Ohio Debate: First Thoughts on the Showdown in Cleveland

[DeepModem Mom]

WP political blog, "The Fix," by Chris Cillizza
First Thoughts on the Showdown in Cleveland


Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama face off in Ohio. (Rick Bowmer/AP)

In a debate often defined by sharp clashes between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, the final 20 minutes were largely cordial, as both candidates sounded vaguely wistful about a campaign that has gone on far longer than either of them expected.

Asked to describe what question Clinton would have to answer to be chosen the party's nominee and the eventual president, Obama demurred -- choosing instead to offer extended words of praise for the New York senator. "Senator Clinton has campaigned magnificently," Obama said. "She is an outstanding public servant. I think she would be worthy as a nominee." Almost half-heartedly, Obama lapsed into his standard stump pitch for why he would be better. "I can bring this country together in a unique way," he said.

Clinton, asked the same question of Obama, seemed to project forward to what things might look like if she comes up short in the nomination fight -- reprising her stick-to-it-tiveness following her inability to pass universal health care through the Congress in the early 1990s. Of Obama she said: "Both of us feel strongly about our country. Both of us bring enormous commitment and energy to this race." Perhaps catching herself, Clinton quickly added: "I still plan to do everything I can do to win."...

* Neither candidate scored a knockout or even a knockdown. That's probably good news for Obama, who came into the debate on a roll and simply wanted to make it through the night without breaking that momentum.

* Clinton dominated much of the debate -- for good or bad. She repeatedly sought to take the fight to Obama over his campaign tactics, his commitment to universal health care, his alleged naivete on foreign affairs, and even his initial unwillingness to use the word "reject" when decrying the endorsement he received from Louis Farrakhan. But Obama successfully parried most of Clinton's offense and even turned some of her aggressiveness against her -- as when he painted the difference between rejecting and denouncing Farrakhan as part of the old politics he was running to change.

* Republicans will likely be pleased with at least two of Obama's answers tonight. On public financing for the general election, Obama insisted he would "sit down with John McCain and make sure we have a system that works for everyone." Maybe. But if Republicans see this as an issue where they can paint Obama as a flip-flopper or as a candidate who says one thing and does another, they won't give him the chance to sit down with their nominee. Second, pressed on his rating by National Journal magazine as the most liberal senator in 2007, Obama's answer ("People don't want to go back to those old categories of what's liberal and what's conservative") left something to be desired. Presidential elections are the most partisan of all, and it's hard to see how Obama's current answer on one of the main Republican talking points for the fall will convince those skeptical about his ideology.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/02/the_tough_questionscourtesy_of.html