Quick reminder, if reminded you needs be, that the final Hillary Clinton/Barack Obama debate before the Texas primary is on-going. Updates through the night, so refresh for regular updates.
8.00pm: Did Clinton calling out Obama over his now-infamous mail-out over her health plan work? Maybe yes, maybe no. It has opened up the discussion over his policies, which is what she obviously meant: but it also opened up the discussion about the negative campaigning that has come from her people. Her “so far as I know, it did not” comment that she did not believe her campaign had sent out the photo of Obama clad in the garb of a Somali elder will probably be parsed by critics as much as their health care plans.
8.28pm: If there were any doubts, it’s the pugnacious Clinton tonight: complaining that she always gets the first question, bringing up the Saturday Night Live “media going soft on Obama” sketch: and now trying to claim that she’s opposed, and always has been, to NAFTA (which, much as she might write off as a Bush 41 hold-over, her husband signed, and now Tim Russert is dragging her over the coals for.)
8.33pm: Obama has undoubtedly been quieter this evening, but then he’s had to spend less time defending himself, his behavior and his campaign. The rhetoritician is back, though, with a sly jab at Bush 43 protecting the telecoms firms, bringing in the FISA courts issue with no prompting.
8.44pm: Again, Clinton on the attack, as she needs to be with Texas and Ohio looking like her “firewall.” Now, the debate on Iraq actually has a moment of genuine statesmanship, as both realize that Iraq has the right to kick the US, or any other foreign national, out. But again, Clinton is acting like she’s in an argument with Russert, rather than Obama, and talking over Brian Williams.
8.50pm: OH! HD-46 challenger Brian Thompson, aka the man that would unseat Dawnna Dukes, bought ad time right in the middle of the debate. Ow. Ow. Ow. Way to reach out to Democratic voters.
8.56pm: Clinton beating on Obama for his blind optimism: a dangerous tactic for the woman whose husband ran as The Man From Hope. And does being first lady really count as political experience? Again, a double-edged sword for Clinton, with concerns high enough over the clout her husband may have. The specter of a Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton accession is raised again.
9.03pm: The first serious questioning for Obama: did he flip-flop on a campaign pledge to run on public money? The reality, that he promised to -discuss- a deal over public money -if- he became candidate, may have got lost in the mix. Clinton, when questioned about her finances, even managed to get a plug in for her fund-raising website. Smart.
9.10pm: Ah, the Muslim question, seen through the lens of Louis Farakhan and Israeli statehood. So aimed at Obama that it will be interesting to see how the moderators re-word this for Clinton.
9.19pm: Is Obama more liberal than Ted Kennedy? While Clinton has been attacking the rules of the debate, he more wisely dismantles the way the National Journal judges liberal (and gets in the quick jab that he’s out-polling Clinton to go face-to-face with McCain and beat him.)
9.22pm: It’s Cold War 2. Clinton drops the ball by calling Vladimir Putin’s heir-apparent Dmitri Medvedev “erm,” and writing off her mistake as “Whatever.” Anyone remember Bush’s “General?” incident? Obama avoids that, and looks both reasoned and magnanimous by espousing the multi-nationalism in the Balkans that were the hallmark of the Clinton administration.
9.26pm: And now the “Je ne regrette rien” moment. Hillary wouldn’t have voted for the war: Obama goes back to not voting against letting congress get involved in the Terry Schiavo case. Interesting to see how that will play with the self-appointed strict constitutionalists (who saw that as Congress over-stepping its bounds) and the right-to-lifers who picked this as a banner-waving incident.
9.30pm: Obama undercuts the “what’s the worst thing about Hillary” by taking the ‘she’s good, I’m just better,’ while Clinton says she’s ahead on experience: that might have worked better if she had got a knock-out blow in earlier on proving her track-record.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we’re done.
This article appears in February 22 • 2008.
