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Which Hillary will turn up tonight?

James Forsyth

Tuesday, 26th February 2008

In recent days, Hillary’s campaign strategy has veered all over the place: her campaign team is seemingly not prepared to give any strategy more than 48 hours to begin turning things round. At the Democratic debate in Austin on Thursday she spoke of how ‘honoured’ she was to be on a stage with Barack Obama, how she would be fine regardless of whether she won the nomination or not and seemed to be paving the way for a gracious exit. Then, over the weekend she was aggressive on the stump, calling out Obama for his campaign tactics in harsh language. So, the big question on everyone’s mind is whether Hillary will play nice or nasty in tonight’s debate.

Certainly, if Hillary wants to slow Obama’s momentum—which has seen him open up a significant delegate lead, draw effectively level in Texas and come within striking distance of her in Ohio—she will have to be prepared to draw sharp contrasts with him. Indeed, what she really needs is a moment that highlights his inexperience. However, the word is that the Clinton camp is shying away from anything that could come across as an attempt to knee-cap him.

If tonight’s debate does not change the dynamic of the race, it is hard to see how Hillary can survive in both Texas and Ohio, two must-win states for her. This is why there is chance that Hillary might throw caution to the wind tonight and go hard at Obama.