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Texas Hold 'Em: Clinton, Obama Debate in Austin
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 22, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 22, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Senators and rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama met at the University of Texas in Austin tonight for the CNN/Univision debate. The debate was less a showdown than an "agree to disagree" type affair. You can read a transcript here and clips will start to appear, but, per Austinist, here are some of best lines of the night:
“I have to confess, I was somewhat amused, the other night, when, on one of the TV shows, one of Senator Obama's supporters was asked to name one accomplishment of Senator Obama, and he couldn't.” -- Clinton
“Senator Clinton of late has said: Let's get real. The implication is that the people who've been voting for me or involved in my campaign are somehow delusional. (Laughter) And that, you know, the 20 million people who've been paying attention to 19 debates and the editorial boards all across the country at newspapers who have given me endorsements, including every major newspaper here in the state of Texas.” -- Obama
“We need to end George Bush's war on science.” -- Clinton
“I do not want two classes of citizens in this country.” -- Obama
Clinton attacked Obama's "plagiarism," saying, "Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox," but Obama's response was "The notion that I had plagiarized from somebody who was one of my national co-chairs who gave me the line and suggested that I use it, I think, is silly, and, you know, this is where we start getting into silly season, in politics, and I think people start getting discouraged about it.”
As for who won, it could be argued Obama won because Clinton failed to knock him out. In closing, Clinton's remarks, as Newsweek's Richard Wolffe put it, "seemed to acknowledge her opponent's strengths and the possibility that she might not win." Of course, her campaign felt it was a strong finish (it did include her pretty great response about being tested and her saying she's "honored" to be in campaign against Obama), what with the standing ovation and all and put the video online:
Politico's Ben Smith noted that Clinton's closing lines seemed familiar but her campaign says "whatever happens, we're going to be fine" is common.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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