The debate in Myrtle Beach, SC, broke records as over 5 million Americans tuned in for a good old-fashioned mudslinging contest. But unlike the GOP candidates, there really is very little difference between the positions of Clinton, Obama and Edwards on the important issues. All want a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq, all support immigration reform and only minor differences exist between their healthcare plans. So the debate (which you can see at cnn.com) got personal.

For months, this has been seen as an election for the Democrats to lose, but they do seem to have made a habit of losing leads in the run-up to Presidential elections. If Clinton wins will the African-American population with whom she polled so poorly in Nevada still turn out and vote for her in such high numbers? If Obama wins will he be able to capture the white and Hispanic vote or dominate the female vote like Clinton? Perhaps more importantly, could he get Bill Clinton to campaign for him? Alienating chunks of their own party is something neither frontrunner can afford, especially if running against a popular candidate like John McCain, with his appeal to moderates and independents. The personal attacks must stop or much of the time and money that should be spent on capturing moderates for November may instead have to be spent recapturing the base.

Filed under: Uncategorized, barackobama, election2008, hillaryclinton, jameschettle, uspolitics on January 23rd, 2008