Obama-Clinton Debate

In perhaps the most crucial debate of the race for the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton failed to halt the surge of momentum that Barack Obama had been riding in the weeks leading up to the debate. The debate was civil, for the most part, but Clinton emphasized health care incessantly, attempting to criticize Obama for his views.

I expected Clinton to come out, in my own words, grimy. The moderators were pretty much daring the two to disagree, saying "You said this, you said that." To my surprise, Clinton was not inclined to disagree with Obama for the most part. Clinton critiqued Obama on health care, going back to it when the moderator was asking her to move on to another topic. Health care appears to be one of the few issues that Hillary Clinton can win on. However, what Clinton did with health care, Obama did with Iraq.

Clinton was on the attack with the issue of Barack Obama allegedly taking phrases of supporter Governor Deval Patrick's speeches and using them in his own utterance. Clinton called Obama's campaign "a change you can Xerox", which drew boos from the crowds. I am not concerned with Obama taking phrases of Deval Patrick's speeches. The man told Obama to use his words! Calling it "plagiarism" is completely ludicrous.

Hillary Clinton did indeed have a eloquent statement towards the end of the debate. When asked of a defining crisis, she said that she has been the victim of several more than one crisis. However, she said that that pales in comparison to the hardships that ordinary people in this country are facing, and spoke of the opening of a hospital in which soldiers had lost their limbs.

The crowd stood up and gave a standing ovation for the debate, probably the first one I've seen in my days. One thing that is important to note is that Clinton was eloquent and articulate. However, I got the feeling that it may have been a little valedictory. Three months ago, Clinton had a steadfast determination in her will to win. Now, she said that she will be fine no matter what the argument is. This could be construed as Hillary conceding that she did not accomplish what she needed to last night.

Clinton and Obama have said that they were friends before this campaign, and they will be friends after this campaign. If Barack Obama wins the election, Clinton may cut a deal with him to make her the most powerful Senator in Congress. She can endorse him, help him find a running mate, and help get things passed in the Senate. Conventional wisdom tells us that Obama will continue this wave of momentum and has a legitimate shot to win in Texas and Ohio. I stand by the comments I made a while ago, that Clinton is not out of this race. However, Clinton appears to have backed off.