Hanover became the center of the political universe Wednesday night as the 2008 Democratic presidential candidates sparred in an eight-way bout that left no single candidate particularly bruised and bloodied and the captive audience mildly amused and, unfortunately, underwhelmed.
Entering the nationally-televised verbal jousting match, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama -- literally front and center on the Spaulding Auditorium stage -- had to make aggressive moves to whittle down New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's ever-expanding lead in both national and, more significantly, early primary state polls. However, the junior senator from the Prairie State failed to strongly stand out among the crowd and slow the Clinton steamroller. As the clear and consistent frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, Clinton carried the night simply by not losing.
Though the first debate of the autumn in the all-important primary state of New Hampshire, and with voters just now starting to tune in to the protracted presidential horserace, in the end, the much-anticipated political match-up turned out to be an all-too-tame Q&A session.
The leading heavyweight in political journalism, Tim Russert of NBC's Meet the Press, opened the night by prodding candidates on the continuing American quagmire in the heart of the Middle East. Kicking off a recurring theme, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards took the fiercest jabs at Clinton and her promise to maintain residual U.S. forces in Iraq to fight terrorism even up until the conclusion of the first term of the next president in 2013: "To me, that's a continuation of the war. I do not think we should continue combat missions in Iraq."
The policy positions that Obama and Clinton presented for Iraq were much more in line with each other than with Edwards's call to remove all American forces from Iraq, regardless of the situation on the ground come 2013. The fact that Obama shares significant policy similarities with the frontrunner on the greatest issue of the day frustrates his efforts to catch her.
To his credit, the purported African-American modern-day Jack Kennedy offered a much subtler critique of the junior senator from New York and her poor judgment as he consistently reminded voters of his 2002 "Profiles in Courage" opposition to the invasion of Iraq.
Apart from Edwards, the most vicious attack dog breathing down Clinton's neck was Russert himself, exemplifying his penchant for sharp questions that leave no wiggle room for squirming presidential aspirants. Russert targeted Clinton on her judgment -- a common Obama attack line -- in light of her failure to compromise in order to pass her sweeping 1993 healthcare reform program and her 2002 authorization of the war in Mesopotamia. With his no-nonsense line of questioning, Russert opened several windows of opportunity that left Clinton vulnerable to a jab from Obama.
Unfortunately, Obama let those fleeting chances pass.
Herein lies the Achilles heel of the Obama campaign. Carrying the appealing message of the "politics of hope" that catapulted him to political rock stardom, the junior senator from Illinois must throw a monkey wrench into the well-oiled Clinton machine, while at the same time remain above the fray of Beltway politics-as-usual. He has yet to find an effective Third Way to negotiate this paradox.
While eyes were on the potential Clinton versus Obama scuffle that never materialized, the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the field -- the minor and often nonsensical characters Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Alaskan Sen. Mike Gravel -- provided the most entertaining moments of the night. Playing to the collegiate crowd, Gravel received much applause for stressing that "anyone able to fight and die should be able to drink" while Kucinich, addressing a potential federal smoking ban, quipped against the clouds of secondhand smoke emanating from the talking heads on the Spaulding stage.
Amid intermittent instances of levity and laughter, at the end of the night, Clinton solidified her victorious performance as she successfully navigated one of Russert's premeditated traps. She unknowingly contradicted her husband, the 42nd chief executive, over the American use of torture against high-level terrorist operatives in the oft-cited "ticking time bomb scenario." Realizing this potential gaffe, the frontrunner bluntly declared, with the same commanding presence and political maturity she exuded in the previous presidential forums, "He is not standing here right now."
If Clinton maintains her 23-point lead over Obama in the Granite State, according to a brand new CNN/WMUR survey, and nudges out Edwards and Obama in the tight three-way race for the Iowa caucuses, Bill Clinton can count on standing in Denver next August, as his wife accepts the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
Yet even after the news trucks and campaign staffers bolt town after the Wednesday night debate, and uncertainty still looms over the next several months of the primary season, one thing does remain certain: The road to the White House still runs right through Hanover.
