Produced by CQ's Andrew Satter

Neither Democratic presidential candidate seemed to completely grasp the name of the incoming president of Russia during their debate on Tuesday.

Give Hillary Rodham Clinton credit for at least mumbling Dmitry Medvedev's last name, although she appeared unsure whether she had gotten it right. Barack Obama did not even try to name Medvedev, although he echoed Clinton's observation that the new Russian leader is President Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor.

That is not the sort of flub that will matter this week. But it sure could make a difference if something like that happened in the general election debates against Republican nominee-to-be John McCain, who has recently talked about Medvedev by name and at length.

But at least Obama or Clinton have plenty of time to memorize the names of foreign leaders before taking on McCain in a debate.

CQ Politics Debate Bests and Mosts

Was it the awkward handshake at the end or the half-hearted delivery of scripted attack lines that made Hillary Rodham Clinton come across as the one conceding the race in the Democratic presidential debate on Thursday?

Surprisingly, Clinton showed no signs of a combatant who had come to change the game against Barack Obama. For instance, when served a softball question about Obama’s past vows to unconditionally meet with enemy dictators, Clinton mostly passed on the easy opportunity to press her campaign’s recent effort to portray her rival us unequipped to manage foreign policy.

CQ Politics: Debate Bests and Mosts 

Perhaps Clinton is coming around to the view that some in her own camp hold – that Obama’s nomination is inevitable but that his victory in November is not. By easing into a gracious exit strategy, Clinton would hope to be in shape to pick up the pieces if Democrats lose the general election under Obama.

Or maybe the Clinton camp believes that debates are not the place to tear into Obama – and some other tactic is in the works. Either way, in this debate Clinton chose against an aggressive and sustained effort to win ugly.

PollTracker: Dem Race in Texas a Tie

 

Craig on "Imus in the Morning" Monday 
(2/25) RFD-TV/WABC-AM 6:29 AM EST

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(Produced by CQ's Andrew Satter)

In the News:

• For McCain, Self-Confidence On Ethics Poses Its Own Risks (New York Times):  "A female lobbyist had been turning up with him [John McCain] at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself."
  
• News Networks Bump Clinton Out of Picture (Washington Post, Howard Kurtz):  "Craig Crawford, a Congressional Quarterly columnist, said the networks had no choice but to cut away from Clinton Tuesday night after Obama forced the issue. 'That was a definite violation of the etiquette of these election night dramas, where people take turns giving their speeches and don't step on each other,' he said. 'When you break a rule like that, it's a very hostile gesture.'

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(Produced by CQ's Andrew Satter)