Politics

What to Watch For Tonight

By Matt Cooper

Tonight should be interesting. There have been so many debates but tonight's Democratic one in Los Angeles is the first with just two candidates. A few things I'll have my eye on:

Jeanne Cummings. The Politico correspondent, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, will be one of the questioners. She covers lobbying so look for the first real examination of those issues, including Obama's corporate contributors and donations to the Clinton library.

Regional Panders. Will we see California drilling, wildfire insurance and other panders? Oh, yes.

Latino Panders. Obama needs to cut into Clinton's strong Latino support so expect to see mentions of Xavier Becerra, Linda Sanchez and other Hispanics who are backing Obama.

Subprime. It's big in California so expect some real focus on this issue including Hillary's idea about a foreclosure freeze and whether it would really help. (My spouse works for Clinton, FYI.)

Mudflinging. My guess is that the two don't go at it too hard. Why look too negative going into Tuesday. Of course, I could be wrong.

McCain. There should be lots of mentions of who is best positioned to beat John McCain. (Romney's in the race but he won't be the focus, I bet.) Obama probably plays the I've-always-been-against-the-war card as an anti-McCain play. Clinton argues that she's got the leadership experience to go up against McCain. I suspect both winnability arguments will ring a little hollow given the momentum McCain has and the very big endorsement today--first predicted here--by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Full post as published by Portfolio.com: Capital on January 31, 2008 (boomark / email).