Clinton Attacks, Obama Parries

Clinton criticized Obama for not taking up work in his subcommittee in the Senate. He chairs a committee on European affairs. NATO allies have faced harsh words from President Bush in recent days for not helping more in Afghanistan, which Obama believes needs more attention from the U.S. Obama said he's been campaigning and unable to convene a meeting. (The Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health, which Clinton chairs, met three times last year while she campaigned).

Furthermore, Clinton called attention to her past record on foreign affairs. While First Lady, she helped facilitate peace in Ireland and spoke out on behalf of human rights, in particular women's rights, in a famous speech in Beijing in 1995. This is in addition to her time spent in the Senate for seven years.

Several other moments in the debate stand out. In a moment of levity, Clinton pointed to a recent Saturday Night Live skit portraying the softball treatment the press is accused of giving Obama. She repeated a funny line from it: "Perhaps Obama needs another pillow." Obama responded with a good-natured smirk.

Russert tried to create some controversy when he noted that controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan had recently spoken in favor of Obama's candidacy. Obama responded that he can't control who endorses him, and he repeated his rejection of Farrakhan's anti-Semitic comments.

Clinton chimed in about a similar experience she faced in New York. She had been endorsed by the Independence Party, whose leaders have been accused of making anti-Semitic statements. Clinton publicly denounced the endorsement, and she said Obama should do the same. So he did denounce Farrakhan, escaping a possibly dangerous attack, but he did so with a grin about how this was parsing verbiage.

Clinton had a more passionate and aggressive performance in the debate. Despite her scoring points, she failed to knock a confident Obama off his game. Obama handled the attacks and kept his momentum going. Clinton now depends on the voters of Ohio and Texas to keep her candidacy going.