The Democrats--Who's Ahead So Far?

Washington, DC (TLS). With two nationally televised debates under their belts, the Democratic Presidential candidates have begun to show patterns that help voters form opinions and impressions of their fitness for office.

Who's ahead so far?

As we did with the Republicans, The Liberty Sphere will provide an overview of the candidates' performance and their ratings on the eight key liberty issues, based upon the two debates so far.

In our opinion Joe Biden has made his way to the top of the heap when it comes to effectiveness as a communicator and ability to connect with voters. The candidate's many years in the Senate have certainly provided Biden with the experience to handle himself extremely well in public forums.

Dennis Kucinich comes in a close second in terms of overall debate performance. He is articulate and is able to clearly convey his views with a minimum amount of spin.

Edwards, Richardson, Dodd, Gravel, and Clinton make up the next tier of candidates in terms of effectiveness of communication.

Bringing up the rear is Barack Hussein Obama, who has shown viewers of the last two debates that he is clearly lacking in the experience and seasoned communication skills to be placed in the same league with the other candidates.

Obama's poor showing may well be every bit as big a story as Biden's strong performance.

Now on to the accumulative ratings of each of the candidates, based upon their scores in the last two debates on the eight key issues that impact human liberty.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score, The Liberty Sphere rates the Democratic candidates cumulatively as follows on those eight key issues:

Bill Richardson--5
Joe Biden--3.5
John Edwards--3
Chris Dodd--2.5
Hillary Clinton--1.5
Barack Obama--1
Dennis Kucinich--1
Mike Gravel--1

It is to be noted that in spite of Joe Biden's excellent showing in terms of communication skills, his views on gun rights deprived him of a higher score. Bill Richardson, on the other hand, picked up points for his support for Second Amendment rights, in spite of his disappointing answers in the 2nd debate.

The Liberty Sphere believes that the candidacy of Barack Hussein Obama is essential over for all intents and purposes. His falling poll numbers since the first debate will only continue after the 2nd. His poor debate performances have given the impression that the candidate is simply not Presidential material.

Of course, both Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel can essentially hang it up as well. We do not see either candidate gaining any momentum either in terms of poll numbers or financial support.

Thus, The Liberty Sphere believes that it is a whole new ball game for the Democrats. We now have a new set of front-runners. Hillary Clinton will continue to be THE front-runner for now, but both Joe Biden and Bill Richardson are coming on strong. We look for both candidates to greatly enhance their poll numbers.

John Edwards has slipped to 2nd-tier status. We saw nothing in last night's debate to change that fact. In spite of his overall cumulative score, we feel he is losing momentum while Biden and Richardson are surging. This is why we feel Biden and Richardson are now in the top three, while Edwards is on his way downward.

In terms of polling numbers and campaign cash, look for the following lineup of front-runners in order of their poll numbers and financial support:

Hillary Clinton
Bill Richardson
Joe Biden

Chris Dodd leads the pack of the 2nd-tier candidates, but look for him to begin to surge should one of the new front-runners stumble.

For perspective, consult with The Liberty Sphere's ratings on the first Democratic presidential debate. This will also explain in great detail our eight key, critical issues with regard to human liberty:
http://thelibertysphere.blogspot.com/2007/04/ratings-of-democratic-presidential.html