Hillary Clinton missed some opportunities tonight. Her complaint at the beginning about the format of the debate seemed to fall flat. She might have done better with a brief lament about the consequences when the press goes soft on a presidential candidate by arguing, as Democrats do, that George W. Bush received far gentler handling from the media in 2000 than did Al Gore. Hillary also had an opportunity to make legitimate hay out of Obama’s refusal to distance himself forcefully from Louis Farrakhan and his own minister, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Obama seemed to be trying to have it both ways with his answer — saying that he has denounced Farrakhan’s anti-semitism but can’t tell Farrakhan not to “say I’m a good guy.” Obama spoke effectively about his support from the Jewish community and for Israel, and he set an important goal of restoring the frayed alliance between Jewish and African Americans. But his initial Farrakhan response was a bit weak. And he didn’t respond to the question about Wright at all. But when Hillary began trying to pin Obama down for it, she gave up her advantage by saying “there’s a difference between rejecting and denouncing” (quotes are from notes, not verbatim). Obama brilliantly turned that into a joke about semantics – ending Hillary’s opportunity and getting himself off the hook.
On health care reform, Clinton again seemed to win on points by arguing persuasively that her plan, which mandates universal coverage, is superior to his, which doesn’t. But Obama parried her assault well enough to limit her advantage.
Finally, Clinton came as close as she ever has to disavowing her vote authorizing force in Iraq. It came off well. One wonders, if she’d done it six or ten months ago, how it might have played.