Saturday Night Live has a strong record of lampooning of presidential election debates, but Hillary Clinton's use of SNL to score political points in a debate may be a first.
In what the Washington Post referred to as Clinton's "postmodern touch" she took the opportunity in the Ohio debate to scold the media for their favorable treatment of Barack Obama, offering: "Maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable or needs another pillow."
The injection of SNL into the debate discourse may have opened Pandora's Box; the use of "satire-as-evidence" in a formal debate is likely to spiral in unanticipated ways. David Bauder's AP article--"SNL Writer Surprised By Clinton Remark, Ordered To Write More"--makes clear, that this "pillow talk" is far from over.
The weather forecast for Cleveland tonight is another brutal winter day with eight inches of snow. Many predictions for the debate from Cleveland State University at 9-10:30 on MSNBC (ET) hint that the encounter will be equally nasty.
On the trail over the weekend Hillary Clinton threw down the gauntlet with the line "Meet me in Ohio and let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign." [earlier blog entry on challenge]
Certainly there is much to debate given the "issues" dominating the contest since a Texas debate last Tuesday: Mailers, costumes, celestial intervention, utopia vs. "get real,' commander-in-chief, Union & 527 advertising. If the debate devolves into a debate of "tactics" it would indeed provide fireworks. The press would love that debate but it is unlikely, not serving either candidate's purpose.
Also unlikely is a repeat of the Texas love-fest with negligible policy distinction. Smooth sailing does little to recast the choice, suggesting the Clinton campaign cannot afford mixed story-lines of attack and cooperation. The latter will undoubtedly be Obama's motif, only leaving Clinton to continue the assault if the race is to be impacted.
I was wrong; the Texas conciliatory debate did not signal, as I wrote, a reduction in negativity by the Clinton Campaign. Attacks on Obama have notched up and are directly signally the tone and content for the MSNBC debate to be held Tuesday in Ohio.
At a campaign event today Hillary Clinton challenged Obama mailers in a strident tone:
"Meet me in Ohio, and let's have a debate about your tactics."
She compared"Obama to President Bush during the rally, suggesting the country had already taken a gamble on an inexperienced candidate who promised change."
The democratic reunion, alluded to in the Texas debate closing statement, seemed out the window. Clinton's closing statement received more positive press than she has enjoyed in weeks, but is at odds with her retort to reporters following an Ohio stop.
Below the fold, Video of full Clinton Statement , analysis of the ongoing "Mailer" debate, Video Obama response, and Video bloggers respond.
Debates can change the dynamic of an election, but they can just as easily solidify the narratives controlling a contest. Tonight's CNN/Univision Debate at the LBJ Library in Austin likely did the latter.
I believe three things happened that convince me the debate will better serve Obama's purpose than a Clinton shakeup.
1. Clinton's finest moment of all nineteen debates was, in the end, a concession.
2. Obama's narratives were sustained, even advanced.
3. The ability for Hillary to go negative after the debate was functionally forfeited.
Each point is found in statements directly from the debate.
I. Clinton's Closing.
Hillary's closing statement was perhaps her best moment in the campaign. For a rare moment ambitions, history, and wonkish manner were traded for what felt authentic, moving, grounded. She showed humanity, a genuine rationale for "hanging in there," and invited the affect that delivered New Hampshire. Of course closing statements alone cannot sustain 24/7 news needs for long, assuring other interchanges will soon dominate.
CNN, Univision Communications Inc. and the Texas Democratic Party in conjunction with the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation will host a Democratic presidential primary debate on Thursday, Feb. 21. The program will air live from the LBJ Auditorium at the University of Texas in Austin on CNN and on CNN International from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (ET). CNN’s Campbell Brown will moderate with their John King and Univision’s Jorge Ramos helping ask the questions.
The CNN press release touts their hosting, oh, and incidentally it may have something to do with the election.
It is the ninth presidential primary debate sponsored by CNN this cycle. CNN's debates in 2007 and 2008 have been among the most-watched in cable news history.
There is surprisingly little news about the debate in media outlets. Even CNNPolitics.com is muted in the hype (often promoted on air, however). There may be reasons including other political news crowding out the debate and the debate "belongs" to CNN so don't promote competitors.
Needing to win the "Big States" Hillary Clinton has taken to the local TV airwaves for interviews. A key satellite interview today was with Cleveland's Northern Ohio station WKYZ. The projected debate to be held Feb. 26 at Cleveland State University is a home event. In the very story reporting her not agreeing to debate the station is promoting tickets for the event.
One has to view the video to feel the awkward denial of the very debate she had insisted take place. The moderator asked several times in several ways if she would accept the CSU debate. Clinton danced. Tom Beres, who conducted the interview, expressed disenchantment in tone and words, saying,
"Hopefully it will be happily settled, there are a awful lot of people in Northeast Ohio, the greater Cleveland areas, the Democratic party who will be very disappointed."
The last two standing, Clinton and Obama, face off tonight, CNN 8:00 pm (EST), at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Calif., home of the Academy Awards. Highland and Hollywood, the Kodak's address, is close in proximity to Simi Valley's Reagan Library, but worlds away. The GOP debate held last night and Democratic debate tonight will be back-to-back on the schedule but may be light years away in character.
"Spoiling for a fight" may best describe what the media is looking for in, arguably, the long primary season's most important debate. However, overt confrontation would be a disservice for both candidates. Momentum, feeding or stemming, seems more important than sanctioning more news cycles of "petty sparing."
The Clinton camp has reason to nip speculation of defensiveness or worry; the Obama camp risks conceding the high ground that underwrites his very rationale.
Other media outlets are also previewing tonight's debate.
Early in the primary debate process the candidates often followed up debates with spin on their web sites. Among the more interesting efforts was Dodd's "Talk Clock," which logged disparities in speaking time awarded "first" and "second-tier" candidates.
The most infamous was Clinton's "The Politics of Pile On" posted (and soon pulled) after the Drexel University debate, and the subsequent appearances from the debate on other candidate web pages and even a McCain TV spot. (Link to earlier blog with video)
It could just be that there is too much happening to merit attention, but even after the contentious, up-for-grabs, encounter in SC Jan 21, the candidate web page are essentially silent. Perhaps they did not want to repeat the additional controversy web-spin created after Philadelphia. Perhaps web spin is not an efficient way to influence media or public.
I have checked the web sites of the three principal participants looking for post debate spin. Here are the results.
The top three Democratic presidential candidates face off in a Monday night debate in South Carolina. Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina share the stage at Myrtle Beach's Palace Theatre in a showdown as the nation honors the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with a federal holiday.
The debate, put together by CNN and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, comes five days before the Democratic primary in South Carolina.
The story of the night will likely be that Hillary was exhausted and angry, very angry after Edward's sided up to Obama to brand her as the tired status quo As she got angrier the more dog-tired she looked; all 35 years of experience showed.
In some ways, if this becomes the characterization of the 24/7's "news" channels it is somewhat unfair. After WMUR's Spradling asked why she thought NH voters liked Obama more than herself, she revived, got a second wind and held her own the balance of the debate. But will it matter?
I had some time on my hands and I TIVOed the democratic debates. Its amazing how much more you can catch using the pause and slow motion buttons. Watching a debate on TIVO might be more fun then watching sports, I love the instant replay. Here are some insights I had on those wacky democrats.
