Setting aside weeks of racially tinged acrimony, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sparred politely Thursday in their first one-on-one debate.
“I was friends with Hillary Clinton before we started this campaign,” Obama said at the debate in Los Angeles’ Kodak Theater, home to the Academy Awards. “I will be friends with Hillary Clinton after this campaign is over.”
It was an attempt to end a small but stubborn controversy over whether Obama refused to shake Clinton’s hand at President Bush’s State of the Union address Monday. Obama was also trying to position himself above the ongoing feud between himself and Clinton, as well as her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Hillary Clinton reciprocated by allowing for the possibility she will be beaten by Obama.
“I, as a Democrat, fervently hope you are looking at that next president,” she told the raucous audience, which included actors Rob Reiner, Diane Keaton and Jason Alexander. “Either Barack or I will raise our hand and swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States.”
The two Democrats, whose previous spats risked splitting their party, spent the first 40 minutes of Thursday’s debate splitting hairs in a wonkish discussion of health care insurance. At one point, Obama reminded the audience that he opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, a veiled shot at Clinton, who initially supported the war. But in keeping with the relatively genteel tone of the debate, Clinton declined to return fire.
It was the first Democratic debate since John Edwards dropped out of the race on Wednesday.
The debate was held hours after the Obama campaign announced it had raised a whopping $32 million in January, the most money raised by any candidate in either party in a single month. Obama is already planning to use the money for TV ads in states that hold primaries after Super Tuesday, signaling he has no intention of getting out of the race after 22 states hold contests in just four days.
