Senator Hillary Clinton came into tonight debate needing a knock out to take back the momentum in the race for Democratic nomination for president. That knock out did not happen as they basically debated to a tie. Senator Clinton accused presidential rival Senator Obama of political plagiarism Thursday night, but drew boos from the debate audience when she ridiculed him as the candidate of "change you can Xerox." Senator Obama dismissed the charge as being out of hand, then turned the jeers to applause when he countered, "What we shouldn't be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up." The exchange marked an unusually pointed moment in an otherwise civil encounter just days before March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio — contests that even some of Clinton's supporters say she must win to sustain her campaign for the White House. The former first lady has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses, and trails her rival in convention delegates. Obama has won a pair of big union endorsements in the past two days.
In a University of Texas auditorium in the state capitol of Austin, the two rivals agreed that high-tech surveillance measures are preferable to construction of a fence to curtail illegal immigration. They disagreed on the proper response to a change in government in Cuba in the wake of Fidel Castro's resignation. Clinton said she would refuse to sit down with incoming President Raul Castro until he implements political and economic reforms. Obama said he would meet "without preconditions," but added the U.S. agenda for such a session would include human rights in the Communist island nation. They also sparred frequently about health care, a core issue of the campaign. Clinton said repeatedly that Obama's plan would leave 15 million Americans uncovered. But he, in turn, accused the former first lady of mishandling the issue by working in secrecy when her husband was in the White House. "I'm going to do things differently," he said. "We can have great plans, but if we don't change how the politics is working in Washington, then neither of our plans are going to happen." "Words are important and words matter but actions speak louder than words," she said. Obama agreed with that, then noted that Clinton lately had been urging voters to turn against him by saying, "let's get real. And the implication is that the people who've been voting for me or are involved in my campaign are somehow delusional," Obama said, and received a huge applause.
Probably Senator Clinton’s best moment was her closing statement as she reflected on her well-known personal struggles. "Everyone here knows I've lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life," she said — a clear reference to her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky and subsequent impeachment. But she added that nothing she had been through matched the everyday struggles of voters. Then, offering unprompted praise to her rival, the one-time front-runner said, "No matter what happens in this contest, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama." Was this her closing statement on her campaign?
Both candidates were plainly popular with the debate audience. During one break someone in the crowd shouted "Si se puede," Spanish for Obama's trademark phrase, "Yes we can." Clinton went into the debate needing a change in the course of the campaign, and waited patiently for an opening to try to diminish her rival, seated inches away on the stage. "I think you can tell from the first 45 minutes Senator Obama and I have a lot in common," she said. Clinton largely sidestepped a question about so-called superdelegates, members of Congress, governors and party leaders who were not picked in primaries and caucuses. She said the issue would sort itself out, and "we'll have a unified Democratic party" for the fall campaign. But Obama, who has won more primaries and caucuses said the contests must "count for something ... that the will of the voters ... is what ultimately will determine who our next nominee is going to be."
Obama's strong showing has made him the man to beat in a historic struggle between a Black man and a White woman, and even former President Bill Clinton has said his wife must win both Ohio and Texas March 4 to preserve her candidacy. New polls show Texas a dead heat, and give Clinton a lead in Ohio, but far smaller than the one she held in recent weeks. Rhode Island and Vermont also vote on March 4, but offer far fewer delegates and have drawn less attention. In a further sign of his growing strength, Obama won the endorsement during the day of the Change to Win labor federation, which claims 6 million members. The Teamsters union announced its support for Obama on Wednesday.
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