Hillary Clinton Relaxed, Soars In Debate
05 January 2008 7:40 pm by Taylor Marsh
Hillary Clinton Relaxed, Soars In Debate updated
Liberated from Iowa, Clinton had fun tonight.
A question went to Hillary about change and the tag teaming going on between
Edwards and Obama against her, implying that she has a problem with likability.
“Well, that hurts my feelings, but I’ll try to go on.”
– Hillary Clinton
After a moment or two, Obama responded, “You’re likeable enough.”
He was looking down when he said it, with the camera catching the reaction,
which revealed a quite ungracious moment for Obama.
Clinton was relaxed and fearless from the start, which was no doubt part of
Obama’s frustration. She also got the only applause line when she said the first woman president is the very definition of change. It was clear she indeed felt liberated after Iowa. It might
have been the best thing that happened to her. Once you lose you can let go.
So she went straight at Mr. Obama on his record and he couldn’t or rather didn’t
respond, offering non sequiturs instead. He didn’t answer the questions, so
he segued to the results in Iowa.
Another problem for Mr. Obama was that he seemed a bit drained. Obama didn’t
score points with Iraq either. Mr. Obama also kept talking about change, but
throughout the debate the specifics just weren’t there. “Words” do
help and make a difference seemed to be his focus. Words have the power.
With words things happen. That’s why he won in Iowa. Again with Iowa.
Clinton offered the opposite, which is why I believe she soared, almost coming
into her own. She had the words, but she translated them tonight into what she
can accomplish through talking about her years of experience and what she’d
already gotten done for the American people.
When it came to foreign policy in the debate Clinton stood apart on the details.
The broad strokes all Democrats agree on, but the details were a different subject.
She laid out a plan point by point that was clearly thought out and anything
but general.
The biggest difference tonight in Clinton was her relaxed presentation and
her transparency. We also saw part of her personality, including a very feisty
Clinton that responded strongly when Edwards and Obama ganged up on her, but it didn’t faze her. She turned it to gold, took them all on and kept on going.
Clinton showed leadership, fearlessness, knowledge of specifics, humor and
grace. No one on the stage matched her.
Clinton by a mile.
UPDATE III: Obama and Edwards Tag-Team Clinton
UPDATE II: This is exactly what Clinton wanted to happen. Top headline on Yahoo right now: Clinton: Obama has changed positions.
UPDATE: To add, the exchange below will reveal if Americans are ready for a woman president. Showing fire when challenged has always been a dividing line for women in leadership roles. Has American grown up? Some will love it and some won’t. But it is who she is. Strong. No doubt Chris Matthews and the Hillary haters will judge it otherwise. Women understand it. Liberated women in positions of leadership recognize it, because they’ve seen it in themselves.
