Well, you know… Personal for polite politics. Really, it could be much much worse. But this is what counts as personal attacks I suppose.
Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton took their hard-fought battle for the Democratic presidential nomination down to a deeply personal level in a nationally televised debate last night, questioning each other’s honesty, appeal to working-class voters, and electability in November.
Clinton, seeking momentum in the dwindling weeks of the primary campaign, accused Obama of associating with controversial figures, including his own former preacher. Though she called Obama a “good man” and said, after some prodding, that he could win the White House, Clinton said he would have many liabilities in the fall campaign.
“They’re going to be out there in full force,” Clinton said of the Republicans. “I’ve been in this arena for a long time. I have a lot of baggage and everybody has rummaged through it for years.”
Obama accused Clinton of running a negative campaign, pointing to her attacks last night as further evidence. Obama said Clinton herself could not pass the electability test she was imposing on him. “By Senator Clinton’s own vetting standards, I don’t think she would make it,” he said.
While Clinton criticized Obama for his acquaintance with Bill Ayers, a former leader of the Weather Underground, a violent 1960s radical group, Obama noted that her husband, former president Bill Clinton, had pardoned two members of the same group. With Clinton’s own political baggage, Obama said, “There is no doubt that the Republicans would attack either of us.”
The first 45 minutes of the nearly two-hour debate - broadcast by ABC from Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center - were devoted solely to politics and electability.
Of course, after such bitter fighting words *rolls eyes* the two both began to speak of the need for party unity. Whoo hoo.
After all this mindless squabble, the two finally opened up to debate about… *gasp* …issues!
In the second half of the debate, the two candidates delved into foreign and domestic policy, again airing their differences over whether to meet unconditionally with leaders of rogue countries - he would, she wouldn’t - and on their plans to shore up Social Security. Obama has said he would consider raising the cap on income that is taxed for Social Security, while Clinton has refused to commit to a method for keeping the program solvent.
Both insisted they would fulfill their pledge to withdraw combat troops from Iraq regardless of the situation on the ground, and both said they would cut taxes for middle-class Americans. And neither would be pinned down on whether they supported the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns, which is under review by the Supreme Court.
Obama, responding to moderator Charles Gibson of ABC, said, “Well, Charlie, I confess I obviously haven’t listened to the briefs and looked at all the evidence.”
Asked the same question, Clinton replied, “I don’t know the facts.”
There’s just a top notch note to end on.
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It was a long yesterday… Thanks for the compliment — I... 
I dig your blog, btw.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:25 am
Look!! It’s a bird! It’s a plane!! oh.. nevermind.. It’s just pigs flying.