CE Week #2: “Obama, Clinton hold cordial L.A. debate”
Face-off is last meeting before Super Tuesday
|
Dan Balz and Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post
February 1, 2008
LOS ANGELES – Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama set aside personal hostilities here Thursday night but sharply disagreed on who has the better combination of leadership and experience to defeat Republicans in November and lead the country as president.
Heading toward a critical round of primaries and caucuses on Tuesday, the two remaining contenders for the Democratic nomination focused their strongest words on Republicans.
For almost two hours, Obama and Clinton examined their differences on the Iraq war, health care, immigration and governing style, with Clinton emphasizing her lengthy resume and experience and Obama challenging her about judgment and the ability to inspire the country.
“It is imperative that we have a president, starting on Day One, who can begin to solve our problems, tackle these challenges and seize the opportunities that I think await,” Clinton said.
“Senator Clinton, I think, fairly has claimed that she’s got the experience on Day One,” Obama later replied. “And part of the argument that I’m making in this campaign is that it is important to be right on Day One.”
There were occasional barbs, but nothing that approached the candidates’ war of words in Myrtle Beach, S.C., last week. When Thursday’s debate ended, the two rose and exchanged private comments amid smiles and laughter.
“We’re having such a good time,” Clinton said toward the end of the forum. “We are. We are. We’re having a wonderful time.”
“Yes, absolutely,” Obama agreed.
The Kodak Theatre, site of the Academy Awards ceremony in the heart of Hollywood, served as the venue for Thursday’s forum and the pre-debate spectacle on the streets outside rivaled Oscar night. Hollywood stars scrambled to get what was considered one of the hottest tickets in town.
On the subject of the Iraq war – arguably the issue that has shaped the course of the Democratic contest – Obama made a crisp if familiar argument: that his judgment about the invasion reflected a broader skill for understanding the world. Obama also said his consistent opposition to the war would make him a stronger candidate in the general election.
“You know, Senator Clinton mentioned the issue of gravitas and judgment,” he said. “I think it is much easier for us to have the argument when we have a nominee who says, ‘I always thought this was a bad idea, this was a bad strategy. It was not just a problem of execution.’ ” Clinton countered that she had believed that sending weapons inspectors back into Iraq at the time Congress approved the war resolution in 2002 was a “credible idea,” repeating her contention that she did not know that Bush was going to invade.
She argued that she believed in “coercive diplomacy,” but when faced with repeated questions about her decision not to support an alternate measure, she sought to focus on comparing their Senate records.
“I certainly respect Senator Obama making his speech in 2002 against the war,” she said. “And then, when he came to the Senate, we’ve had the same policy because we were both confronting the same reality of trying to deal with the consequences of George Bush’s action.”
Early on, the pair sparred over health care, each citing it as an area in which they have policy differences. They dwelled on health insurance, focusing on details and differing on how to bring the most people into a national insurance network. Still, on a night when civility reigned, Obama said that their health-care proposals were about 95 percent similar.
I am curious to hear the results of Super Tuesday. I know that Hillary has been arguing for her “experience”, but that argument is getting old. After tonight we will see who has the three M’s. The Republican candidate McCain seems to be carrying the m’s for the Republican side of things. It is a good thing that we have the Twenty-fifth Amendment or I would be worried with McCain as President. I find it comical how Hillary and Obama are pretending to get along and put on cheesy smiles as their debates end. I do not have any knowledge of what is going on in Iraq right now. It seems like there has not been much coverage on what’s going on over there, yet this topic has shaped the Democratic candidates’ stances. Obama is eager to get us out of Iraq and it sounds like Hillary wants soldiers out of there too, but is being more cautious on how she would handle the situation. If I am wrong would someone inform me of their stances on the war? I do think that if we got out of Iraq that we could try and get out nation more out of debt. Then the nation’s budget could focus more on getting the nation out of the hole we dug ourselves into and onto other things.
In this debate it seems that Hillary didn’t fully take her on the fence stance ( as we have talked about in class) , she seemed to try to at lest make some of her policies known. “She argued that she believed in “coercive diplomacy,” but when faced with repeated questions about her decision not to support an alternate measure, she sought to focus on comparing their Senate records.” But as it sated she once again avoided questions and try to just compare something that she felt she had the upper hand in. To me I don’t understand how she even has any supporters, how do you even know were she stands on any of the issues?
It also kind of surprised me that senator Obama sated “that their health-care proposals were about 95 percent similar.”, because to me health care would be one of the things that I would want to stand out in this election with it is one of the issues that I think will be pressed very heavily in the election and to say that your is almost the same as you opponents isn’t going to be very beneficial in standing out. So I guess we will just have to wait and see if this is something that will help or hurt ether of them.