At final outing, a reluctance to sling mud
WASHINGTON - Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, who rose to the top of the Iowa caucus polls by preaching change and uplift, dialed himself down a bit yesterday in the last debate before the voting starts on Jan. 3.
Obama was thoughtful and presidential, offering wonky details on the "cap and trade" plan to fight carbon emissions, the potential savings to Medicare of bringing obesity back to 1980 levels, and how many US corporations register in the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes.
He also struck a judicious tone, warning that parents should play a role in education by turning off TVs and telling their children to "put down the video game"; he later attested to his colleague Joe Biden's commitment to civil rights after Biden got hit with a question about some insensitive statements about race.
Obama has never been a particularly vivid presence in the debates, but yesterday he was boring with a purpose: convincing voters he was no flash in the pan, no meteor headed for a crash landing. His sober, serious performance did him no harm.
His main rival, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, had a complementary agenda, seeking to add a little more inspiration and uplift to her campaign, which has been sagging in some polls.
She spoke about "reaching for the stars" again, in relating her girlhood excitement over the Apollo space program. She also called on her colleagues to raise their hands to show their concern about global warming - something some Republicans failed to do in their debate on Wednesday - and said: "We believe in it. We think it's a real problem."
In her personal statement, she tried to put her own spin on Obama's message of change.
"Everybody on this stage has an idea about how to get change," she said. "Some believe you get change by demanding it. Some believe you get it by hoping for it. I believe you get it by working hard for change."
It was a good line, highlighting what people respect about Clinton - her diligence - and underscoring her main critique of Obama, that he's naive. But her oblique reference to Obama's politics of hope and to former North Carolina senator John Edwards's more insistent message of change - the suggestion that he's "demanding it" - was about as negative as the debate got.
With voting starting in three weeks, candidates were reluctant to sling mud. At times, the debate was so positive that candidates praised each other for making good points and nodded in agreement as their rivals were talking. Five of the six on the stage had spent time in the Senate, where a hearty fellowship reigns even amid portentous debate, and there was a laughing sense of camaraderie throughout much of the hour-and-a-half discussion.
Unlike the Republican candidates, who clearly have little affection for each other, the Democrats seemed determined to maintain their mutual bonhomie.
A positive campaign at this moment serves multiple interests. For Obama, it keeps him in ascendancy. For Clinton, it helps her recover from petty controversies like her New Hampshire chairman Bill Shaheen's clumsy reference on Wednesday to Obama's long-ago experimentation with drugs. For Edwards, who has helped drag down Clinton with scathing criticisms, it was a chance to remind voters what they like about him - his passion.
"Ask Americans to be patriotic about something other than war," Edwards said at one point, promising to promote energy independence and a new seriousness about teaching.
Biden, fighting a cold, looked pale and was more muted than usual - but in a way that suited him. He and Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut both had fine moments. Dodd paid tribute to the public service ideals of his father, a former senator implicated in a campaign finance scandal, while Biden offered a strong testament to his lifelong belief in civil rights.
Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico was less effective. A strong campaigner in living rooms, he often has trouble distilling his positions in short-answer debates. He did get off a good line about his New Year's resolution to lose weight - the same one he has every year. His rivals laughed heartily.
On this day, at least, they put on their friendliest faces. 