Showdown between Obama and Hillary

Candidates will have to be very careful in tonight's Democratic Presidential Primary Debate. They will have to be careful not to appear as mudslingers, and school yard "he said/she said" choices. Obama has been doing well thus far but he needs to spend more time articulating policies that appeal to the electorate, which are mostly white in the U.S. He certainly has a huge black voter support as we saw in South Carolina, but it's interesting that his appeal is also high with the youngest voters, and least with the oldest generation. Younger voters seem to be more open to racial change at the top. His battle is still uphill, and if he avoids bitterness with Hillary, and instead gives people new/positive ideas to focus on, then his chances will increase. As well, in addition to the Kennedy endorsements, he received two days ago, other prominent people may endorse him, and hence, make his electability even greater.

Hillary may want to consider how she can steal more of the youth votes away. She has more appeal to whites than blacks, and women. She also has to be careful not to make allegations about Obama that are really misleading. Bill Clinton had done so last week about Obama. The immediate sound bite effect a negative messgage has, may have resonated with Hillary's potential supporters, but later, when political analysts dissected his message, it reflected negatively on the Clintons.

Tonight's debate begins at 9:30 Newfoundland time, and is on CNN. It's the last debate before what's been called in American politics as Super Tuesday. (Super Tuesday is February 5. 24 states will hold primaries or caucuses on this date, with 52 percent of all pledged Democratic Party delegates and 41 percent of the total Republican Party delegates at stake. Wikipedia) There will either be a first African-American or woman Democratic candidate for the presidential race in November. This is history in the making. If Obama wins the Democratic nomination, and becomes President, maybe he can really unite the party by introducing Vice-President Clinton.