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| Originally Aired: February 1, 2008 |
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Democrats Face Off in California, While Nation Counts Down to Super Tuesday |
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| Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton chose to finish on a polite note in their debate last night, the final before February 5. Judy Woodruff reports on the state of the campaign trail leading up to Super Tuesday. |
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JIM LEHRER: Now, counting down to Super Tuesday. Judy Woodruff has our campaign update. JUDY WOODRUFF: When Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton took the stage last night in Hollywood, gone were the barbs of last week's debate. Both seemed bent on making nice and underscoring party unity. SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), Illinois: It is a testimony to the Democratic Party and it is a testimony to this country that we have the opportunity to make history, because I think one of us two will end up being the next president of the United States of America. SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), New York: I would emphasize that what really is important here, because the Republicans were in California debating yesterday, they are more of the same. Neither of us, just by looking at us, you can tell, we are not more of the same. We will change our country. JUDY WOODRUFF: Even so, in this first encounter with just the two of them, they highlighted where they differ on policies from health care and immigration to the war in Iraq. Clinton argued her foreign policy credentials make her best suited to take on the Republicans on the war. SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: It will be important, however, that our nominee be able to present both a reasoned argument against continuing our presence in Iraq and the necessary credentials and gravitas for commander-in-chief. That has to cross that threshold in the mind of every American voter. The Republicans will try to put either one of us into the same box, that if we oppose this president's Iraq policy, somehow we cannot fully represent the interests of the United States, be commander-in-chief. I reject that out of hand, and I actually welcome that debate with whomever they nominate. JUDY WOODRUFF: Obama countered that he had the judgment to oppose the war from the start and thus is in a better position to engage the Republicans on Iraq. SEN. BARACK OBAMA: The reason that this is important, again, is that Senator Clinton -- I think, fairly -- has claimed that she's got the experience on day one. And part of the argument that I'm making in this campaign is that it is important to be right on day one, and that the judgment that I've presented on this issue, and some other issues, is relevant to how we're going to make decisions in the future. You know, it's not a function just of looking backwards; it's a function of looking forwards. And how are we going to be making a series of decisions in a very dangerous world? |
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Measuring electability
JUDY WOODRUFF: By this morning, the two campaigns were in full combat again, trading charges over whose health care plan will take better care of Americans.Still in Los Angeles, where he'll tomorrow get the endorsement of the L.A. Times, Obama touted his electability over Clinton's. SEN. BARACK OBAMA: In terms of electability, I believe that I am attracting new voters and independent voters into the process in a way that Senator Clinton cannot do. I think that will be particularly important if Senator McCain is the nominee on the Republican side. We can't start off just with the same playing field and expect to win it. We've got to broaden the playing field; we've got to expand the electoral map. JUDY WOODRUFF: With only four days to go until Super Tuesday, when voters in two dozen state goes to the polls, candidates in both parties must rely on TV spots to help make their case. TV NARRATOR: With your job and family security in the balance, the stakes have never been higher in choosing our next president. The person you can depend on to fix the economy and protect our future. SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: I'm Hillary Clinton, and I approve this message. |
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Debating economic policy
JUDY WOODRUFF: Republicans John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee are also running TV spots, but on a smaller scale. Hitting the trail today in Missouri, McCain, who also will pick up the L.A. Times endorsement, talked about the economy.SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), Arizona: We have to pass this stimulus package, my friends. It wasn't written exactly as I would have written it. But the fact is that it does have some incentives to get some people back to work, and get our economy going, and get some investment in our economy. But I also think -- and it's very important, my friends -- that the tax cuts that we enacted a long time ago have to be made permanent. Otherwise, every family in America is going to experience an increase in taxes. JUDY WOODRUFF: Romney campaigned in Colorado, another February 5th state, where he picked up the endorsement of the Denver Post. FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R), Massachusetts: My friends, Senator McCain is a wonderful person, is a national hero, and I respect him. No, he's a person I respect greatly, and he has a number of things that are great strengths of his. But he happened to say that the economy was not his strong suit. Well, at a time like this, in a country like this, I think it's important to have a president for whom the economy is his strong suit. JUDY WOODRUFF: Huckabee, meanwhile, in Oklahoma City charged that Romney has repeatedly changed positions on issues dear to conservatives, while he has been the most consistent conservative in the race. |
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Democrats Face Off in California, While Nation Counts Down to Super Tuesday |
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