California Democratic Debate Unites Democratic Party

In the most important debate of the Democratic Presidential Primary, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in the California Debate. When John Edwards dropped out of the race on the 30^th of January, it set up a show down. For the first time, the top two candidates were the only two facing off on stage. This was an opportunity for Hillary to try and disrupt the momentum that Barack has gained. This was also an opportunity for Barack to try and gain even more momentum going into Super Tuesday. How did it all go down? All quotes and numbers were found through the host of the debate, CNN.

Damage Control

It was obvious during the South Carolina debates that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were in a tough fight. They occasionally threw barbs at each other during the debate, and it was obvious that Bill Clinton's constant attacks on Obama had caused a rift between the two campaigns.

During this debate, Barack opened up by saying that he was friends with Hillary before the race, and will continue to be afterward. Hillary later said that what was important to note was that her and Barack were incredibly similar in comparison to the Republican Party. Both candidates, in the opening, mentioned how similar they could be, and how they both had similar wishes and issues. It was obvious that the two candidates were trying to patch up and unite under the Democratic Party once again.

Differences

What both candidates realized in this debate is that there are two ways to debate and differentiate yourself from another candidate; you can throw barbs, and look like a dirty politician, or you can politely describe your differences. The Clinton and Obama finally got it right this time, politely describing their differences while noting that they still respect at each other. "It is true we've got a policy difference," Obama mentioned when talking about health care, showing that they were indeed going to point out differences between each other.

Democrats vs. Republicans

The major tone of this debate was found in the fact that many questions were aimed at the differences between Democrats and Republics, and the two candidates picked up on that. Obama and Clinton both drew distinctions between each other, but they also focused on the differences between parties. When asked about how Republican's paint Democrats as a "tax and spend" type of government, Obama replied: "Well, first of all, I don't think the Republicans are going to be in a real strong position to argue fiscal responsibility, when they have added $4 trillion or $5 trillion worth of national debt. I am happy to have that argument". All of the barbs in this debate were sent to the Republicans.

So who actually won this debate? In all honesty, it seems that the Democratic Party in general won. Not only did the candidates draw distinctions between the two political parties, but they patched things up between themselves to help unite the Democratic Party when the time comes for them to go up against the Republicans. There wasn't a clear winner in this debate, and as CNN's Bill Schneider reported, "if you're trying to use this forum to decide which candidate to support, you might come away more uncertain than ever".