Clinton, Obama: Just the two of them in debate

Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will duel for Super Tuesday votes Thursday night as the Democratic presidential hopefuls face off for the first time together minus former Sen. John Edwards.

The debate -- sponsored by CNN, the Los Angeles Times and Politico -- starts at 8 p.m. ET Thursday on CNN and CNN.com. CNN's Wolf Blitzer is the moderator.

The event is the first Democratic debate since Obama's convincing victory Saturday in South Carolina. On Tuesday, Clinton won the Florida primary, a contest her campaign said helped the senator regain momentum even though it awarded no delegates.

The forum at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood comes hours after the Obama campaign revealed it had raised $32 million in January from roughly 170,000 new donors. That amount will allow Obama to expand his television ad buys greatly in the 20-plus states holding primaries or caucuses Tuesday.

The Clinton campaign would not indicate how much money it had raised in the same time period.
Edwards suspended his presidential run Wednesday in New Orleans, Louisiana, but he didn't endorse any candidate despite what aides described as a furious lobbying campaign by Obama and Clinton.

Thursday's debate may be slightly more restrained than last week's brutal showdown. Following her South Carolina loss, Clinton has largely steered clear of opportunities to take aim at Obama.
Former President Clinton also has avoided criticizing his wife's rival after dominating headlines with his attacks in the days before the South Carolina vote.

The economy is likely to dominate Thursday's debate, as both candidates look to appeal to supporters of Edwards and his brand of economic populism.

Clinton and Obama have split victories in their parties' early-voting states: Obama has won in Iowa and South Carolina and Clinton in Nevada, Michigan and Florida. But the Michigan and Florida contests awarded no delegates, and all major Democratic presidential candidates pledged to avoid campaigning in those states following national party penalties against them for moving up their contests so early.

Clinton was the only major candidate to appear on the Michigan ballot.
Obama is leading Clinton in the number of pledged delegates -- those awarded based on primary or caucus votes. Clinton has the edge when superdelegates are factored in. (Superdelegates are party leaders and elected officials who are not obligated to support a particular candidate. They can change their decisions at any time leading up to the Democratic National Convention in August.)

With solid fundraising numbers and a nod from Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts this week, Obama will be making the claim he holds the front-runner title. But Clinton -- who has led in national surveys for much of the race -- will be making her case as well.

Kennedy Endorsements Slap Hillary’s Already-Red Face

After Saturday’s two-to-one beating in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton suffered another blow today when the brother and daughter of her husband’s (still with me?) hero endorsed her opponent.

Teddy and Caroline Kennedy threw their support behind Barack Obama today at American University in DC.

It was not just an endorsement, it was a rebuke.
Ted Kennedy didn’t just back Barack Obama for president Monday.
Kennedy reprimanded Bill and Hillary Clinton and criticized the campaign they have been running.
“When so many others were silent or simply went along, from the beginning, he opposed the war in Iraq,” Kennedy said of Obama.
Kennedy then thundered: “And let no one deny that truth!”
No one like Bill Clinton, who recently dismissed Obama’s opposition to the war as “the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen.”

Senate Democrats mull expanded stimulus plan

Leaders will consider adding retirees to the tax rebate plan, and extending jobless benefits.
Retirees living off Social Security are frustrated that they won't get tax rebate checks through a bipartisan economic stimulus package that is before the House. Senate Democrats Friday began efforts to include them.
The Senate is also considering an extension of jobless benefits to the $150 billion package of rebates and business tax cuts in a deal that was wrapped up Thursday between House leaders and President Bush.
Bush urged Congress on Friday to quickly pass the package without any further spending. "I strongly believe it would be a mistake to delay or derail this bill," Bush said.
"I understand the desire to add provisions from both the right and the left," he said, adding that would be an error.
Senate Democrats are refusing to rubber stamp the House measure. That raises the possibility of protracted negotiations if Democrats are successful in giving retirees tax rebates, extending unemployment benefits, boosting heating subsidies for the poor, and temporarily increasing food stamp payments.
Those are all items floated by top Senate Democrats left out of the negotiations between the administration and House leaders.
They were all considered but tossed overboard in intense talks that produced a hard-won agreement among Bush, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner.

Mud was flung tonight! - The Dems in Myrtle Beach

Barack just called the Clintons liars. Both Bill and Hillary.
Hill strikes back, calls him a waffler, cites his “Republican ideas” remark.
Mud is flung. Barack just said Hill was a corporate lawyer for Wal-Mart when he (Obama) was out fighting for jobs.

Chaos ensues. One thing is clear. Wolf Blitzer is a lousy moderator. It’s only 8:28 and he’s already lost control!
Hill just pulled a Chicago slum landlord out of her bag. Says Barack repped him as a lawyer when she was out fighting for the little guy.

Johnny E reminds all that there are three people in the debate. He asks how “this kind of squabbling” will help anyone. He says it’s not about “us,” it’s about helping Americans.

“Lord knows, you have let them go on forever,” he declares when Blitzer tries to rein him in.

The audience loves it. Look for Edwards to surprise Saturday, with a good 20 to 29%. You heard it here first.

He says the subprime mortgage mess is more likely to affect African Americans. He’s talking about poverty in a state where there are more have-nots than haves.

Half of South Carolina’s Democratic voters are black. Edwards is not pandering to them. He is continuing a focus (on poverty and deprivation) that he’s had for years.

As Hillary and Barack throw mud balls at one another. Edwards stands in a clean suit. That could translate into votes on Saturday.

Hill attacks Obama for his voting record in Illinois, saying she just can’t get a straight answer out of him. She is booed. This has turned into a two-ring circus.

As Obama retorts, Hillary takes measured breaths, her hands folded, her half-smile pasted firmly. You just know she has another cherry bomb up her grey flannel sleeve. But Blitzer changes the topic to health care and things calm a bit.

Health care: Barack calls Hillary a liar again.

The stage changes so that the candidates sit in chairs next to one another instead of standing behind podia.

This is somewhat silly, CNN.

Best question, to Barack Obama: Do you think Bill Clinton was our first black president?

He did not answer yes or no. He played Dodge Bull (sic) very skillfully. He made humor: He’d have “to
investigate Bill’s dancing ability… before (he) could actually judge whether he is a brother.”

Great play.

Edwards says he thinks McCain will be the Republican nominee and that because he is free of special interest debt he can beat him “anywhere in America.”

MLK and the Presidential Race 2008...

The celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day has a particular poignancy this presidential election year. There's been a lot of talk about our wanting "to believe in America" again. Some of us are experiencing a cautious optimism that politics doesn't have to be business as usual. With citizens like Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker and Barack Obama, the African American struggle for justice and freedom has, at last, become what it always was, a universal story. The cry for universal freedom heard through the particular stories of oppressed peoples was made evident in the recent movie "The Great Debaters." The movie brilliantly expressed, through the particulars of a specific struggle, the truth that freedom and dignity are part of the birthright of all human beings. Are we finally getting it into our heads and hearts that when one human being is in chains we are all diminished?

read more...http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/21/EDFDUHURK.DTL