I'm as curious about this as you are, especially with her taking a much more aggressive tone in the last few days. When she mentioned the upcoming debate in during her "Shame on you" speech this Saturday I thought it almost sounded like she was calling him out to a fight. "Meet me in Ohio." It's not exactly "3pm, after school", but when you couple it with her the tone of her delivery it's close.

The thing is, the crowd in Texas started to turn on her when she tried to go negative with the Xerox remark. This strategy will only go as far as the crowd will let it. If they boo her again, she'll have to relent. The plot thickens if she has to play nice because then everyone will be wondering where the teeth from her stump speech went.

I'd say she's in a bit of a pickle here. The moderators will no doubt put her on the spot about this stuff. It should be interesting.

My Wish is this: In Barack's opening remarks after thanking everyone and the good people of Ohio, he stops and says he'd like to make an announcement:

"John Edwards just called me a moment ago and said he is endorsing me for President."

HRC would have a meltdown, and would have a really tough time finishing the debate.

Game, Set, Match.

Hillary Clinton: Ready to be Bipolar on Day One, has been claiming Edwards' endorsement even though he hasn't given it. Everywhere she goes, it's, "John Edwards and I've been talking about..."

For her sake, let's hope that her aides can keep her from a full Brittany!!

If she shows up with a shaved head...

Her advisers will likely be arguing about this up until the last minute.

Given her zigging and zagging, she may not know either! (day 1 notwithstanding)

Hillary Clinton: A lot of people are saying 'Give it Up, Hillary. Concede defeat. Drop out of the race and endorse Barack Obama. It will be better for the party. It will be better for the country as we move forward.' And you know what? Those people are right... I've chosen this moment to announce-

*The PA begins playing Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel"*

Jim Ross: Good G-d! That's... That's Bill Clinton's music!

*Bill Clinton emerges from stage right brandishing a steel chair which he uses to hit Barack Obama on the head*

Jim Ross: THAT WAS A COWARDLY ATTACK BY FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON! What's going to happen next?!?!

*The PA begins playing James Taylor's "Carolina In My Mind"*

Jim Ross: Good G-d! That's... That's John Edwards' music!

*John Edwards emerges from stage left brandishing a steel chair which he uses to hit Hillary Clinton on the head*

Jim Ross: It's an AMBUSH! WHAT WILL PRESENT CLINTON DO NEXT?!?!?!

*Bill and John stride toward each other menacingly, drop their steel chairs, and hug. Bill reaches down and raises John Edwards' hand in triumph! He rips his suit open to reveal a Four Horsemen t-shirt. Ric Flair enters the arena and joins them onstage. The crowd is aghast...*

This is the EXACT same dirty trick used by Republicans and the press on Gore. Which Gore will show up at the debate? Will it be the "sighing" Gore or the "wonkish Gore" or the "ruthlessly ambitious" Gore?

Her schizophrenia has been so pronounced of late I haven't the foggiest who'll show. My apologies to anyone suffering w/ this illness - but I really couldn't think of a better analogy.

I do however have a tidbit theory re her latest personal moment in TX. She knew she was making a commercial. The ad was up w/in a day. And when you study her gaze into the camera it's quite apparent.

Actually - whichever Hillary shows up we know it won't be the real one - it never is - we've yet to meet her.

This is the EXACT same dirty trick used by Republicans and the press on Gore. Which Gore will show up at the debate? Will it be the "sighing" Gore or the "wonkish Gore" or the "ruthlessly ambitious" Gore?

There was a "ruthlessly ambitious" Gore?? I don't remember that one.

Anyway, for the debate I predict Hillary will use both approaches. She'll start out friendly and "honored to share the stage" or something along those lines. But she'll wait for something Obama says that she can claim was provocation, and launch into self-righteous attack mode.

tpmgary:

Me vs. you. It sets up the false perception that there are two equally powerful forces meeting to decide, once and for all, who should be crowned the winner.

Interesting! Though that really ratchets up the pressure for HRC to perform to or above high expectations.

rabbitsmorgasbord:

I don't know if her quick change was a "trick" in any sense.

Just to clarify, I was inferring something in the realm of a magic trick (e.g., neat trick, eh?), not a stab-in-the-back trick, which is what I was questioning BevD about.

I’d submit that the whole valedictory meme was a collective observation based on projection. It’s not completely unreasonable to assume HRC is/was preparing for an endgame in March, so the pundits read into her performance what they wanted to see. Has the O camp made hay of it? Dunno…

Interesting comment on HRC’s ambush strategy for the debate. Makes sense, but hard to see O taking the bait.

So far, I've been really impressed at how he's been able to stay on message. If he can continue that for this debate, it should be all over for her (and be a great indication of how the general election will go).

Yeah, it's almost enough to make me appreciate Hillary and her fans. In two ways, in fact. First, the sharp contrast with Hillary's poor planning (making "ready on day one" more of a joke than anything) and difficulty in responding to setbacks has made Obama's ability to run a well-planned, tightly-focused campaign all the more impressive. By most standards she actually did have a good, credible campaign mapped out, a campaign that probably would have won in most scenarios. But she didn't have enough contingency planning, and she had some big blind spots, and we discovered that she didn't have the ability to be nimble in adjusting her plan in response to the facts on the ground. She ran a good campaign, but in contrast, Obama ran a great campaign, and all of the things Hillary got wrong were things Obama got right about managing a large, complex campaign.

And second, the more desperate the attacks have become, the more impressed I've been with Obama's ability to respond to and deflect the attacks, and at the same time to stay on message. He's not making Kerry's mistake of staying on message by ignoring the attacks.

I hope the Ohio/Texas results are a knockout punch that lets the Obama vs. McCain matchup begin in earnest.

My take on the debate tonight. Hillary will get the first question. She will not answer the question she is asked but goes on a detailed policy rant using up a tremendous amount of time. Obama responds with his own take on it. Then hillary launches into an attack on that stance with another seemingly 15min venom.

How she can say the "media" is against her when they seemingly give her as much time as she wants and then some in the debates is beyond me.

My guess is, it will start out all nice, but believe me there will be a screaming of "slum lord" or some other nonsense before we're through. Maybe even a thinly veiled muslim smear. It could happen. Look how well the Lyndon Johnson thing worked. If you can't peg him into the race hole, maybe the muslim fear tactic might take hold.

Heck the fear tactic worked in NH. Keith Olbermann called her on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BB4Vvgn_4k