Hillary’s Philadelphia Win Prompts Flashback to Last October

Photo credit: de Géa for The New York Times

Watching last night’s debate at the National Constitutional Center in the Kimmel Theater in Philadelphia, my thoughts flashed back to an earlier debate in Philly last October when the Democratic participants numbered six. Sponsored by MSNBC, the moderators were Tim Russert and Brian Williams who apparently felt it was their duty to repeatedly set up Hillary Clinton, then the frontrunner, for the clumsy attacks by Barack Obama and John Edwards.

Brian Williams opened the earlier debate:

“Senator Obama, we'll begin with you.

“You gave an interview to The New York Times over the weekend pledging in it to be more aggressive, to be tougher in your campaign against your chief rival for the nomination, the leader among Democrats so far, Senator Clinton, who is here next to you tonight.”

And so it went throughout that first mix-up in “the city of brotherly love.”

Last night, as I listened to the parting words of George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson, my overall impression of ABC’s debate was that in comparison to the earlier farce hosted by MSNBC, this one had been fair.

In a piece for the Huffington Post this morning in which Taylor Marsh responded to the usual attacks from Obama’s cyberspace supporters, Marsh argued that Obama had it coming:

“So no one should be surprised that Obama had a nightmare night. He finally got real questions for which he should have had ready answers. Over the last year Barack Obama has gotten a complete pass on his record, his life and everything associated to his political rise. In fact, if Senator Obama had been subjected to the scrutiny that Hillary Clinton has been subjected to he would have turned to ash by now.

“So forgive me if all the blogospheric bellyaching permeating Democratic circles is not impressing me much. In fact, it's a laugh out loud moment.

“Now don't get me wrong. I'm more than willing to blame the traditional media for piling on a Democrat, which they do often. But do these progressives now crying fowl really believe they could protect Mr. Obama, as his Democratic challengers did all last year, throughout the rest of this campaign? Asking a question about Rev. Wright? A question about William Ayers? The horror! Seriously, is Senator Obama so frail that he shouldn't be subjected to questioning that should have come a long time ago and will inevitably come in the general election? If nothing else and at the very least, everyone in the Democratic party should want to know how he's going to handle this stuff if he's our nominee. Because there can be no doubt that the wingnuts will lock and load Barack's greatest hits, then share them with the electorate in a cascade of negative gifts.”

The Washington Post’s Anne E. Kornblut and Dan Balz began their recap of last night’s debate by zeroing in on Obama’s predominantly defensive posture:

“Sen. Barack Obama repeatedly found himself on the defensive here Wednesday night as he sought to bat away criticism of his remarks about small-town values, questions about his patriotism and the incendiary sermons of his former pastor in a potentially pivotal debate six days before Pennsylvania's presidential primary.”

Kornblut and Balz did not fail to note, that Clinton held Obama to account on troublesome issues. After his explanation for his “bitter” comments, Clinton said:

"Now, that doesn't mean that people are not frustrated with the government. We have every reason to be frustrated, particularly with this administration," she said. "But I can see why people would be taken aback and offended by the remarks."

Although Clinton faced her own awkward moment when pressed about her inaccurate Bosnia account, Kornblut and Balz stated, “Still, most of the focus during the first half of the 90-plus-minute debate at the National Constitution Center was on Obama.”

Peter Canellos at the Boston Globe summed the debate up this way:

“Barack Obama last night staked his presidential campaign on the idea that the American people will look beyond the inevitable gaffes and errors and character attacks of a 24-hour campaign cycle to meet the challenges of a "defining moment" in American history.

“Hillary Clinton staked her campaign on the idea that Americans won't - and that her tougher, more strategic approach to countering Republican attacks is a better way for Democrats to reclaim the White House.”

NY Times writers Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny in their coverage of the debate suggested:

“The result was arguably one of Mr. Obama’s weakest debate performances. He at times appeared annoyed as he sought to answer questions about his former pastor, his reluctance to wear an American flag pin on his lapel and his association in Chicago with former members of the Weather Underground, a radical group that carried out bombings in the 1960s that were intended to incite the overthrow of the government.”

Nagourney and Zeleny described Clinton’s demeanor in reporting policy discussions during the debate:

“Mrs. Clinton appeared, for the most part, calm and in control, particularly when the discussion moved to such questions as how the two candidates would respond to an attack by Iran on Israel and whether they would promise not to raise taxes as president. Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama said they would not raise taxes on middle class Americans — those making less than $200,000 to $250,000 a year — though Mr. Obama, pressed by a questioner, acknowledged that he had said he was open to making more income below that threshold subject to the Social Security payroll tax. They also had differences on the capital gains tax; Mrs. Clinton said that if she were to raise it from its current 15 percent level, it would not be to above 20 percent, while Mr. Obama said he would consider raising it as high as 28 percent.”

Noting that throughout the 90-minute debate, Obama was placed on the defensive, I was interested to discover that Nagourney and Zeleny were also reminded of previous NBC-moderated debates:

“Those issues were raised in a tough round of questions posed by Mr. Stephanopoulos and Mr. Gibson, who in many ways presented a mirror image of earlier debates in which two NBC moderators, Tim Russert and Brian Williams, repeatedly pressed Mrs. Clinton with tough and provocative questions.”

Hillary Clinton won last night's debate in Philadelphia for several reasons: She maintained a calm, poised demeanor throughout the debate; she didn’t flinch from tough questions herself; she consistently held Obama to account; and as always, she outshone her rival on the issues – proving that experience does matter.