Viva Las Vegas: The MSNBC debate
Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 9:20 AM by Domenico Montanaro
The Washington Post: "After a week of bitter intraparty disputes over the issue f race, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) extended an olive branch to Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) on Tuesday night and declared that she and the other Democratic presidential candidates are ‘all family’ in a nationally televised debate." More: "Obama and Clinton, in one of their sharpest distinctions of the night, offered starkly different visions of the presidency. Obama said he believes that the job is about ‘having a vision for where the country needs to go’ rather than ensuring the ‘paperwork is being shuffled effectively,’ while Clinton emphasized the need for understanding how the system works. ‘I do think that being president is the chief executive officer. I respect what Barack said about setting the vision, setting the tone, bringing people together,’ Clinton said. ‘But I think you have to be able to manage and run the bureaucracy.’”
The Wall Street Journal says, "The debate seemed to do little to shake up the race; as with other forums, the candidates found much to agree on and kept their sniping at the edges. The three candidates showed general agreement on the Iraq war (for ending it), the proposed Yucca mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada (opposed) and the need to find alternatives to oil. Mr. Edwards, as he has in the past, said he opposed expanding nuclear power."
The New York Times adds, "The low-key tenor of the debate would seem to belie the dynamics of the race: Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama involved in a pitched fight for the nomination and Mr. Edwards struggling to break through. Clearly, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama came in deciding to lower the volume from the overtones of race and gender that had shadowed their contest for the past week and worried many Democrats - including many of the candidates’ advisers - that the back-and-forth could imperil both candidates."
The Boston Globe: "Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, meeting for the first time after a blistering series of attacks and counterattacks centered on race, downplayed their feud in the latest Democratic debate, insisting that overzealous supporters had fueled a battle they refuse to fight with each other."
The New York Daily News focuses on Clinton and Obama's discussion of management. "Obama opened the door to the issue on the campaign trail Monday, admitting he was averse to managing the day-to-details of government bureaucracy... But Obama insisted vision matters, and that Clinton was taking the wrong lessons from Bush." The paper also notes Obama accusing Clinton trying to score "political points" by talking about terrorism and al Qaeda. "The clashes peppered an otherwise muted debate, dedicated to Latino and African-American issues and aired nationally on MSNBC."
Obama may have touched on it rather gently last night, but the New York Post makes it its focus: "Latest 'O' blow: Hill plays the fear card on terror." Obama leveled "a harsh charge that Democrats usually save for President Bush."
Looking ahead to South Carolina, the Columbia State front-pages the following with a photo of a sullen-looking SC Rep. Jim Clyburn. "Democrats call a truce: Candidates pledge to end racially tinged talk; Clyburn reaffirms neutrality." The AP also quoted the Rev. Jesse Jackson, an Obama supporter as saying, "November is the Super Bowl. I don't want the best candidates on the bench because they are so angry at each other."
If you are wondering what Clinton's campaign decided to push post-debate, then check out her talking points at her post-debate rally… Seemingly energized after the sedate debate earlier last night, Clinton rallied supporters at a local high school here, driving home the message that the country needs a competent leader to manage the government, NBC/NJ’s Mike Memoli reports. Joining a diverse group of more than 20 women -- including “Ugly Betty” actress America Ferrara -- on the platform in the center of a crowded auditorium, Clinton offered a booming hello and asked the audience how they liked the debate. She said she’s running for president not just on her experience but on the voices of those she’s met.
Later, Clinton said that the job of the president is not just to “set big goals” and unite the country, but also “to manage the government” and get results -- a not-so veiled reference to Obama’s answer at the debate about his management style “We’ve gotta have a president who is hands on, saying to everybody in these bureaucracies, you’re accountable to the American people,” she said. Clinton added that if she was president when Hurricane Katrina hit, “we would have been on it” and “been taking care of people.” “It was a disgrace the way the president of the United States mishandled that terrible disaster,” Clinton said, setting off a huge ovation and chants of “Hillary! Hillary!”
NBC/NJ’s Aswini Anburajan reports on a couple of nuggets from last night’s spin room. First, David Axelrod, Barack Obama's chief media strategist, joked last night that there were "no peace negotiations, no rounds of talks" between the Obama and Clinton campaigns on the "truce" they have declared regarding discussions of race in the campaign. However, once Obama decided to publicly call for a truce, Patti Solis Doyle, Clinton's campaign manager, called Axelrod and said that the Clinton campaign also planned to issue a statement. "We'll see how long it lasts," Axelrod said wryly to the reporters clustered around him.
Second, Obama's communications director, Robert Gibbs, told reporters that as the campaign moves forward to the February 5th states, they will rely heavily on their volunteer base to do the work of getting out the vote. He claimed that the large number of small donors the campaign has across the country was a sign that their volunteer base was far larger than any other campaign's. But he also acknowledged that voters were far more unfamiliar with Obama and his message, and the campaign could not rely on retail politics the way they did in smaller states. Gibbs said, "We'll have count on national coverage a lot more," to which reporters immediately pounced and asked, "Does that mean more media avails?" Gibbs, wouldn't answer.
