Democrats Face Off in Crucial Debate for Clinton

Democrats Face Off in Crucial Debate for Clinton

All Things Considered, February 26, 2008 · Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has lost 11 primaries in a row, and even her husband has said the New York senator's candidacy could be over if she loses in Texas and Ohio next week. That makes Tuesday night's debate between Clinton and her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, more important than ever.

NPR's national political correspondent, Mara Liasson, talks to Robert Siegel about what to expect from the debate in Cleveland. A transcript follows:

Siegel: In tonight's debate, it's a little hard for me to ask you what Sen. Clinton needs to do because she seems to have tried to do everything already. What do you expect to happen tonight?

Liasson: Well, I think it would be fair to expect that she will continue some of the many lines of attack that she's tried out against Sen. Obama on the campaign trail in recent days. She's said he's not ready to be commander in chief; that he's naive in his foreign policy; he's hypocritical in his campaign tactics.

But in the last debate, we expected some of those too, and she came off as very collegial, very reflective at the end. Some people thought it was almost a concession when she said: No matter what happens, I'll be fine. But I think one of the most important things she's tried to communicate to the voters and to her own supporters this week is that she is not giving up, she's still fighting, and I do expect we will see some of that fight tonight.
Hilary needs to win texas and ohio next week cause obama is kicking buttt