Analysis: Hillary, Obama Battle Over Bill

Washington Post: The Former President Is An Absent Presence As The Democrats Debate In S.C.

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Dan Balz.

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The clash between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday night was a debate long waiting to happen, and at the heart of it was the man who was not on stage: former president Bill Clinton.

Since Obama's victory in Iowa, the Clintons have responded with a methodically aggressive campaign. With his own campaign now on the defensive, Obama came to Monday's debate determined to confront his principal rival for the Democratic presidential nomination with a cry of foul.

The result was the most heated and acrimonious exchange of the long race. The opening minutes included charges and countercharges, personal attacks and some of the harshest language either of the two leading Democratic candidates has used, particularly face to face.

"I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes," Obama sarcastically noted during one exchange.

So intense was their dispute that former senator John Edwards (N.C.) repeatedly demanded the opportunity to be heard.

Democratic strategists differed on whether Clinton or Obama emerged as the winner of the two-hour session. Some said Obama came off at points as defensive and working too hard to explain his record and his positions. Others said Clinton was so aggressive that it could cost her support. Edwards's backers hope that he will benefit if voters are turned off by his rivals' tone and temperament.

The encounter had two audiences: voters in South Carolina, a state Obama must win and is expected to win, largely on the strength of his solid support in the African American community, and voters in the 22 states with primaries or caucuses on Feb. 5. Clinton is concentrating her efforts there in hopes of gaining a decisive advantage.

Obama has learned how formidable the Clintons' political machine can be, particularly when its future is on the line. The former president has played the lead role in taking the fight to the senator from Illinois. Obama and his advisers have been seething about what both Clintons -- but particularly the former president -- have said about him over the past two weeks.

Coupled with Hillary Clinton's surprise victory in New Hampshire two weeks ago and her bruising win in the Nevada caucus last Saturday, the comments have raised frustrations in the Obama campaign to the boiling point.

Relations between Obama and Clinton have been chilly from the start of this contest, but their hostility has intensified as the primary-caucus season has opened. It was unmistakable on Monday.

At one point, Obama, seeking to demonstrate his long commitment to displaced workers, said he had been working with them on the streets of Chicago at a time when Clinton was on the corporate board of Wal-Mart. "I was fighting these fights," he said.

Clinton quickly retaliated: "I was fighting against those [Republican] ideas when you were practicing law and representing your contributor . . . in his slum landlord business in inner-city Chicago."

But beneath those personal barbs was disgruntlement and anger about a series of comments -- some from the Clintons, some from Obama -- that have been flying back and forth over the past two weeks.

One came from Bill Clinton, who attacked Obama's assertion of consistent opposition to the Iraq war as a "fairy tale." Those words rippled through the African American community as a slight against Obama's candidacy -- drawing warnings from prominent black leaders to the former president to tone down his language.

Most recent was an interview in which Obama described former president Ronald Reagan as a transformative leader and also said that over the past 10 to 15 years, the Republicans were more a party of ideas than were the Democrats. In the context of a Democratic nomination battle, those are risky words, even if there is some historical basis for them.

Hillary Clinton pounced on Obama on Monday night, as Bill Clinton had done over the past few days.

"They were bad ideas for America," she said. "They were ideas like privatizing Social Security, like moving back from a balanced budget and a surplus to deficit and debt."

Obama protested that the Clintons had deliberately distorted his words. "Hillary, we just had the tape," he said. "You just said that I complimented the Republican ideas. That is not true."

The Clintons know that her strength has been with core Democrats (other than African Americans), and that the more they can raise doubts about Obama among these voters, the better she will do in the Feb. 5 primaries and caucuses.

In the second half of the debate, tempers cooled and the three candidates returned to a more civil tone. But the issue of Bill Clinton's role came up again, when his wife was asked whether he is overshadowing her candidacy and her message.

"I think that he is very much advocating on my behalf, and I appreciate that," she said. "He is a tremendous asset. And he feels very strongly about this country, and what's at stake and what our future should be." She added that "this campaign is not about our spouses."

But for now it is partly about Bill Clinton. He has emerged as more than his wife's chief surrogate. He is playing a role almost akin to that of a vice presidential candidate in a general election, leading the charge against the other party's nominee.

His stature, as Obama said Monday, commands media attention and his popularity among Democratic voters adds weight to whatever he says. When he has spoken publicly against Obama, or in strong defense of his wife, his words have been amplified beyond that of any other supporter of the senator from New York.

That role has caused consternation in the Democratic Party among people who believe Clinton has crossed a line a former president should not cross. That debate will continue through the primaries, but on Monday Obama decided he had to push back.

This is a fight the Clinton campaign welcomes. But it is one that threatens to have long-term consequences if both sides cannot find a way to pull back. Given the stakes of this nomination battle, that seems unlikely anytime soon.

[be_thechange]

Someone made a comment about the SC debate saying that John Edwards was like a flashlight between two spotlights. Charismatic leaders capture our imagination, and both Obama and Hilary have tremendous presence (and Obama is magical in his oratory). But strip away all that and look at thir pressure points. Don''t you see two egotists who want to use the need of America for a fresh president to get what they want? They are both frighteningly ambitious. Look at John Edwards again before you presume it is Hilary or Obama. He is actually the only candidate who acts like someone I would love to represent my country. He is also the only one who can win the Republicans who can''t take their own GOP choices. Don''t overlook this man. Listen to what his intentions are, and you will hear that he focuses on the nation, not on himself. Hilary and Obama BOTH are full of their own pride.

[op2mystic1]

"A man who cannot admit his mistakes is a man doomed to repeat his mistakes over and over again."

umm you mean like Hillary and Bill? Obama hs proved he has the gumption to defend himself. What we need now is a debate between Onama and Edwards the only real people interested in the people of the US.

Hillary is not the role model I want my granddaughter to see as first woman president. She gives us all a bad name.

[truthfulken]

My post at 6:19pm shoul read: Another Example: Obama made a speech on 06/30/03 to the AFL-CIO Quote: %u201CSo the challenge is, how do we get federal government to take care of this business? I happen to be a proponent of a single payer health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14% of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. And that%u2019s what Jim is talking about when he says everybody in, nobody out. A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that%u2019s what I%u2019d like to see. And as all of you know, we may not get their immediately. Because first we have to take back the white house, we have to take back the senate, we have to take back the house.%u201D [VIDEO: Obama remarks at AFL-CIO, 6/30/03]

In the Debate in SC Obama denied he said this and he also denied he ever believed in single payer health care plan. Then he qualified the only way he would endorse single payer health care plan. He is on video saying he is a proponent of single payer health care plan.

Obama claims to be for change but, he is the same as Bush in disguise as a Democrat. Obama is better at positively manipulating people than Bush. Obama makes people feel good about being manipulated and taken advantage of.

[truthfulken]

To read my posts start at the one posted at 6:13pm and scroll up frum there to read them in order so they make sence they ended up posting with last two paragrahps first at the top of the blog

[truthfulken]

The answer to the rich is to bring Love into our every word, thought, emotions, and actions. We will have abundance for all and peace on earth when this happens. Shhhh! Just don%u2019t tell the Rich we are doing this it will terrorize them deeper into their insanity. Hehehehheheh. The rich need to know this too or they will remain stuck in their insane miserable fear that we the people will take all of their money that we the people earned for them or they stole from us via laws that allow them huge tax breaks and subsidies. We the people foot the entire bill for these tax breaks and subsidies without our consent. We have no say in how our taxes are spent. That is taxation with no representation.

Hillary is my choice for president. Hillary is truthful and knows how to win. I believe Hillary will restore the constitution in full and grant all USA Citizens the writ to habius corpus. Of all the Democratic Candidates I believe Hillary is the only one poised to turn things around in the United States of America financially, by limiting the rich and rich corporations influence in our government, bring middleclass jobs back home from overseas, improve our healthcare system, and end the illegal and immoral war in Iraq.

[truthfulken]

Many of the very rich believe we are separate from God and each other. This is how they justify their greed for money and greed for power over others at the expense of the earth and we the people. The Rich don%u2019t want us to know they are just like us. We come from the same source energy or God as the Rich. If people truly believed in the equality of all people and only one race of people not many and that our every word, thought, emotions and actions affects all of existence. Then what?

[truthfulken]

There is only one race of people on this planet not many. It%u2019s called the human race people. So get over the race issue. Our skin color is determined by the amount of these two chemicals Melatonin and Keratin in our skin. Everything underneath the skin is the same color. All of our organs, organ systems, cells and blood are the same and function exactly the same way in every aspect. We are the same. We are equal. We are one. We are each other so be kind to everyone. We come from the same God or creative intelligent energy of all that is. If as some believe we are separate and different then we would not exist.

[truthfulken]

The Republican Propaganda Machine who controls television media and radio media Love Obama. Because Obama is so much like George W. Bush and Obama is African - American. That is why the most influential Republicans in the Republican Party prefer to run against Obama. The influential Republicans feel they have a better chance at winning the election if Obama is the Democratic nominee. If Obama wins the election the influential Republicans in the Republican Party feel it%u2019s just like having George W. Bush back in the White House. If Obama wins the Democratic nomination for President the Republican Party wins the election in November no matter who is elected President.

[truthfulken]

In the Debate in SC Obama denied he said this and he also denied he e. Another Example: Obama made a speech on 06/30/03 to the AFL-CIO Quote: %u201CSo the challenge is, how do we get federal government to take care of this business? I happen to be a proponent of a single payer health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14% of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. And that%u2019s what Jim is talking about when he says everybody in, nobody out. A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that%u2019s what I%u2019d like to see. And as all of you know, we may not get their immediately. Because first we have to take back the white house, we have to take back the senate, we have to take back the house.%u201D [VIDEO: Obama remarks at AFL-CIO, 6/30/03] ver believed in single payer health care plan. Then he qualified the only way he would endorse single payer health care plan. He is on video saying he is a proponent of single payer health care plan.

Obama claims to be for change but, he is the same as Bush in disguise as a Democrat. Obama is better at positively manipulating people than Bush. Obama makes people feel good about being manipulated and taken advantage of.

[truthfulken]

I have watched Obama skirt issues and talk in circles using rah rah feel good tactics thrown into his speeches to influence people to feel good about what he is saying, not saying and misrepresenting. Obama gets upset when he is called on his rhetoric to clarify it then skirts the issue more. Bush has done the same thing for seven years only he used scare tactics to influence the people to support him instead of making them feel all warm and fuzzy, like Obama makes them feel. Obama in late summer said he would go it alone in Pakistan even without the consent of the government of Pakistan, our allies and the UN. Just like George W. Bush did with Iraq and Afghanistan. We the people do not want any more of these insane antics by our president or government who represent only the rich.