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Posted: November 14, 2007 5:35 PM
Clinton Losing Lead in Early-Decision States
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Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is looking to redeem herself in Thursday’s CNN-Nevada Democratic Party debate in Las Vegas, Nevada, which will hold an early caucus on Jan. 19. The event follows last months’ NBC Iowa debate in which Clinton was targeted by her opponents and moderators Brian Williams and Tim Russert.

“The party pace-setter goes into the televised clash hoping to swat away attacks from top rivals … after her uncharacteristic stumbles in the previous Democratic debate two weeks ago,” Agence France-Presse reported.

In another early-decision state, rivals Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., are catching up to Clinton, according to Iowa polls. The latest CBS/New York Times poll shows Clinton holding only a slight lead. ABC News credits the decline in Clinton’s lead to a controversy over questions at a Veterans Day town hall meeting.

“Grinell College sophomore Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff was instructed by a campaign staffer to ask Clinton a very specific question about global warming,” “ABC News”: reported.

Rival campaigns have used the incident to affirm that they don’t “rig public sessions like late-night infomercials,” the Los Angeles Times political blog read.

Another target of rival campaigns has been the legacy of Clinton’s presidential spouse. Bill Clinton, who has made strategic appearances in his wife’s campaign, provides opportunity for unprecedented comparison between the couple.

“In the past week, the Democratic nomination fight has become more of a referendum on the Clinton years and whether Bill Clinton brought the good life to middle-class Americans or squandered eight years in compromise and scandal,” the Boston Globe reported. “But Hillary Clinton is confident enough about the Clinton administration’s record to make it a central theme of her campaign, boasting of the balanced budget and the economic growth.”