Debate Showcases Clinton-Obama Rivalry

Analysis: Showdown On Urban Issues Spotlights Intense Battle For Black Voters

(CBS)  This analysis was written by CBSNews.com's David Miller.

---

Thursday night's Democratic debate had little in common with the two that preceded it besides the eight candidates on stage — the venue was in Washington; each hopeful got a crack at answering every question; no one was ever asked to raise their hands; and instead of focusing on Iraq, the questions revolved around issues like education, inner cities and racism.

But even though this debate was unlike those that came before it, the Democrats on stage seemed more comfortable and confident. They were in front of a crowd largely composed of blacks, who have been one of the Democratic Party’s most dependable voting blocs since the Depression. Also, they were addressing issues that have been the bread and butter of their party’s platform for decades.

Even the news events of the day allowed for an easy jumping-off point in a debate held at historically black Howard University, thanks to the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling that rejected racial integration plans in two school districts and could have sweeping effects nationwide.

Despite this most friendly atmosphere for Democrats, an intense battle was under way between Hillary Clinton, who has seen the support her ex-president husband enjoyed among blacks carry over to her campaign, and Barack Obama, perhaps the most viable black presidential candidate in U.S. history.

While Obama's appearance on the debate stage caused a swell in the opening applause in the auditorium, it was Clinton who drew the night's loudest cheers in discussing the spread of AIDS among black women. "If HIV-AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34, there would be an outraged, outcry in this country," she said, prompting an enthusiastic audience response.

Throughout the evening, Clinton spoke with the forceful words and aggressive tone that, in previous debates, she used in discussing the war in Iraq and combating terrorism — two subjects that received scant attention in a forum almost entirely devoted to domestic, urban issues. When one international issue — the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region — was raised, however, she was quick to show she would not hesitate to use military force to enforce a no-fly zone over the country. "We should make it very clear to the government in Khartoum," she said. "We’re putting up a no-fly zone. If they fly into it, we will shoot down their planes. It's the only way to get their attention."

Obama, on the other hand, did something none of the other candidates, including Clinton, could do by emphasizing his membership in the black community. In his first words of the night, he invoked the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education. "This is where Thurgood Marshall and the team from Brown crafted their strategy," he said, referring to the late justice who argued Brown before the Court prior to serving on it. "If it hadn't been for them, I would not be standing here today."

But Obama saved most talk about his common kinship with the audience for discussing HIV-AIDS, softly admonishing the black community for not being more open about the epidemic. "One of the things we've got to overcome is a stigma that still exists in our communities," he said. "We don't talk about this. We don't talk about it in the schools, sometimes we don't talk about it in the churches. It has been an aspect of, sometimes, our homophobia that we don't address this issue as clearly as it needs to be."

[gunownerdan]

If Hitlery Clinton becomes our next president, America will have been under a Bush or a Clinton for nearly a quarter century.
Can anyone say OLIGARCHY?
Why have Americans been sleeping while the Bush and Clinton families have hijacked our government?

[menofoz]

MOST OF YOU ARE STILL CAUGHT IN THAT GAME OF DEM VS REP

JUST LIKE MIKE GRAVEL SAID ON STAGE DURING THE DEM DEBATE ON THURSDAY JUNE 28, 2007 NOTHING CHANGED ITS BUSINESS AS USUAL IN WASHINGTON

Main problem is some of the members are out of control

THE REAL MENACE, of our Republic is the invisible government which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy legs over our cities, states and nation. At the head is a small group of banking houses... This little coterie...run our government for their own selfish ends. It operates under cover of a self-created screen...seizes...our executive officers...legislative bodies...schools...
courts...newspapers and every agency created for the public protection.%u201D
N.Y. Mayor, John Hylan

NOTABLES ON CFR MEMBERSHIP LIST
George W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George H.W. Bush
Jimmy Carter
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Dwight Eisenhower
Herbert Hoover
*** Cheney (Vice-President)
Al Gore (Vice-President)
Colin L. Powell
Condoleezza Rice
David Rockefeller
Sandra Day O'Connor, U.S. Supreme Court
Alan Greenspan
Paul Volcker
Dan Rather
David Brinkley
Barbara Walters
Henry A. Kissinger

See Council on Foreign Relations Membership List for much larger list.

[forthepeopl1]

AMERICANS TO CHANGE THIS ILLEIGAL ADMINASTRATION AS A VETERAN IT IS MY DUTY TO SAVE MY COUNTRY.

time to take up ARMS and take them all out.

EVERYONE THAT WANTS TO HELP WITH THIS SHOULD BE TALKING TO ALL MEDIA OUTLETS AND TELLING THEM THAT AMERICANS ARE READY TO TAKE WASHINGTON ON AND ITS NOT A FEW AMERICANS ITMILLIONS OF AMERICANS THAT WILL TAKE BACK THERE COUNTRY..

I AM WILLING TO GIVE MY BLOOD FOR ALL AMERICANS TO GET OUR COUNTRY BACK TO WHAT OUR FORFATHERS WANTED.

AM A VET AND AM READY TO TAKE CHARGE OF THIS AMERICAN BOYCOT/COOP IF WE THE PEOPLE DONT DO THIS NOW WE WILL BE GIVENING UP ON OUR CONSTITUTION AND WHAT ALL OUR VET HAVE DIED FOR..

DAVID A BELANGER,VET US ARMY,[e-mail],978-618-310
5

ok so wants to join in on this great american REVOLUTION


they cant kill millions of americans at once so if we charge them all at once we will win and take them out and hang them all..

just like in the old days of the west...hang them from the trees in front of the whitehouse and see how many start telling the truth about what they have done to all us americans..


if the american NOW dont stand up and start a NATIONAL REVOUTION ON THIS WASHINGTON BULL S/H/I/T/ THEN we as TRUE AMERICANS can say nothing!!!

its time to take all this *** and take our government back now

[bobcra]

'Obama cannot win because he is a Muslim, and after the murderous September 11 attacks, most people in the US would NEVER tolerate a Muslim president.'

I am not a supporter of Obama, yet those who would support this candidate need to know that he IS NOT A MUSLIM - this has been one of the right-wing talking points and it is UNTRUE. He is, in fact a Christian and belongs to the United Church of Christ.


Hillary Clinton, like all women seeking power positions still has to overcome the chauvinist labels that men use - either too "manly" (pant suits!), or too soft and cute to be tough on terror, etc. etc. Read these posts and see if you can find the ones I'm referring to.

Let's not digress into the stone age when talking politics, folks. Stick to the issues, and let%u2019s use this as a forum for discussion of where we are, as a society. Are we ready for a woman President? An African-American President? We had better be. Can we tolerate another macho war mongering neo-con who wants to dismantle the U.S. Constitution and create a virtual police state that shrouds itself in arrogance and secrecy? Absolutely not!

[ajmarine1]

hmmmm.. obama or hitler-y..... gee, that like asking would you rather have your leg amputated above or below the knee.....

Posted by mommajomma

I just wish if she was going to ran as a female candidate for President, she would wear more dresses; I don't think I have ever seen the Queen of England in pant suits.

[mommajomma-2009]

hmmmm.. obama or hitler-y..... gee, that like asking would you rather have your leg amputated above or below the knee.....

[donnie900]

She's all talk, like her hubby.

[ajmarine1]

Women shouldn't wear pant suits.

Posted by donnie900

What gets me is one minute she is talking about how she is a woman and worrying about womens issues, and the next she is in pant suits, looking like a man and talking about shooting down planes in a no fly zone.

[donnie900]

Women shouldn't wear pant suits.

[ajmarine1]

Check picture 2; don't you just love Hillary in pant suits? Makes her look manly don't they?

[donnie900]

Just so that you liberals know: I ain't sign'n up fer yer ******** posse'.

[ajmarine1]

Prinzowhales,

You may be right, all I know is that Ohio has always been pretty much a Republican state. But with all the c**p you hear about going on in politics who knows?

Have a good night.

[prinzowhales]

AJMarine--I'm just about 'internetted out' for the day and don't think I could do justice to your question. I believe it was in the Cleveland precincts in particular that electronic votes either weren't counted or were bounced to the Republican.

I know the head of Diebold promised to deliver Ohio for Bush...and he did.

[gunownerdan]

It is very unfortunate that Americans allow warmongers like the Bushes and the Clintons to buy their votes.

[donnie900]

*applause*


?


?



?





???

[donnie900]

Those people.. The bushes.. the reagans.. the guliannis.. they think their plan works!


THEY THINK THEIR PLAN WORKS!!!!!!

[tnt1954]

the democrats could put up mr. ed or huckleberry
hound or bullwinkle or joan jett or britney
spears or paris hilton for president and
they'd win. a republican couldn't even
be elected or appointed for animal control
officer in kalamazoo, michigan. the pink
elephants are in the doghouse so bad, that
even the k-9 corps won't let them out.
the republicans, pink elephants, are like
doberman pinschers with rabies, no one wants
to associate with them. everyone fears them
and abhors them. its like the old jokes
about elephants jumping out of trees with
tennis shoes on. its the new fee enterprise
system. where start up costs exceed the
miracle profits for the next 9 thousand
years. republican math is very funny.
its where the national debt of 8 trillion dollars gets amortized over 30 million years, take
your time, live now, pay later. the future
will be there, to pay for the past forever.
live free and never die. the republicans
could run God for president and still lose.

[donnie900]

You people make me a republican. Unwillingly.

[donnie900]

**** on yaz..

[donnie900]

BOO ME! THROW TOMATOES AT ME! THIS IS NOT NO ******** FRIENDLY MEETING! THIS IS NOT NO ******** MMMM-HMMMMM! OR UH-HUH! YA ******** FREAKS!

THIS IS LIFE AND DEATH!

THIS IS WAR AND PEACE!

THIS IS GOOD AND EVIL!