The Texas Debate

Thursday's Democratic debate at the University of Texas at Austin was a big one for Hillary Clinton. She has been on a political down-slide since Super Tuesday, and she needed to score big with voters in order to stop Barack Obama's momentum and winning streak. Unfortunately for her campaign, however, I don't think that she was able to cover enough ground.

Clinton's best moments, I thought, came during their debate about universal healthcare, and during her closing remarks. I personally enjoy it when candidates debate real issues, and not who is more of a hypocrite -- I don't need to hear that kind of bickering. Clinton and Obama's views and plans for healthcare contain substantive differences, and debating them is good; it's obviously something that Clinton is passionate about. But her best moment came at the end, where she showed a very human side of her personality -- the side that her supporters wish she would show more often, and wonder why she doesn't.

Her worst moment came when she reprimanded Barack Obama for including a couple of lines borrowed from his campaign co-chair, Gov. Deval Patrick, in his stump speeches. "That's not change you can believe in, that's change you can Xerox." Clever, but not well-received by the audience, who showed their disapproval. She then proceeded to do roughly the same thing -- twice -- in her closing remarks. And this is why I don't care about these petty charges that politicians level at each other. None of them are perfectly pristine, so let's move on.

Her biggest problem, however, is her similarities with Barack Obama. Throughout the night, Obama continually reminded viewers that he and Clinton share the same positions on most issues. The political strategy behind this is to get voters thinking: if their positions are so similar, then the choice is between their approach. Barack Obama is hoping that voters will reject the "Clinton wars" of the past in favor of the "Obama hope" of the future.

I just don't think Hillary Clinton did enough to stop Barack Obama's "big mo'." We'll see what happens.