Last night when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supposedly debated, I couldn’t believe my eyes. You call that a debate? I haven’t seen that much love in one room since John Lennon and Yoko Ono did their famous sleep-in peace protest in 1969. I thought that at any moment they were going to start making out. I’m surprised someone didn’t yell, “Get a room!”It’s pretty obvious what is happening. The Democrats believe that Obama and Hillary on the same ticket will lead to certain victory. A black man has his supporters and a woman has hers, even if that woman is Hillary Clinton. Put them together and you’ve got a pretty formidable combination. Or so they think.
It’s a strategic move that has been well-calculated and expertly orchestrated. The two candidates don’t want to beat each other up now so that they can’t run together later. The objective is not who gets to be the next President – it’s to get the Republicans out of office. And who knows -- it might just work.
This was USA Today’s take on the debate/lovefest:
In their first one-on-one debate last night at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton engaged in "cordial" (AP), "congenial," and "civil" debate on policy questions. The rivals marked the absence of recently departed contender John Edwards by making repeated plays for his supporters. The Wall Street Journal reports "several weeks of political jabs largely took hiatus" on Thursday night when Clinton and Obama "set aside differences and threw darts at the Republicans in their first one-on-one debate." The Los Angeles Times calls the debate "congenial," while ABC reported, "Both candidates came in with a clear plan. Be nice. No nasty swipes or bitter arguments tonight."
USA Today notes the two "drew sharp distinctions on issues such as health care and foreign policy." They "agreed on two things: either of them represents a stark change from President Bush and one will be the nation's first woman or African-American president." As she has "throughout their campaign, Clinton challenged Obama as being too inexperienced to be in the White House from 'day one.'" Obama "countered that Clinton represents the status quo of Washington." The Politico says the debate "did little to change" the race, and notes that Clinton and Obama "associated themselves repeatedly and obsequiously to" Edwards, "whose endorsement both are seeking."
