Here at Goodboys Nation weblog, I try to just tell things the way I see ’em. You may not always agree with me, but whenever I write about things that end up happening, well, you can never say I didn’t warn you.

Evidence: In yesterday’s post, I wrote that were I a Democratic candidate sharing the stage with Hillary Clinton on Thursday night and found out the debate had been packed by CNN with Clinton hacks and flacks, I’d be pissed. Well lookee here at this, from Barack Obama’s campaign:

I want to comment on a couple of issues relating to the Debate because I feel it is important to speak out about it. I have had some inside information about how this debate was conducted and I think that CNN and those who organized this debate have a responsiblity to answer for the way it was conducted. You may have noticed that there was an obvious audience bias in favor of Sen. Hillary Clinton and often times a audience bias against Sen. Edwards and Sen. Obama. It was clear when Clinton gave her answers the audience was sreaming and clapping, but on several occasions Barack Obama, John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich were actually booed and interupted by protesters. There is actually a logical reason for this kind of not-so-subtle bias in the audience and in the moderators, and I have some inside information about what occured just in the last 24 hours that changed the dynamics of this debate.

I was really shocked to see that the audience was yelling and booing and clapping and that the CNN Moderators did not try to prevent it in any way. I think it was very unfair to the candidates to allow people to disrupt the Debate and to allow people to show approval and disapproval of the candidates. This format was specifically designed to not allow candidates to answer the questions fully and without interruption. The CNN Moderators did not stop protesters from interupting Sen. Obama, and did not allow several of the candidates to fully answer the question after being interupted by the protesters.

This kind of format used by CNN is not only not fair to the Candidates, it is not fair to the voters who are watching the debate looking for answers without “editorial comment” by the audience through their booing, clapping or protesting.

All Hillary would have had to do is show up Thursday night, be confident and firm in her responses to questions, and she would have put all the flailing around of the previous two weeks behind her. But her campaign (whether she had a part in any of the Thursday night shenanigans is uncertain) and the Clinton flacks at CNN obviously didn’t have enough confidence in her being able to do that, so they packed the event in her favor.

As I also mentioned in that post, the benefits of Thursday night’s debate to the Clinton campaign will be shortlived and end up producing the exact opposite effect they were seeking – something that just now is starting to happen. Back in the old days, when the mainstream dino-media controlled the information people were getting, a candidate could get away with tactics like this. But now, with the new media and the scrutiny of the Internet and weblogs, this kind of thing is no longer possible.

The problem with the Clintons (and Democrats in general, as far as I’m concerned) is that they don’t understand the concept of moderation and when enough is enough. It happened at the Wellstone memorial service debacle, it was evidenced by Bill’s philanderin’ even while in the Oval Office, and it is happening now in his wife’s campaign. People are right to be suspicious when a candidate wants the office they are seeking just a little too much, and the Clinton campaign’s behavior since its inception has made that obviously clear. Her husband, with his natural personality, charisma, and political wiles, didn’t need props and “help” like this. His wife doesn’t, and controversies like this will only end up revealing her obvious weaknesses and character flaws.

So listen to Nostradamus and mark my words: this story is going to have some serious legs in the coming days and weeks. It has already started. CNN is going to look like a bunch of idiots with some serious ‘splainin’ to do, and between this and this story, the Clinton campaign is about to be set back on its heels again.