February 27, 2008
Clinton and Obama Have Their 20th Debate
Photograph of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama debating in Cleveland by Kiichiro Sato/AP
Senator Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off for the 20th time last night in Cleveland, Ohio, as they head towards the big March 4 primaries next week. The rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination "traded insults," as they accused each other of negative attacks regarding their health care policies.
The NY Times described Clinton as "relentless" - insisting on "responding to virtually every point that he made — often interrupting the debate moderators, Brian Williams and Tim Russert of NBC, as they tried to move on." Which made sense, as she must win the Ohio and Texas primaries by big margins to stay competitive with Obama, who not only leads in the delegate count but in the national polls as well.
The candidates discussed pulling out of NAFTA (which Ohio's working class does not like), as well as their views on Iraq (Clinton said they were the same, but Obama criticized Clinton's decision to "give in to George Bush"). Clinton also denied any knowledge of a Clinton staffer allegedly distributing the photograph of Obama in Somali clothing during a trip to Africa, which Obama accepted, "I take Sen. Clinton at her word that she knew nothing about the photo. So I think that's something we can set aside."
You can watch the debate here or read a transcript. And Clinton referenced Saturday Night Live. No, not Tina Fey's "Bitches get things done" segment, but how the media seems to be giving Obama a free ride. Clinton remarked that she has answered the first question in most debates.
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What is she thinking with this new attack mode? She probably realizes at this point that she has nothing to lose, but my guess is that she's only digging a deeper hole for herself heading into the Tuesday primaries...
She's got nothing to lose at this point. If she doesn't attack, pundits will just say she rolled over a la John Kerry. She is going down with a fight and I say good for her.
Somebody shrank Tim Russert.
Do you know that Obama's middle name is Hussein???!!!
*Gasp*
The press and the republican party are walking on eggshells when it comes to trying to slam Obama. The reason: he's Black. Both groups don't want to make themselves look insensitive so they have to rewrite the rule book when it comes to confronting an African-American opponent. This goes double for the republican party as they will be scrutinized far more than Hillary Clinton has been during the race.
If they are too hard, it'll look bad. But If they seem too soft, it will cost them.
Mccain is coming under fire from a lot of republicans which make democrats want to vote for him.
If Hillary wins the presidency what will happen to the power tie?
VOTE! OBAMA! 2008!
oops.
that is a nice tie
is anyone still watching these debates? I've watched 2 or 3, but seems like a waste of time since they just repeat the same things over and over.
I'm hoping the next one is bet. Obama & McCain.
The "debates" are all a waste of time. If they actually had Lincoln-Douglas style debates they would actually be of some value, since they might actually have to think on their feet. Both of them trot out old lines heard billions of times before from various other sources. When are people going to wake up and realize they are both political hacks of the worst kind instead of looking at the packaging or the recycled words of speechwriters dating back to the ancient Greeks?
Given the preponderance of reality shows, we are amazed that no network has sponsored a Burr-Hamilton style debate. Think of the ratings for a Howard Beale moment! Fox News Channel would be the most likely to sponsor that type of debate, well at least for the Democrats. That is the next step in what passes for political discourse in this country or maybe Presidential Idol?
There isn't any real difference between the two Democratic contenders except one has a better brand identity. They are Coca-Cola and Pepsi, swappable items basically the same.
Nixon. Now more than ever!
Hillary and Obama are two recognizable brands. The difference is one (Hillary) appears to be past her prime and the other (Obama) is both the brand of the hour and the next big thing.
Hillary is Yahoo! to Obama's Google.
The real issue for voters in November isn't the specks of minutiae separating Hillary from Obama, it's the layers of division between the two of them and John McCain.