One on One at Los Angeles Debate, Democrats Set Aim at G.O.P.

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: One on One, Democrats Set Aim at G.O.P.
By PATRICK HEALY and JEFF ZELENY
Published: February 1, 2008

LOS ANGELES — Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama met for debate Thursday, sitting side by side here and sharing a night of smiles, friendly eye-catching and gentle banter. Cordial as the encounter was, the candidates’ did not mask their own divisions, even as they previewed the attacks one of them will ultimately make against a Republican rival.

It was almost as if the battle was to see which of them could outnice the other.

At the end of the nearly two-hour encounter, as the audience of Democrats and Hollywood celebrities rose to its feet at the Kodak Theater, Mr. Obama held Mrs. Clinton’s chair as she rose. The two rivals, almost hugging, held each others’ elbows and whispered in one another’s ear, offering a striking image that captured the tenor of the debate.

“When we started off we had eight candidates on this stage, we are now down to two,” Mr. Obama said. “I think one of us two will end up being the next president of the United States.”

Gone were the sharp and sometimes personal attacks that have characterized a year’s worth of debates, particularly a combative session last week in South Carolina, which both sides conceded had tarnished their images.

Still, the candidates were at pains to lay out their differences on issues like national health care, the Iraq war and immigration in their last appearance together before voters in more than 20 states weigh in Tuesday on the presidential nominating fight....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/us/politics/01dems.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all