Would you like some cheese with that wine?

According to most viewers of the Democratic debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that took place in Pennsylvania last Tuesday, the spectacle represented a loss for the Obama camp. However, this does not mean that it was a victory for Clinton, whose own performance was a disservice to her political party as she took advantage of every opportunity to parrot right-wing attacks of Obama that could be repeated in the general election. Rather, it represented a tragedy for the American political system and a missed opportunity to use the debate medium appropriately, as a way to inform citizens about the candidates and their positions on pertinent issues.

With such a close Democratic race, composed of only two major candidates, neither one an incumbent, the current political atmosphere was certainly ripe for debate. Therefore, Barack's acceptance of the invitation to debate in Pennsylvania came as no surprise as he is an able debater who would likely suffer in the eyes of the public if he turned down such an invitation. However, it is difficult to believe that he had control of all the important variables in the debate situation, particularly the topics and moderators. Forty-five minutes had passed before the debate shifted from a barrage of relentless, shallow questions largely directed toward Obama, including "Why don't you wear an American flag lapel pin?" and "Does Reverend Wright love America as much as you do?" to considerably fairer questions that actually addressed policy issues relevant to the public. The inquiries made by moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stefanopoulous, press spokesperson under the Clinton administration, merely served to put Obama on the defensive and would have made right-wing political pundit Rush Limbaugh proud.

Obama later responded to the debate with an unspoken reference to rapper Jay Z's song, "Dirt off your Shoulder." "When you're running for the presidency, then you've got to expect it, and you know, you've just gotta kind of let it," he said, pretending to dust something off his shoulder. "That's what you gotta do." However, it didn't seem that Obama was expecting quite what was in store for him last Tuesday evening. He appeared completely unprepared for and irritated by the questions he received. The reason for Obama's apparent lack of preparation seems to be that he remains unwilling to stoop to the kind of negative, tit-for-tat, attack-style politics that has been a cornerstone of Clinton's campaign. The new uplifting brand of politics that Obama has the potential to create will be very positive for democracy as well as for the American political system if he wins the general election. However, he first must emerge relatively unscathed from the superficial, ruthless politics that traditionally have characterized elections in this country, at least in recent years. In order to do this, he cannot act dismissive toward the questions posed by ordinary voters, no matter how trivial he deems them because this attitude will jeopardize the very support that he needs to win the election. This attitude was also reinforced by a recent comment that Obama made about middle-class Americans at a private fund-raiser in California: “So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Even if Obama did actually pull a Hillary Clinton in this instance and misspeak, making this statement unrepresentative of his true beliefs, it still leaves a bitter taste in the mouthes of the masses and works against his ultimate goal of becoming the 44th president of the United States. How can the American people accept a candidate for who he is if he doesn't reciprocate that acceptance? Although it doesn't seem that Obama's recent comments have affected his standings in the polls as of yet, perceived elitism has been a significant detriment to past campaigns such as the Gore and Dukakis campaigns. Obama, therefore, would do well to adjust his strategy if he becomes the Democratic candidate that must go up against McCain on the road to the White House as few people would argue that the real winner of Tuesday's debate was indeed John McCain.