Tuesday, February 26, 2008

BARACK OBAMA, HILLARY CLINTON

My Very Counterintuitive Take on the Debate

I am pretty sure that the pundits will conclude this was a TKO for Obama, that Hillary embarrassed herself, that Obama slammed her for essentially agreeing with McCain on Iraq for years, etc... The conventional wisdom coming out of this debate will be that Hillary Clinton is a (Metaphorically) Dead Woman Walking.

I'm not so sure. Tonight, with her back against the wall, Hillary was more obviously passionate and driven than we've seen her in many debates. I think there's something to the reader comment of earlier - that the crying Hillary or robotic-cackling Hillary seem inauthentic and forced; but when we see her tearing into an opponent, nobody doubts that what we're seeing is the real her. It's tough, it's going for the jugular, it demonstrates that she's a fighter. Obama has been floating on a cloud since Iowa, but he won't be able to do that in the general election; he's got too many far-left votes and positions for McCain to spotlight.

Democratic voters who were paying attention learned that Obama may break his word on public financing and spending limits, that he's ranked the most liberal senator, that he didn't have much to say about Putin's successor, and is supported by Louis Farrakhan (even though Obama rejected him). Maybe Democratic voters in Ohio and Texas will smell vulnerability in all of that.

Then again, maybe not. Hillary Clinton, by comparison, talks to Democrats about the world as it is. Barack Obama talks to Democrats about the world as they would like it to be.

02/26 10:39 PMShare