Hillary and Obama Go Eye Ball to Eye Ball: Who Blinked First?
The Hillary Clinton/Barack Obama ceasefire, which both candidates displayed at MSNBC’s round table kaffeeklatsch last week in Nevada with Tim Russert and Brian Williams—was abandoned in Mertyle Beach S.C. last night, the place of the Democratic debate.
The exchange of words between the two senators became so heated, so sharp-edged, and so very personal, I was expecting moderator Wolf Blitzer to douse the candidates with a fire hose.
With the S.C. Democratic primary just four days away, and Clinton looking to regain her standing in the Palmetto state, while Obama tries to slow down the New York senator’s momentum after two consecutive primary wins, both wasted no time in attacking each other like a couple of caged lions.
The fireworks began over the issue of ``fiscal responsibility’’, when CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux questioned Obama about Clinton’s assertion that she would make a better candidate on the grounds that all the programs she proposed can be accounted for, something that can’t be said for her opponents $50 billion of new programs.
The Illinois senator responded the charge was untrue. ``Now, this, I think, is one of the things that's happened during the course of this campaign, Obama said, that there's a set of assertions made by Senator Clinton, as well as her husband, that are not factually accurate’’
Obama then cited other untruths that Team Clinton have been saying about his record, specifically his support for the Iraq war, and claiming the Republicans had better economic policies since the 1980’s. Obama countered that it was actually Hillary who had ``fulsome praise of Ronald Reagan in a book by Tom Brokaw that's being published right now, Obama charged, -- as did Bill Clinton in the past’’
At this point, Clinton with daggers shooting out of her eyes, roared back: ``Now, wait a minute. Wolf, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Just a minute… I just want -- I just to clarify -- I want to clarify the record. Wait a minute’’.
As with any street fight, this clash didn’t come without a couple of sucker punches: Obama charging Clinton with sitting on the Board of Wal- Mart, while he was working on the streets of Chicago helping those who had seen their jobs lost overseas, while Clinton countered that Obama was representing RESCO and his slum landlord business in the inner city of Chicago.
John Edwards reminded everyone that there is a third person in this debate, just one of many light hearted jabs from the former North Carolina senator that he might be an underdog, but he’s not quite dead yet, with plenty of life still left in him. While Obama and Clinton came off as two unruly kids who can’t play nice together—it was Edward who seemed to act as the voice of reason, almost as if he were a federal mediator called in to resolve a labor dispute. In addition to articulating his ideas in a calm, unruffled way about health care, and sharing with the audience how he observed 38 foreclosures in a one block radius in a middle class Cleveland neighborhood, he questioned how Clinton plans to pay for social security without raising taxes; and then pressed Obama how he’s able to justify his 100 votes in the Illinois legislature when he refused to vote up or down, opting instead for an impartial``present’’
The blistering exchanges simmered down in the second half of the forum, when the candidates stepped away from the podium and answered question from chairs. While Obama and Clinton tried to exchange some pleasantries, the damage had already been done. Their sharp differences in the opening minutes of the debate seemed more personal than ideological, and their policy divisions so wide it's getting hard to imagine one of these candidates supporting the other in the general election.
It’s difficult to assess who was helped or damaged the most by one of the liveliest; below the belt debates in recent memory, but the way Obama interjected humor, even during some tense moments, made him appear more human than Clinton’s pit bull expressions.
More importanlty, was the issue of Bill Clinton's role in the campaign. A day doesn’t go by, it seems, when the former president isn’t in the eye of the storm, whether he’s berating reporters, charging Obama’s support for the war as being a ``fairy tale’’ or working the talk shows in shooting down Obama’s message. Even some leading Democrats, like Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. Rahm Ema are beginning to criticize his campaign tactics as unbecoming for a former U.S. president. At one point during last night’s debate, Obama responding to being double teamed by Bill and Hillary said it was hard to tell who he’s running against. And Sen. Clinton, herself, never did answer whether her husband’s advocacy on her part was overshadowing her campaign. A question that might be brought into sharper focus in the coming weeks.
Another question, of course, will be if Bill Clinton was the country’s first black president, as author Toni Morrison nicknamed him, does he have the dancing ability to truly be considered a brother?
It’s a question Barack Obama plans to investigate.
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net
The exchange of words between the two senators became so heated, so sharp-edged, and so very personal, I was expecting moderator Wolf Blitzer to douse the candidates with a fire hose.
With the S.C. Democratic primary just four days away, and Clinton looking to regain her standing in the Palmetto state, while Obama tries to slow down the New York senator’s momentum after two consecutive primary wins, both wasted no time in attacking each other like a couple of caged lions.
The fireworks began over the issue of ``fiscal responsibility’’, when CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux questioned Obama about Clinton’s assertion that she would make a better candidate on the grounds that all the programs she proposed can be accounted for, something that can’t be said for her opponents $50 billion of new programs.
The Illinois senator responded the charge was untrue. ``Now, this, I think, is one of the things that's happened during the course of this campaign, Obama said, that there's a set of assertions made by Senator Clinton, as well as her husband, that are not factually accurate’’
Obama then cited other untruths that Team Clinton have been saying about his record, specifically his support for the Iraq war, and claiming the Republicans had better economic policies since the 1980’s. Obama countered that it was actually Hillary who had ``fulsome praise of Ronald Reagan in a book by Tom Brokaw that's being published right now, Obama charged, -- as did Bill Clinton in the past’’
At this point, Clinton with daggers shooting out of her eyes, roared back: ``Now, wait a minute. Wolf, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Just a minute… I just want -- I just to clarify -- I want to clarify the record. Wait a minute’’.
As with any street fight, this clash didn’t come without a couple of sucker punches: Obama charging Clinton with sitting on the Board of Wal- Mart, while he was working on the streets of Chicago helping those who had seen their jobs lost overseas, while Clinton countered that Obama was representing RESCO and his slum landlord business in the inner city of Chicago.
John Edwards reminded everyone that there is a third person in this debate, just one of many light hearted jabs from the former North Carolina senator that he might be an underdog, but he’s not quite dead yet, with plenty of life still left in him. While Obama and Clinton came off as two unruly kids who can’t play nice together—it was Edward who seemed to act as the voice of reason, almost as if he were a federal mediator called in to resolve a labor dispute. In addition to articulating his ideas in a calm, unruffled way about health care, and sharing with the audience how he observed 38 foreclosures in a one block radius in a middle class Cleveland neighborhood, he questioned how Clinton plans to pay for social security without raising taxes; and then pressed Obama how he’s able to justify his 100 votes in the Illinois legislature when he refused to vote up or down, opting instead for an impartial``present’’
The blistering exchanges simmered down in the second half of the forum, when the candidates stepped away from the podium and answered question from chairs. While Obama and Clinton tried to exchange some pleasantries, the damage had already been done. Their sharp differences in the opening minutes of the debate seemed more personal than ideological, and their policy divisions so wide it's getting hard to imagine one of these candidates supporting the other in the general election.
It’s difficult to assess who was helped or damaged the most by one of the liveliest; below the belt debates in recent memory, but the way Obama interjected humor, even during some tense moments, made him appear more human than Clinton’s pit bull expressions.
More importanlty, was the issue of Bill Clinton's role in the campaign. A day doesn’t go by, it seems, when the former president isn’t in the eye of the storm, whether he’s berating reporters, charging Obama’s support for the war as being a ``fairy tale’’ or working the talk shows in shooting down Obama’s message. Even some leading Democrats, like Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. Rahm Ema are beginning to criticize his campaign tactics as unbecoming for a former U.S. president. At one point during last night’s debate, Obama responding to being double teamed by Bill and Hillary said it was hard to tell who he’s running against. And Sen. Clinton, herself, never did answer whether her husband’s advocacy on her part was overshadowing her campaign. A question that might be brought into sharper focus in the coming weeks.
Another question, of course, will be if Bill Clinton was the country’s first black president, as author Toni Morrison nicknamed him, does he have the dancing ability to truly be considered a brother?
It’s a question Barack Obama plans to investigate.
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net
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