Tense Night In Cleveland
Clinton was clearly stressed on Tuesday
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Tense Night In Cleveland
By Zach Kitamura
Last Tuesday’s debate at Cleveland State University had a very visibly tense atmosphere as the candidates dug in for a war of words. This debate between Senator Hilary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama is the last before the crucial primaries next week in Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island.
The night started off with a short video until Clinton saying she was honored to run against Obama last Saturday, to a Sunday clip where she passionately attacked him, as well as the picture released by the Clinton campaign showing Obama in traditional African attire while visiting Kenya.
The next 16 minutes saw a battle over the issue of health care. Clinton continued attacking Obama on the issue, which he says is not a matter of policy, but its application. Clinon has continuously attacked his plan, which she says will leave 15 million people without health care. Obama then defended his plan, saying his plan wouldn’t and hers would leave some people disadvantaged. Then the debate went to hell in a hand basket as both candidates argued about the issue for a 15 minutes to the moderator’s dismay.
The topic of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came next. Obama scored fact-checking points as he countered Clinton’s claim as to always being opposed to it. One of the two moderators confirmed this, with Clinton defending that it had worked in some parts of her state of New York. Both candidates agreed that it either had to be renegotiated or backed out of. They also laid out plans for gaining energy independence, with Clinton laying out a more detailed plan.
The issue of Iraq had one of the most memorable moments of the debate. After Clinton pointed out that they had voted the same way after the invasion of Iraq, Obama said he had done so because those who voted for it, including Clinton “[had] driven the bus into the ditch, and there are only a few ways to get it out.” Both candidates affirmed their position in with drawing from Iraq.
Obama was questioned about the endorsement “gained” by Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam who has made strong anti-Semitic statements. Obama denounced his support, saying he doesn’t want a discriminatory supporter and assured he had large support from the Jewish community. Clinton responded by saying that it was not enough to denounce this support. Obama thought that they had the same meaning, but if not, that he both denounced and rejected his support.
The closing saw Obama take the feel-good stance instead of Clinton, who had a great closing statement in Texas. Obama said Clinton is a worthy candidate and the country will be united under the Democratic banner.
A key contrast between Texas and Ohio was the crowd’s energy. While the Texas debate had a jubilant audience on hand, the spectators in Cleveland remained largely silent, only cheering for a few moments. The debate was tense and it showed in both candidates. Clinton’s face showed stress while Obama remained cool under the pressure, although he had a few more slip-ups than usual. Both candidates were strong, but it seems that Obama came out on top. This could be seen as more autograph seekers went to Obama than to Clinton at the debate’s conclusion.
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