Obama, Clinton agree to disagree

AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, needing a win in Texas to derail Sen. Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, sought Thursday to contrast her opponent's rhetorical skills with what she called her superior ability to govern.

"I do think that words are important and words matter," Clinton said at a debate at the University of Texas. "But actions speak louder than words."

Obama responded by laying out issues he's worked on in the Senate and others he'd support as president -- then called it ridiculous to suggest his supporters are "being duped."

"The implication is that the people who have been voting for me or involved in my campaign are somehow delusional," he said.

Obama said his supporters perceive the reality of what's going on in Washington very clearly, and they want to see it change.

"What they see is that if we don't bring the country together, stop the endless bickering, actually focus on solutions and reduce the special interests that have dominated Washington, then we will not get anything done."

Much of the 90-minute debate featured the two candidates staking out similar positions on issues like Iraq, the economy and immigration.

It was a very odd debate -- the questioners had to beg them to differ with each other," said CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

Obama, Clinton agree to disagree - CNN.com

I was disappointed viewing this debate,it was billed as a "Texas Showdown" but I saw it as nothing more than an opportunity for the candidates to restate their positions.I noticed that Hillary seemed to be preparing herself to accept defeat. It seemed like she was posturing or positioning herself as Obama's running mate! Time will tell..

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

One-Candidate Debate
A missed opportunity for Hillary Clinton.


By Stephen Spruiell


Austin, Tex. — Has Hillary caught Obama fever, or is she just throwing in the towel?

Near the end of Democratic debate at the University of Texas Thursday night, Hillary Clinton praised her opponent, Barack Obama, in terms so glowing, she seemed like one of those people who have been fainting in his presence lately.

“You know, no matter what happens in this contest,” Clinton said, “I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored.” The crowd of 2,000 — a mix of UT students and Texas Democrats — applauded wildly.

Even during the one acrimonious moment in the debate — Hillary’s “change you can Xerox” line, referring to charges of plagiarism that have dogged the Obama campaign — it seemed like Clinton’s heart wasn’t in it. The line drew boos from the crowd and a purse-lipped, stern head-shake of disapproval from Obama. She quickly changed the subject from Obama’s lifted lines to her “very specific goals” for the country.

Obama refrained from attacking Clinton with anything like the ferocity witnessed during a debate in South Carolina last month, when he and Clinton traded accusations over her work for Wal-Mart and his ties to disgraced developer Tony Rezko. He eschewed these kinds of attacks for lengthy discourses on national unity and taking the fight to the “special interests” in Washington. The phrase “running out the clock” came repeatedly to mind.

In the spin room after the debate, Clinton adviser Mark Penn expressed some unhappiness with the rules, which he felt allowed Obama to have too much unrestricted time. “The unlimited time… certainly allowed Senator Obama to get in a lot of his stump speech throughout the course of the debate,” Penn said.

Stephen Spruiell on Austin Democratic Debate on National Review Online

I decided to include this related piece in this thread.Has Hillary caught Obama fever? If she has,it's the VP strain of the virus.

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

I don't think her ego will allow her to be VP...

This was supposed to be her coronation period, and Obama threw in the monkey-wrench...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

I don't think her ego will allow her to not consider posturing for VP...

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

I still think Hillary being VP means she'll be president before Obama's time is up...

She'll be inviting Obama on hunting trips with Cheney every weekend...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Then again,she may be thinking the "unthinkable" would happen to Obama.I don't even want to go there. I believe she would accept but I'm not sure Obama has any intention of making the offer. I think he will ask the Governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius to take VP.

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

In the debate Obama said he has been endorsed by every major newspaper in the state.

Seems a bit odd to me & bears wondering WHY?

Could it be ..... those advertising dollars .... the media lives by?

There is a pattern to be seen across all forms of the media; a pattern that has been going on throughout this campaign. That pattern is strikingly ABNORMAL: no criticism, no scrutiny, no questioning of Obama, no blame for anything; Nothing but Promoting HIM.

The other side of that coin is: criticism, scrutiny, questioning of HER every smallest word and move ... taken to absurd lengths, even blaming Clinton for things Obama did - (for example, he turned to negative campaigning, first, but the media blamed HER for it); nothing but slamming the Clintons.

This has been going on every day all day long in most of "the media". Lots of other people Noticed it too and posted their complaints about this sudden "media madness" on media matters website.

Curiously, the media ignores this highly Abnormal state of affairs - turns a blind eye to the Blatant absurdity of their "news" "coverage". Just a few months ago suddenly, overnight all the TV media turned into Faux News.

The media is failing to cover the Biggest Story of this election campaign: Their OWN Corporate Controlled FAILURE to do anything other than PROMOTE (SELL) their Corporate Masters Choice for Democrat Presidential Candidate: Barack Obama.

The question remains: WHY?

The deal killer for me on Obama for President is: 29 new nuclear power plants. The dirtiest, Un-Greenest, most expensive energy we can build.

Obama voted FOR the Cheney Energy Bill passed in 2005 (H.R.6) - which enables the nuclear industry to obtain financing for their 29 new nukes - by Guaranteeing TAXPAYER Payback of those loans .... in the event of DEFAULT....... which the Congressional Budget Office rated at 50% or greater. (No new nukes have been built in the U.S. for the past 30 years because the banks would not loan money to build them - too risky).

(.... .... & how would you like to take a quarter, or a half of everything you own .... whether that's $100, $5000, $1 Million, several $Billion .... go to Las Vegas & place it all on one roll of the dice --- which will get you --- double your money ..... or Nothing? NO PROBLEM.....IF.... like the NUKE industry ..... --- You Can't Lose ..... since your fellow citizens of the USA will give you All Your Money back. Do you Think that's capitalism, free enterprise?)

Now, Back to WHY?

McCain is in favor of building new nukes. Obama is in favor of building new nukes. Clinton is not and she voted AGAINST the Cheney Energy Bill.

Three consortiums are planning to build those 29 nukes. Major players in those consortiums are: Excelon, GE, Westinghouse.

Excelon is headquartered in ILLINOIS, Obama's 4th largest campaign contributor, sends lobbyists to see him.

GE owns NBC and MSNBC. Westinghoue owns CBS. They have many many thousands of products to ADVERTISE on TV, Radio, and in newspapers all over the USA. .... and they want to build those new nukes.
(GE is the 2nd largest corporation on the planet)

WHY has every major newspaper in Texas endorsed Obama? Got any idea yet?

WHY are NBC, MSNBC, CBS, CNN, PROMOTING Obama for President/Slamming the Clintons? Got any idea yet?

IF ELECTED, No matter what Obama might WANT to do .... does he have any chance of doing anything other than what the Corporations & the Corporate-controlled media who put him in the White House .... Want him to do?

Obama repeatedly says ..... that his campaign has been financed by .... we the little people ...... says .... he doesn't take a dime from federal lobbyists (Registered with the Federal goverment) but that's just lawyer legal-technicality-speak ..... because .... he does take money from REGISTERED Federal Lobbyist's wives, husbands, aunts, cousins, law partners, state lobbyists, not registered lobbyists, and all the same Big$$$ sources as Clinton.

Has the TV media ever Called Obama on his deceptive practice of fooling voters into believing he is fiananced by no one but the little people? No.
Has the TV media ever Reported the FACTS .... that his money comes from the same lobbys & Big$$ corporations as every other candidate? No.

That information is easily found on the internet. I know about it - don't the TV media people know about it? Sure, but they sure aren't telling you ... the little people. WHY?

WHY isn't the TV media telling you there's a real good chance Obama's chances of getting elected will go down the tubes ..... after Antoin Rezko of Chicago (aka Tony the Fixer) goes on trial February 25th - prosecuted by Patrick Fitzgerald on bribery, extortion, and money laundering charges?

Rezko's low-income property financing (federal loans) was handled by the 12-person law firm Obama worked for; Rezko was an Obama fund raiser since Obama's earliest days in politics; he was a member of Obama's campaign finance committee when Obama ran for U.S. Senate; some of the ....allegedly.... extorted money went into Obama's campaign coffers.


Heard about ANY of this On the TV "news"? No? Who's the REAL Reporter .... the TV Talking heads ..... or me?

I'm leaning that way, too...When she did the SOTU rebuttal, I knew they were trying to put her in the national spotlight...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

First, welcome to Political Wrinkles elme13!...

There seems to be a extended honeymoon period for Barack, and it's twofold...

On one part, they've seen the polls where McCain can beat Clinton in the generals, and the last thing they want is a president with an (R) behind their name, so they naturally will progress towards Obama...

Also, the honeymoon period is extended because they hate Bush so bad that ANYONE, in their collective minds, would be considered a "savior" to the country...so the last thing they want to do is criticize...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Again,cnredd has taken the words right out of my mouth. It's about "winning", a crucial aspect of partisanship on "both" sides of the aisle.I see the same thing with McCain's candidacy,many conservatives don't like him much but they will support him if they think he has the best chance of winning! The same is true of Obama,he gets a free pass by partisans who believe he has a better chance of beating McCain than Hillary does.

Political philosophy and yes,even integrity fall by the wayside when one believes their candidate has a better chance of actually winning the race.It's a shame but it's who we have become.

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins