Silly season

Despite a strong finish, Hillary Clinton didn't knock down Barack Obama last night in the Texas throw down. She didn't go as negative as I had anticipated, and when she did, she stumbled. The worst line of the night occurred when sparring over the plagiarism charge. Her first response was mildly effective, ending with the line "actions speak louder than words." Barack's rebuttal was better.

Well, look, the -- first of all, it's not a lot of speeches. There are two lines in speeches that I've been giving over the last couple of weeks. I've been campaigning now for the last two years. Deval is a national co-chairman of my campaign and suggested an argument that I share, that words are important, words matter, and the implication that they don't, I think, diminishes how important it is to speak to the American people directly about making America as good as its promise. And Barbara Jordan understood this as well as anybody.

Now, the notion that I had plagiarized from somebody who's one of my national co-chairs -- (laughter) -- who gave me the line and suggested that I use it, I think is silly. (Cheers, applause.)

And -- you know, but -- but -- but this is where we start getting into silly season in politics, and I think people start getting discouraged about it. (Cheers, applause.) They don't want -- what they want is, how are we going to create good jobs at good wages? How are we going to provide health care to the American people? How are we going to make sure that college is affordable?

So what I have been talking about in these speeches -- and I got to admit, some of them are pretty good -- (laughter, cheers, applause) -- what I've been talking about is not just hope and not just inspiration; it's a $4,000 tuition credit for every student every year -- (cheers, applause) -- in exchange for national service so that college becomes more affordable. I've been talking about making sure that we change our tax code so that working families actually get relief. I have been talking about making sure that we bring an end to this war in Iraq so that we can start bringing our troops home and invest money here in the United States. (Applause.)

And so just to finish up, these are very specific, concrete, detailed proposals, many of them which I've been working on for years now. Senator Clinton has a fine record.

So do I. And I'm happy to have a debate on the issues, but what we shouldn't be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up. (Cheers, applause.)

That should have laid the issue to rest, but Clinton couldn't help herself.

Well, I think that if your candidacy is going to be about words, then they should be your own words. That's, I think, a very simple proposition. (Applause.) And you know -- you know, lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in; it's change you can Xerox.

Oi! The line garnered boos in the audience. It was also tone deaf. Xerox? Who the fuck says xerox anymore? Do most people under 40 even know what it means to xerox? The line has the additional liability of being memorable. For all its hokeyness, it is catchy. It will circulate through the press today. It will be the takeaway line that every potty mouthed blogger and vomitous pundit will discuss ceaselessly, until the next distraction is dispensed from archangel drudge and his minions of noisemakers. And people all across America will cringe. You could tell when she said it that she wanted to take it back. Poor calculation on her part. Let's face it; she's not very good at going negative. It doesn't make her look good. It drags her down more than it hurts him.

The ultimate irony, though, came at the end of the debate, arguably Clinton's grandest moment. In response to a question about how you responded to crisis in your life, Clinton (who answered second and had time to formulate a good answer) made a graceful allusion to BlowJobGate:

Well, I think everybody here knows I have lived through some crises and some challenging -- (laughter) -- moments in my life, and -- (interrupted by cheers, applause).

And I am grateful for the support and the prayers of countless Americans. But people often ask me, how do you do it, you know, how do you keep going, and I just have to shake my head in wonderment because with all of the challenges that I've had, they are nothing compared to what I see happening in the lives of Americans every single day.

She's at her best when she turns the charm on. She was also dialing up a New Hampshire moment. You could FEEL the tears being summoned on cue:

You know, a few months ago I was honored to be asked, along with Senator McCain, as the only two elected officials to speak at the opening of the Intrepid Center at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio, a center designed to take care of and provide rehabilitation for our brave young men and women who have been injured in war. And I remember sitting up there and watching them come in: those who could walk were walking; those who had lost limbs were trying with great courage to get themselves in without the help of others; some were in wheelchairs and some were on gurneys. And the speaker representing these wounded warriors had had most of his face disfigured by the results of fire from a roadside bomb.

You know, the hits I've taken in life are nothing compared to what goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country. And I resolved at a very young age that I'd been blessed, and that I was called by my faith and by my upbringing to do what I could to give others the same opportunities and blessings that I took for granted. That's what gets me up in the morning. That's what motivates me in this campaign. (Cheers, applause.) And -- and you know, no matter what happens in this contest -- and I am honored. I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored. (Cheers, applause.)

It was her finest riff in the debate, and the gesture towards Obama, reaching out to shake his hand, felt true, and you felt that something bigger than a conjured emotional moment was happening. It almost felt like a recognition that she knows that the good ship Billary is taking on water, that she's being outshone by a better candidate, and that maybe, just maybe she'll stand down with grace. Barack Obama held his own. He didn't flub, he looked presidential, he had a command of the issues. At times, yes, he looked disinterested, plodding through certain answers, being extra concerned about getting the words right instead of pitching rhetorical zingers. It was a smart calculation on his part: don't fuck up. He didn't. Clinton seemed to recognize this. Her final remarks had, to my ears, extra significance:

SEN. CLINTON: And you know, whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to say the same thing about the American people, and that's what this election should be about. Thanks. (Cheers, applause.)

The subtext of these lines trumped their political significance (a well wrought rehash of her Granite state meltdown); what they said was this: if I lose, I'll bow out gracefully. The telepathic message might also have been, please consider me as your next vice president.

Here's what made the finish ironic, though. It wasn't quite her own words:



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