Democrats duel in Pennsylvania

Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama met Wednesday night in Philadelphia for their next to last debate in the 2008 race for the White House.

There in the ‘City of Brotherly Love,’ Clinton and Obama behaved more like surly, sometimes silly, siblings. Clinton chided Obama for sticking by his controversial preacher, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and hob-nobbing with former radical Weather Underground activist William Ayers. She also repeated her charge that Obama was out of touch with ordinary Americans and elitist in his comments on bitter Americans clinging to God and guns to compensate for their distrust of government.

Obama countered with charges that Clinton’s honesty was a legitimate issue, given her flights of fantasy, most notably her tales from Tuzla about non-existent snipers.

The fixation of both candidates on each other’s foibles detracted from the dignity of the occasion. Moreover, it left less time for discussing what they actually stand for on issues important to most Americans.

As for their principal inquisitors, ABC anchor Charlie Gibson and ABC chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos, both asked relatively tough questions, but then let the candidates slip off the hook on their answers.

When the nationally televised debate finally turned to more substantive issues, like the war in Iraq and raising taxes, Sens. Clinton and Obama seemed intent on seeing who could out-pander whom. Both reiterated their aims to withdraw U.S. forces quickly from Iraq, regardless of conditions on the ground there.

Similarly, both candidates pledged ‘no new taxes,’ regardless of where the economy stands during their time in office. The problem with these absolutist assurances is they put the candidates in a box, where they can ill afford to be if either of them ascends to the White House. Indeed, the next president will face enormous foreign and domestic policy challenges. Each, in its own way, will require flexibility, not predetermined rigidity, for successful resolution.

For now, though, the question is who will win the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary this Tuesday? To Clinton’s chagrin, she has seen her once-solid lead apparently narrow down to single digits in recent weeks. She has to hope the polls are wrong, as they have often been before. She desperately needs a big win in Pennsylvania, where a total of 187 delegates (including super-delegates) are at stake.

Otherwise, her credibility as a viable candidate going into the nine remaining contests could be compromised.

For her part, Clinton has vowed to fight on right through the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Aug. 25-28 in Denver, Colo. This could be the triumph of hubris over humility on her part ‘ and it could divide the Democrats when they need unity most. Still, I do believe she has every right to stay in the race through June 3.

Let the people of Guam, Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Montana, and South Dakota have their say, too. The super-delegates need to hear their voices before they cast their own crucial votes.

Retired Army Col. Thomas B. Vaughn can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].