The first Democratic Debate between Senators Obama and Clinton took place Thursday evening at LA's Kodak theatre (which easily seats over 3,000) in front of a packed house.
The venue, sprinkled with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Alfre Woodard, Hill Harper, Isaiah Washington and his wife, Rob Reiner, Stevie Wonder, brimmed with the excitement over the most significant presidential election the United States has ever seen with a black man, Barack Obama and a woman, Hillary Clinton, competing for the chance to become the democratic party’s newest leader of the free world.
The set-up for the debate mimicked that of a heavyweight bout in Vegas, though the debate some were looking for did not occur. The commentator seemingly gave their “weight and stats” as they stepped on stage as though we’d see nothing shy of an Ali/Frasier rematch as we ready for, what is popularly called Super Tuesday.
But quite the opposite was the atmosphere of this debate. Hillary and Barack carried quite a mature discussion on the peril and future of America.
The debate exhibited the many similarities between the two candidates and for the first time in this campaign they both made it clear that voting Democrat is a win-win situation. The two ultimately are building momentum for their party against the Republicans.
“They are more of the same,” Sen. Clinton said of the Republican candidates. “Neither of us, by looking at us, is more of the same. We will change our country.”
Sen. Obama also gave rousing remarks as they pertain to the Republicans and the war stating, “I think I will be the Democrat who will be most effective in going up against a John McCain, or any other Republican -- because they all want basically a continuation of George Bush's policies…” But then there was a shift in the response that clearly chastised Senator Clinton, via her vote in Congress, for giving Bush permission to invade Iraq. “…I will offer a clear contrast as somebody who never supported this war, thought it was a bad idea. I don't want to just end the war, but I want to end the mindset that got us into war in the first place.”
There were various times in the debates where harsh reality checks were made between the two candidates. But, Sen. Obama’s harshest chide would come by way of Sen. Clinton’s vote that she has not completely acknowledged as a mistake regarding the war, but rather chooses to rationalize.
“You know, I've said many times if I had known then what I know now, I never would have given President Bush the authority,” explained Sen. Clinton. “It was a sincere vote based on my assessment at the time and what I believed he would do with the authority he was given. He abused that authority; he misused that authority. I warned at the time it was not authority for a preemptive war. Nevertheless, he went ahead and waged one, which has led to the position we find ourselves in today.”
Sen. Obama’s clear opposition to the war from the very beginning set him in a strong position regarding this issue. He repeatedly garnered applause when explaining the importance of such a mistake on Sen. Clinton’s part.
“I don't want to belabor this, because I know we're running out of time and I'm sure you guys want to move on to some other stuff, but I do just have to say this -- the legislation, the authorization had the title, an authorization to use U.S. military force, in Iraq. I think everybody, the day after that vote was taken, understood this was a vote potentially to go to war,” clarified Sen. Obama. “I think were very clear about that…if you look at the headlines. The reason that this is important, again, is that Senator Clinton, I think, fairly, has claimed that she's got the experience on day one. And part of the argument that I'm making in this campaign is that, it is important to be right on day one.”
Sen. Clinton has often used her experience against Sen. Obama to state her claim for the presidency. The recent backlash regarding her remarks that Sen. Obama was not comparable to the late President John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Jr. because of his lack of experience possibly fueled a strong endorsement from the late President’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy and his brother Ted Kennedy.
“You know, Ted Kennedy said that he is confident that we will get universal health care with me as president, and he's been working on it longer than I think about than anybody,” noted Sen. Obama. “That's what I did in Illinois, to provide insurance for people who did not have it. That's what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together…”
Sen. Clinton later shoots back to Sen. Obama that she too is endorsed by members of the Kennedy family saying, “Well, I have the greatest respect for Senator Kennedy and the Kennedy family. And I'm proud to have three of Senator Robert Kennedy's children, Bobby and Kathleen and Kerry, supporting me.”
There is also the issue of African American politics as they pertain to Sen. Obama. He has been brought to task regarding his policies by many. The fear is that he isn’t going to represent African Americans enough. When race is introduced into this campaign, there has been a lot of back and forth. The Black caucus has been split down the middle in their endorsement of both candidates. Toni Morrison, who once famously called Bill Clinton America’s first black president, has formally aligned herself with the Obama camp with an eloquently written formal endorsement.
During the debate the question was raised by a caller, Kim Millman from Burnsville, Minnesota, who stated that "there's been no acknowledgement by any of the presidential candidates of the negative economic impact of immigration on the African-American community. How do you propose to address the high unemployment rates and the declining wages in the African-American community that are related to the flood of immigrant labor?"
Sen. Obama responded saying, “Well, let me first of all say that I have worked on the streets of Chicago as an organizer with people who have been laid off from steel plants, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, and, you know, all of them are feeling economically insecure right now, and they have been for many years. Before the latest round of immigrants showed up, you had huge unemployment rates among African-American youth. And, so, I think to suggest somehow that the problem that we're seeing in inner-city unemployment, for example, is attributable to immigrants, I think, is a case of scapegoating that I do not believe in, I do not subscribe to.”
The crowd applauded Sen. Obama’s remarks as he went on to say, “I believe that we can be a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. Now, there is no doubt that we have to get control of our borders. We can't have hundreds of thousands of people coming over to the United States without us having any idea who they are.”
Ultimately, the debate exhibited both candidates ability to run the country in the direction of the people’s interest while also sparking innuendo of them becoming what the media has already coined a “dream ticket.” When asked if they would consider running together they both, once again, agreed.
“We've got a lot more road to travel. And so I think it's premature for either of us to start speculating about vice presidents, et cetera. I think it would be premature and presumptuous,” said Sen. Obama. “Part of what I would like to do is restore a sense of what is possible in government. And that means having people of the greatest excellence and competence…But you know, it is really important, I think, for us also to give the American people this sense, as they are struggling with their mortgages and struggling with their health care and trying to figure out how to get their kids in a school that will teach them and prepare them and equip them for this century, that they get a sense that government's on their side, that government is listening to them, that it's carrying their voices into the White House.”
Super Tuesday, February 5, will see a pivotal election that will be held in these 22 states (three have primaries where only the Democratic Party will be voting): Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho (Democratic Party Only), Illinois, Kansas (Democratic Party Only), Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico (Democratic Party Only), New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah
No comments:
Post a Comment