Ohio Democratic Debate Notes

Yes, I tuned into the Tuesday night debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and here are a few of my observations:

First, I honestly have not made up my mind on which candidate would make a better general election nominee; or, more importantly, a better president. Clinton and Obama both share common goals: universal health care; non-imperial foreign policy; and, a domestic platform that addresses the country's environment, infrastructure and common citizen's concerns. I would embrace either candidate that wins ... so let us not demonize either one in this competitive yet spirited race.

Hillary was energized and in attack mode. She continued to harp on the theme that her experience trumps Obama's message of hope. The debating edge goes to Hillary; however, Obama has significantly improved since the early debates. He seems much more relaxed, confident and even presidential.

The Farrakhan question: I thought this relic litmus test was buried in the past. Once again this golden oldie reappeared. A prominent black leader is asked does he renounce Farrakhan. In the past when Farrakhan was at his zenith, the question's intent was to confound black leaders. On one hand, renounce Farrakhan and lose black grassroot support; or, on the other hand, fail to adequately renounce Farrakhan and be tagged anti-Semitic.

Without hesitation, Obama stated that he has a track record of repudiating perceived (my word) anti-Semitic statements Farrakhan has made. At this point, I thought Hillary, eager to interject, was going to magnanimously take the high road by stating this election is about serious issues and the Farrakhan question was a mere superficial distraction. She didn't take this road. Instead she responded that renouncing Farrakhan was not enough, he (Obama) had to flat out reject Farrakhan.

Obama retorted by stating: "There's no formal offer of help from Minister Farrakhan that would involve me rejecting it."

"But if the word 'reject' Senator Clinton feels is stronger than the word 'denounce,' then I'm happy to concede the point, and I would reject and denounce," he added.

The irony of this exchange, initiated by commentator Tim Russert, is that he (Russert) is a defender, enabler and supporter of Don Imus. Russert, of Meet The Press, was and is a regular guest on the Imus show. Russert has playfully tolerated the crude, sexist and racist comments frequently uttered by Imus and his cohorts over the years.