No ‘snub’ as Obama, Clinton make nice

Surrounded by Hollywood stars and standing as a vision of historical significance, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) avoided the negative rhetoric that has engulfed their campaigns in recent days.

At their last debate before voters in 22 states head to the polls on Super Tuesday, Clinton and Obama politely squabbled over their policy differences at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.

{mosads}The theme of the night, however, was Democratic unity as both White House hopefuls talked about the strength of their party and their chances against Republican frontrunner Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). They also spoke dismissively of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, using jokes at his expense as one of their bonding moments.

Despite all the laughs and niceties, there were some clashes as the two candidates tried subtly to score points by referencing each other’s missteps.

On healthcare, Clinton tried to push the idea that, unlike her plan, Obama’s proposal would not insure every American.

On Iraq, Obama went to his ace issue as he repeatedly tried to portray Clinton’s vote for the war as an indicator of bad judgment.

“I don’t want to just end the war, but I want to end the mindset that got us into war in the first place,” Obama said.

In addition, the Illinois senator tried to exploit one of Clinton’s weakest points in the entire campaign when the issue of drivers’ licenses for illegal immigrants was raised. Obama sought to portray the difficulty the former first lady had in answering the questions as evidence of a calculating political nature.

Clinton responded that Obama, “about a week later” at a debate in Las Vegas, was “asked the same question and could not answer it. So it is a difficult issue.”

The two things that were clear throughout the night was that the writers’ strike ensured that there were more than just a few Hollywood stars on hand at the home of the Academy Awards, and those that were in the house were witnessing history.

With Obama and Clinton on stage together for the first time since the exit of former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), viewers in the audience and at home were given visual proof that the eventual Democratic nominee will, for the first time, be either a woman or a black man.

Every reminder of that drew big applause from the crowd.