Hillary Clinton Destroys Obama in Las Vegas Democratic Debate

Tuesday February 15- At the Las Vegas, Nevada Democratic Debate between Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards, Hillary Clinton emerged from the pack in her rare display of leadership and dominance during the debate. MSNBC hosted the debate with Brian Williams and Tim Russert moderating.

The debate was most significant for implications in the Nevada caucus. Current polls in Nevada (all we all know how accurate the polls are after the New Hampshire primary), show Barack Obama leading Hillary Clinton by 2%, with John Edwards right behind her. Most polls have the three candidates in a dead heat in Nevada. Also significant was Barack Obama's endorsement from the culinary union which is the largest union in Nevada and has several thousand voters.

The debate started out with the issue of race being brought up by the moderators. During the past four days, Obama and Hillary Clinton have traded verbal barbs against each other on the issue of race as both candidates bashed each other especially when the issue of Martin Luther King came up and the actions of President Lyndon Johnson. However, during the debate, Obama and Clinton made their truce with each other and refused to attack each other.

Perhaps the highlight of the debate was the part in which candidates were allowed to ask each other questions. The best question came from Hillary Clinton who asked Barack Obama if he would co-sponsor a bill with her in the Senate which would force President Bush to come to the Senate and have Congress pass legislation concerning future U.S. actions of troops and spending. The move came as a great tactical move which displayed Hillary Clinton's leadership.

Hillary Clinton also dominated the debate by taking the lead against President George Bush in attacking him on his trip to the Middle East, calling it "pathetic" and saying that President Bush has to beg Middle East countries to lower the cost of oil to the United States. Hillary Clinton also bashed Bush on the economy and the presence of an upcoming recession.

Topics during the debate included nuclear power with the Yuka waste storage in Nevada, climate change, education, the economy and the Iraq war.

Hillary Clinton seemed command during the debate and set the tone. Edwards was able to throw some punches against Hillary and Obama as he brought up the issue of drug company lobbyists giving money to both of their campaigns. Edwards also brought up the policy difference between Obama and Hillary in saying that he would leave no permanent troops and no military base in Iraq while the other two candidates refused to state whether all troops would be removed from the area.

When it came to nuclear waste, Hillary attacked Obama and Edwards' voting record in pointing out that they voted for the nuclear waste storage in the Yuka mountains in Nevada. Edwards stated that if he knew what he does know, he would not have voted for the legislation. Edwards did point out that he was the only candidate who stated that he would pledge not to build any more nuclear power plants because they are not safe. All of the candidates seemed to agree on the problems of climate change and America's dependence on foreign oil.

Dennis Kucinich had tried to be involved in the debate and had won a court decision against MSNBC in a district court in Nevada to be in the debate. However, about an hour or so before the debate start at 9pm, the Supreme Court in Nevada ruled that MSNBC had the right to remove Kucinich from the debate since he was no longer a major candidate.