. Everyone of these people will vote republican… it is all they know or will accept being exposed to.


  23. Nature Rules says:

    Unfortunately the two are my mother (ignorant as all get out) and my sister (bigot) neither will I speak with, hell I even just toss their xmas cards in the trash unopened.

    Buck Fush

    Comment by Buckie Boy — February 1, 2008 @ 6:07 pm

    Damn, sorry about that Buckie Boy. It always seemed to me that family should be friends regardless of opinions. Alas, I grew up and discovered that as you get older, your family includes people that you aren’t related too, and doesn’t include some that you are related too. That’s the real definition of family – not by blood relation, but by friendship.

    Maybe one day they will see the truth.


  24. EvilPoet says:

    8.3 million watched the debate on teevee – I was not one of those people. I hate teevee. One of the best things I ever did was shut it off.


  25. had enough says:

    Comment by EvilPoet

    Same here….but it could be found online cnn.com live.
    I canceled my cable TV a year ago and can find what I need online. Without TV life is better, healthier and so much more gets done.


  26. ForTruth says:

    Yup I actually watched it. I’m for the Obama dude. Hillary’s laugh made my blood curdle.


  27. katy says:

    listening to thom hartmann rebroadcast on XM…
    he took a “straw poll” today, asking callers who they would vote for:

    OBAMA … 48
    CLINTON … 8
    EDWARDS … 5
    MCCAIN … 1
    PAUL … 1

    … w o w …


  28. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    And I wasn’t one of them. All the good ones are out of the race.


  29. Cats r Flyfishn says:

    No, I won’t be voting in the Super Tuesday primaries. The last two candidates standing will be begging voters from PA to vote for them in the April primaries.


  30. nellre says:

    My very calm and cool republican son in law gets red in the face even thinking about Hillary.
    He bought the lies, hook, line and sinker. It’s a shame… because I think she’ll be the next president and I think she’ll be a good one.
    It’s possible Clinton/Obama but it’s also possible Obama/Clinton.
    We can’t lose!


  31. nellre says:

    Odd that people think voting for the Authorization to Use Force when the President said he would use it as a last resort, back when we didn’t know Bush was a madman… is the same as supporting the Iraq war.
    It isn’t. Get over it/


  32. katy says:

  33. Sabyen91 says:

    Nellre, Hillary said she would make the same vote in hindsight. Sorry, that is a fail.


  34. The Republic of Stupidity says:

    One thing fer sure, folks…

    For the first time in the history of the country, we’re going to have either a woman or a black man running for President as the candidate for one of the major parties, and most likely the winner.


  35. katy says:

    “Iraq Resolution” and “Iraq War Resolution” are popular names for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002,[1] a law passed by the United States Congress in October 2002 as Public Law No: 107-243, authorizing what was soon to become the Iraq War.

    no ambiguity there.


  36. katy says:

    never forget:

    OVERWHELMING DEMOCRATIC VOTER TURNOUT.

    THEY CAN’T STEAL IT IF IT’S CLOSE.

    .

    time for maher…



  37. Bad Eye says:

    Also, while listening to KGO,I am hearing the plants bashing Obama…. with the second sentence these callers, Hillary supporters, are claiming they have heard Obama is Muslim.

    Comment by had enough — February 1, 2008 @ 7:01 pm

    What’s up with that? Saw the “Obama is a Muslim” on a local message board and took the poster to task. He said he would never vote for Obama because he is a Muslim, and Muslims want to destroy this country. He is suggesting that Obama will trick people into voting him into the White House and will then turn on America. Really freaky, I tell you. I asked the poster for a source on that, and he declined, instead saying that “people in the know” are saying those things.


  38. Gregor Samsa says:

    And so what if Obama were Muslim? How would that fact disqualify him as president of the US of A?

    The clear implication is that no Muslim can be a good American, because their loyalties lay elsewhere -which is a rehash of a smear that conservatives threw at JFK for being Catholic, way back then.

    It was idiotic then, it is idiotic now.


  39. americangoy says:

    6.7 million of them were political bloggers :-)


  40. Bad Eye says:

    Comment by Gregor Samsa — February 1, 2008 @ 11:35 pm

    Agreed. I used The Google and found out a little more about the “Osama is a Muslim” crap going around. How sad that some people take “news” such as this as the gospel and don’t even bother to question it. Talk about your close-minded people.


  41. Bad Eye says:

    Anyway, I must admit that I haven’t watched much of any of the Dem debates until last night. I must say that, refreshingly, it looks like either Barack or Hillary are going to give the Repubs hell when it comes to fighting for the White House. I can’t wait.


  42. Sabyen91 says:

    I hope so, Bad Eye. I hope they bar such pantywaists as Begala and Carville. Gore and Kerry could have won if they didn’t just sit back and take abuse.


  43. had enough says:

    And so what if Obama were Muslim? How would that fact disqualify him as president of the US of A?

    Comment by Gregor Samsa

    So agree, but tell that to the sheep out there buying the fear mongering brought to us by the anti American slime machine. Obama rates high in integrity and pulling this LIE out of the bag would be one of the few things they could pull.


  44. Bad Eye says:

    Comment by Sabyen91 — February 2, 2008 @ 12:27 am

    After Gore’s and Kerry’s performance, and that of most Dems in Congress when going up against Repubs, I had all but given up hope for a fire-in-the-belly performance from a Dem presidential contender. Gore came to our area in ‘96 for a speech during the Pres. campaign (my Mom and I attended and were about three rows back), and he definitely was a much better campaigner as VP than he was as a Pres. candidate.

    I don’t know…perhaps part of his image problem in 2000 was that he was trying to get away from Clinton and “be his own man” and just didn’t know which direction to go. The wardrobe changes is one thing I will NOT miss…Didn’t he have about 3 “makeovers”?


  45. Sabyen91 says:

    Bad Eye, I think it is all the belt-way handling for both Gore and Kerry that screwed them. Of course you are stiff if you are going against every instinct. I think the “conventional wisdom” needs to die a horrible, painful death.


  46. Bad Eye says:

    Comment by Sabyen91 — February 2, 2008 @ 12:54 am

    Valid point!


  47. Marie says:

    The debate offered an opportunity for those who are not news junkies and those who have missed much of the lead-up to primary elections to get an impression of the two Democrats who are very similar, yet very different.
    But I strongly objected to the tenor and the line of questioning from Wolf Blitzer who seemed bent on re-interpreting the candidates’ answers and attempting to make them more controversial. He tried to reduce complex replies to a sound bite, able to be replayed on the infotainment channels we now call “news.”
    They must have been terribly disappointed that there wasn’t an arm wrestling contest between the two.
    The Republican debate was disgraceful – not only for the candidates, but for CNN, the line of questioning, and the ridiculous arguments over unimportant issues.
    For my part, I continue to favor Obama as the candidate who would bode well for the future of America.



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