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Nov 16, 2007 7:36 pm US/Eastern
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Hillary Back On Track After Vegas Rout
Clinton Shines At Dem Debate; Republicans Get Nasty
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Political pundits call it a Clinton comeback.
They're talking about Sen. Hillary Clinton's performance during Thursday night's presidential debate.
As CBS 2 HD found out, many political analysts say the senator had a pivotal night.
After two awful weeks, Clinton is finally winning some applause.
"Today my pant-suit is made of asbestos tonight," Clinton said to laughter at Thursday's event at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Critics had been wondering if the front-runner had a glass jaw. So Thursday night she went on the attack.
"I don't mind taking hits on my record on issues, but when somebody starts throwing mud at least we can hope it's accurate and not right out of the Republican playbook," Clinton said.
It was a performance that had some experts declaring she'd all but saved her campaign.
"In the past she kind of tried to play above the fray, and this time she said I'm not gonna play above the fray and take them on, and she took them on," said Columbia University political science professor Steve Cohen.
Two weeks ago it seemed like just the opposite. Clinton's opponents pummeled her as a poll-driven, double-talking politician. And when on Oct. 30 she hedged on Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, the critique took hold.
Clinton: "I did not say it should be done but recognize why Gov. Spitzer is trying to do it."
Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd: "No, no, no. You said you thought it made sense to do it."
Clinton: "No, I didn't, Chris."
But Thursday night it was Illinois Sen. Barack Obama whose views on the issue seemed unclear.
"I am not opposing, but that's what we do," Obama said to jeers.
It all left Clinton's supporters feeling relieved Friday.
"I thought she held herself very well despite veiled attacks by other candidates against her," one man said.
But not everyone is a Clinton supporter. Some watched the debate and still saw a pandering politician.
"I still feel there's a lack of getting her pinned down on her positions," one woman said.
Meanwhile, on Friday there were allegations of dirty tricks over in the Republican contest.
Voters in Iowa and New Hampshire say they've been getting phone calls casting aspersions upon Mitt Romney's religion.
The callers say they're working for a polling firm.
Among the questions was whether a resident knew that Romney was a Mormon, that he received military deferments when he served as a Mormon missionary in France, that his five sons did not serve in the military, that Romney's faith did not accept blacks as bishops into the 1970s and that Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is superior to the Bible.
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