Think Hillary might be easy to beat in the upcoming Democratic debates? Think again.
During the primaries eight years ago, Clinton participated in over 25 debates and had numerous fine moments that helped keep her in the lead throughout 2007 and competitive with Barack Obama until May 2008.
Here are eight of them, starting with perhaps the most famous.
Two days after her third-place finish in Iowa, Clinton was asked why people liked Obama more. Her perfect answer included a charming bit of Diane Keaton-esque comedic acting...and Barack's dismissive response didn't help him one bit:
During that same debate, John Edwards attempted to hitch himself to Obama's wagon as another "powerful voice for change" (how cute!) while pointing to Clinton as part of the "forces of status quo". Hillary's forceful and convincing answer helped her win New Hampshire against very long odds a few days later. Meanwhile, Edwards came in third and that was just about it for him:
"I consider myself a proud modern American progressive":
After a string of very tough losses in February 2008, she was asked at the Texas Democratic debate to describe the moment in her life when she was most tested. Her amazing answer received an enthusiastic standing ovation that ended the debate. A few days later, she shocked the naysaying pundits by winning the Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island primaries...and carried on. Without question, this was one of the finest moments of her previous campaign:
Clinton's 2002 vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq will no doubt come up again in the upcoming debates. What we'll hear from her will probably sound a lot like this response from January 2008, where she once again makes clear that her vote was an effort at coercive diplomacy and that she never supported the Bush/Cheney invasion of Iraq:
At the very first debate in April 2007, Hillary was asked about her high unfavorability numbers and why Republicans seem to go after her with so much zeal. She was ready for that question then and she'll be ready for it now:
Here is Barack and Hillary sparring over whether or not a health care insurance mandate would be a good idea. And judging from this clip, it sounds like Clinton's plan was closer to what would later become Obamacare:
Finally...my personal favorite, again from the January 2008 debate in California. Hillary gets a very tough question from a voter about the potential for a Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton string of presidencies, but her thoughtful answer ends with a zinger that absolutely brings down the house with massive applause that just keeps going and going and going...
WATCH (C-Span video does not seem to embed here...unless I'm doing it wrong. Let me know!)
Hillary's huge smile is infectious but Barack doesn't seem too amused. Yep, debate foes better beware: she's good at this and she knows it.
Originally posted at Hillary HQ