Debate #20

The 20th (and possibly the last!!) Democratic debate occurred in Cleveland, Ohio tonight. Here's a brief play-by-play:

-Unlike the last debate, which ended with Clinton professing how "honored" she was to share the stage with Obama, this debate had a seriously contentious feel. Clinton even accused the debate moderators Brian Williams and Tim Russert (who was his usual stiff, tomato-faced self) of favoring Barack. To a mixed response of boos and cheers, she asked, “Can I just point out that in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time?” At least she didn't cry....

-Clinton even invoked the following SNL skit to prove her point that the press fawn over Obama:

-The two candidates spent the first half of the debate discussing the differences in their health care platforms (click on Obama or Clinton's name in the sidebar to learn more) and the reforms they would make on NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement). NAFTA, which was enacted in the 1990s, deregulates trade between Canada, Mexico, and the US and is largely regarded as a failure of the Clinton Administration . Despite the ostensibly stimulating agreement, poverty and inequality still pervade Mexico, and American manufacturers are disadvantaged by the lack of tariffs. Both Barack and Hillary plan to renegotiate NAFTA, but Clinton, who used to trumpet the agreement as a success of her husband's administration, has since been accused of FLIP-FLOPPING on the issue.

-In response, Obama accused Clinton of "cherry-picking" from her husband's administration -- taking partial credit for its successes and distancing herself from its failures.

-The candidates even got into a debate bout semantics: Clinton said that Obama should have rejected the support of anti-Semitic reverend Louis Farrakhan, but instead he only denounced him...to which Obama responded, chuckling:

I don't see a difference between denouncing and rejecting....But if the word
"reject" Senator Clinton feels is stronger than the word "denounce," then I'm
happy to concede the point, and I would reject and denounce.

She seemed satisfied by her minor victory.

-The two candidates ended the debate with a cordial handshake. Oh, democracy.