Nov 16, 2007 12:34 am US/Eastern
Clinton Fends Off Rivals' Assault
by Jon Keller
(WBZ)
The gloves were off again Thursday night as the Democrats running for president met to debate in Las Vegas. The competition couldn't wait to capitalize on what some pundits have been calling Hillary Clinton's worst funk of the campaign.
Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards certainly tried to put Clinton on the defensive. But the front-runner appeared to be much more prepared for the onslaught than she was in the last debate.
Before the debate began, Clinton was sharpening a secret weapon in a video message to Iowa caucus-goers --an actual sense of humor:
And right off the bat Thursday night she deployed humor as an ice-breaker.
"This pantsuit is asbestos tonight," she joked.
Lucky thing. The rest of the night was no joke.
"What the American people are looking for now is straight answers to tough questions, and that is not what we've seen out of Sen. Clinton," Obama said.
"When it came time to step up and decide whether or not he was going to support universal health care, he chose not to do that," Clinton said of Obama.
"The fact of the matter is that I do provide universal health care," Obama responded.
"The most important thing here is to level with the American people," Clinton said.
"She says she will bring change to Washington while she continues to defend a system that does not work, that is broken, that is rigged, and that is corrupt," Edwards charged.
"For him to be throwing this mud and making these charges really detracts from what we're all trying to do here tonight," Clinton countered.
"Let's stop this mudslinging," said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. "Let's stop this going after one another on character and trust, let us debate the issues that affect the American people."
Do you find yourself agreeing with Richardson's take on all that bickering? You're not alone, but you're probably not going to get your wish. The differences between the leading Democrats on most issues are just not that sharp to produce compelling issue-oriented debate.
And that's why you're going to see a whole lot more of the same back and forth between Hillary and her challengers.
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