Hillary Clinton last night tried to halt Barack Obama's gathering momentum in
the Democratic presidential race with a series of sharp attacks in which she
accused him of "raising false hopes in our country about what can be
delivered".
The televised debate represented her sole opportunity to go head-to-head with
Mr Obama before Tuesday's New Hampshire primary election – where she cannot
afford Mr Obama to score a second decisive victory following his triumph in
Iowa's caucuses last week.
Mrs Clinton repeatedly sought to draw a distinction between her experience and
Mr Obama's promise of change, saying she had a "long record" of turning talk
into reality. "Words are not actions" she said, no matter how "beautifully
presented and passionately felt as they are".
Mr Obama, who according to New Hampshire polls yesterday has drawn level with
the long-standing Democratic frontrunner, responded by saying: “Words do
inspire. Don’t discount that power.”
After being criticised over his health policy – and then effectively accused
of hypocrisy on his position towards lobbyists – he gently chided Mrs
Clinton for distorting his record. "What I think the people of America are
looking for are folks who are going to be straight about the issues, and are
going to be interested in solving problems and bringing people together."
Mrs Clinton was asked to explain why voters found her less likable than Mr
Obama, a key factor in her third-place finish in Iowa where she picked
relatively few second choice votes. “Well, that hurts my feelings - I’ll try
to go on,” she said, in a rare public display of humour. “He’s very likable,
I agree with that. But I don’t think I’m that bad.”
When Mr Obama responded that she was “likable enough,” Mrs Clinton gave him a
frosty, "I appreciate that", before comparing his candidacy to that of
George Bush eight years ago.
“In 2000, we unfortunately ended up with a president who people said they
wanted to have a beer with, who said he wanted to be a uniter not a divider
— who said that he had his intuition and, you know, really come into the
White House and transform the country,” she said. “And you know, at least I
think there are the majority of Americans who think that was not the right
choice.”
The Clinton campaign is running scared of Mr Obama, whose soaring rhetoric,
relative youth and African heritage has come to symbolise a sense of hope
among many Democratic voters. Last night she said: “It’s not about a speech
you make. It is about working hard - we don’t need to be raising the false
hopes of our country about what can be delivered.”
At one stage in the debate she attempted to enlist John Edwards, who finished
narrowly ahead of her in Iowa, as an ally – saying he had been attacked
unfairly by Mr Obama.
But Mr Edwards provided no comfort, dramatically throwing such overtures back
in her face. "Any time you speak out powerfully for change, the forces of
status quo attack," he said, waving an arm in Mrs Clinton's direction. “He
believes deeply in change, and I believe deeply in change. And any time
you’re fighting for that – I mean – I didn’t hear these kinds of attacks
from Senator Clinton when she was ahead.”
She later suggested that both Mr Edwards and Mr Obama were getting an easy
ride from a media which has often been hostile to her. Calling for a
"reality check" on her rivals' records, she said: "I think it's important
that all of us be held to the same standard - that we're all held
accountable."
One poll yesterday suggested Mr Obama had even closed the gap among women
voters. And perhaps with this in mind, Mrs Clinton – who is usually calm and
assured in debates – revealed a glimpse of anger last night. "I think I am
an agent of change," she shouted. "I embody change. I think having the first
woman president is a huge change, with consequences across the country and
the world."
The rise of Mr Obama in the Democratic contest even cast a shadow over an
earlier debate between the six leading Republican contenders last night,
when candidates were asked how they would take on his agenda of change in a
general election race.
Mitt Romney suggested that the party should heed a message from voters that
"Washington is broken." That prompted a scathing answer from John McCain
who, referring to claims that the former Massachusetts governor had
"flip-flopped" on key issues, said: "I agree that you are the candidate of
change."
Mr McCain, who has recently moved in New Hampshire polls, suggested he had
better experience than Mr Obama by virtue of his many years' service on
Capitol Hill. Mr Romney replied: "If you think you can make that argument
because you know the Senate cloakroom better than he does, you will have to
do better."
There is a growing personal animus towards Mr Romney among his Republican
rivals, all of whom complain they have been subject to advertising attacks
from him. Rudy Giuliani suggested Ronald Reagan, who is almost universally
loved by Republicans these days, would have been hit by "one of Mitt's
negative ads" for granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants in the
1980s.
And there were fresh clashes with Mike Huckabee, who beat the heavy-spending
ex-Massachusetts governor into second place at the Iowa caucuses. Discussing
an earlier row over foreign policy, Mr Romney accused Mr Huckabee of
misrepresenting his position. "Which one?" said the former Arkansas governor
with another contemptuous dig at alleged inconsistency.
Mr Romney did, however, have the consolation of capturing a majority of the
delegates elected at last night's
Wyoming Republican caucuses, a contest widely ignored by the candidates who
have concentrate their campaigns on the traditional "first in the nation"
states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
