Obama, Clinton play their parts to perfection
Civility replaces conflict and drama in the Democratic presidential candidate debate in Hollywood.
Forget Super Tuesday for the moment, my political couch potato friends. The delegate jackpot divvy will be here soon enough. In the meantime, there's something else to consider about Thursday's California Democratic presidential debate at the Kodak Theatre: The candidates' road show finally made it to Hollywood, providing the glitziest of venues for the two superstars to remind us that there's no business like show business.
No, it didn't turn out to be "the most historic debate of our generation," as it was touted by politicos before airtime. But after barnstorming through the provinces, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived at the entertainment capital like starlets yearning for multi-picture deals. And as determined as they are magnetic, they shared the stage not just in any one of the city's cavernous concert halls but at the permanent home of the Oscars.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer, mind you, is no Billy Crystal. (He'd be better as the guy who explains the academy's rules and procedures.) Still, the evening didn't disappoint. Although the squabbling was written out of the script, the drama was implicit: Who could be more convincing as the new star of the "West Wing" reality series?
Obama is the far better Method actor of the two. Which is to say there's less of a visible gap between the role he's playing and the self he has freely exposed since he became a marquee draw. He connects with crowds -- he rouses -- through his comfort in his own skin and story. His past is complicated, but from that complexity he's discovered the power of honest reckoning and straightforward emotion. He's a natural performer. Clinton you can imagine rehearsing her lines in front of the bathroom mirror.
Her advantage is that she knows her text inside out. She's like one of those actors -- Maggie Smith is reported to be one -- who are always studying backstage, underlining and dog-earing their script. Professionalism goes a long way in the theater. (Nothing wearies a director more than "temperament.") And in politics too, there's something noble about a candidate who can reel out bullet-point answers on any topic, no matter how insufferably boring or obscure.
Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau chief Doyle McManus -- who, along with Jeanne Cummings, senior correspondent for Politico, joined Blitzer in moderating the face-off sponsored by their three news organizations -- started by asking the candidates to explain to everyone once and for all what their major policy differences were. These distinctions, too nuanced to hold the attention of remote-control quick-draws, have been shunted aside by the tabloid-driven media for more pressing "character" concerns.
