Status Quo Debate a Victory for Obama

[MadBadger]

JOHNSTON, IA - There must be something in the water. Or maybe it's just in the moderator's water. But today's Democratic debate in Iowa was another snoozer, providing little by way of either substance or fireworks.

As with yesterday's debate, the frontrunner in Iowa, Barack Obama, emerged from the final debate without suffering so much as a scratch. Clinton took one not-so-veiled shot at Obama in her "free statement," saying that some people "hope for change" while she would work hard for it, but that was as close as anyone came to laying a glove Obama.

Clinton had her moments this afternoon; a humanizing, optimistic answer on energy independence; and asking the moderator if she wanted a show of hands on global warming - a clever play off of Fred Thompson's refusal to do so at yesterday's debate.

But those good moments were offset by the bad: a clunky reference to the "Lugar-Lautenberg bill" that brought back memories of Al Gore's "Dingle-Norwood" moment from 2000; telling Iowa voters that their Senator was "working like a Trojan" to pass agriculture reform; and an arresting off screen cackle at the mention of Obama's reliance on former Clinton administration officials for foreign policy advice that raised the unfortunate specter of the Dean scream in 2004.

As for John Edwards, his incessant warning that "corporate power and greed have literally taken over the government" came off as hollow. If Iowa voters haven't bought into Edwards' message by now, it's unlikely they'll be moved by what they saw today.

Overall, the takeaway from today's debate is that the status quo reigned, and as a result Barack Obama solidified his position as the leader of the field heading into the final three week stretch.

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/12/the_demzzzzz.html