Democrats Clash on Trade, Health and Tactics
Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama faced each other for the final Democratic debate before the March 4 primaries. More Photos >
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton confronted Senator Barack Obama on health care, Nafta, Iraq and his political tactics on Tuesday night in one of her most pugnacious debate performances of the campaign, as she fought for fresh momentum before four potentially decisive nominating contests next Tuesday.
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The audience watched Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama in a debate with a belligerent edge. More Photos »
Mr. Obama, pursuing a front-runner's strategy of nonconfrontation after winning 11 straight contests, mostly defended his positions and views, though he said he and his team had not "whined" about the Clinton camp's attacks on him. Sitting a couple of feet from Mrs. Clinton at a circular table, he appeared to listen intently to her attacks before responding in even tones.
The debate — the 20th for Democrats — was the final one before the March 4 contests in Ohio and Texas, states that the Clinton camp has labeled as must-win if she is to keep her campaign alive.
Questions about which approach Mrs. Clinton would take to sway voters were quickly answered as she immediately confronted Mr. Obama, and she was relentless throughout the meeting. She insisted on responding to virtually every point that he made — often interrupting the debate moderators, Brian Williams and Tim Russert of NBC, as they tried to move on.
At the same time, it was one of the most detailed and specific of all the debates, with both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama giving long explanations of their records and views.
Unlike their debate last Thursday, a more cordial affair that ended with Mrs. Clinton saying she was "honored" to share the stage with Mr. Obama, this exchange had a belligerent edge. Mrs. Clinton did not nod along as Mr. Obama made standard Democratic points, as she has been known to do. She was more apt to call him "Senator Obama" than the friendlier "Barack." She did not smile at him.
At one point, after the moderators asked her a series of pointed questions, Mrs. Clinton even vented her long-simmering frustrations with news coverage of Mr. Obama, citing a "Saturday Night Live" sketch from last weekend that portrayed debate moderators as fawning fans of Mr. Obama.
"Can I just point out that in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time?" Mrs. Clinton said, to a mix of boos and applause. "I do find it curious, and if anybody saw 'Saturday Night Live,' you know, maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and needs another pillow."
(In fact, in their two other one-on-one debates, Mrs. Clinton was asked to answer the first question and then was asked more questions over all.)
The tenor of the debate was set from the beginning, when the moderators played clips of Mrs. Clinton praising Mr. Obama at the debate last Thursday and then declaring "Shame on you, Barack Obama" on Saturday, after his campaign sent fliers to voters in Ohio suggesting that she viewed the North American Free Trade Agreement as a boon.
Nafta is hugely unpopular in Ohio, and the two candidates have records of both praising and criticizing it, though Mrs. Clinton never used the word "boon." In some of her strongest language to date, she said at the debate that she would "opt out" of the trade pact if Canada and Mexico did not renegotiate it.
Saying Mr. Obama had sent out mailings that were "very disturbing to me," Mrs. Clinton defended her newly aggressive tone — a posture that advisers have encouraged in recent days as she faces increasingly tighter races in both Ohio and Texas. (Rhode Island and Vermont also vote Tuesday.) "I think it's important that you stand up for yourself," Mrs. Clinton said about her broadsides against Mr. Obama.
Mr. Obama denied misleading voters through the Nafta flier or another one about her health care plan's mandate that would require all Americans to buy insurance.
Mrs. Clinton criticized the health care flier, taking a strong swipe at Mr. Obama.
"What I find regrettable is that in Senator Obama's mailing that he has sent out across Ohio," she said "it is almost as though the health insurance companies and the Republicans wrote it."
Mr. Obama responded energetically to the accusation, and for 16 minutes they engaged in a terse back-and-forth over the now-familiar specifics of their health plans.
Their respective plans are quite similar; they both seek to make health insurance more affordable, and both have universal coverage as their goal. But the Clinton campaign has argued that 15 million Americans would go uncovered under Mr. Obama's plan, a number that relies on estimates by health care experts but is difficult to pin down depending on how a plan is devised.
"Senator Clinton, her campaign at least, has constantly sent out negative attacks on us," Mr. Obama said. "We haven't whined about it."
Saludos
Rodrigo González Fernández
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