Today's Presidential Debate Could be Last Chance for Obama, Edwards

Tuesday's Presidential debate in Philadelphia (MSNBC 9pm EST.) could be the most important of the campaign for the Democrats. Almost certainly the top 2 opponents to Hillary will go after her. And if they do, will it have an impact. Or will the press spin the debate as desperate candidates trying to go after the front runner. It almost seems that the more Hillary is attacked the higher her polls numbers go:

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has dominated news coverage of the 2008 White House race, partly due to negative segments about her on conservative talk radio, according to a new study released on Monday.

Unless something dramatic happens it looks like the former First Lady could repeat the success of her campaign gimmicks like college for everyone, which is desirable but not going to get many voters to look away from Hillary and turn to him. His disjointed campaign does not threaten to gain traction anytime soon.

Barack Obama has not done well lately himself, despite pulling into a statistical tie with Hillary in Iowa. If the Illinois Senator wants a chance at winning the White House he has to win in Iowa on January3rd. And he does intend on winning since Obama has no intention of being Hillary's VP. He might point out during the debate, that no matter who wins the Republican nomination, Ms.Clinton will get no more than 48% of the vote:

If you average the results of the top five candidates, you find Clinton's support at 48%. She also attracts 48% support when matched up with the little known Ron Paul. Adding further support to the notion that it's all about Clinton is this tidbit-- among the voters who have never heard of Ron Paul or don't know enough to have an opinion, Clinton attracts the exact same total--48%. So, whether the candidate is a frontrunner or an also ran—or even if voters have never heard of the candidate, Clinton earns about 48% of the vote. These numbers make sense when you consider that Clinton is by far the best known of all the candidates and that opinions of her are split roughly down the middle.

This can also be explained by the fact half of the American voter will not vote for her no matter what:

Hillary Clinton may be the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential front-runner but she also tops the list when voters are asked for whom they would never, ever cast a ballot, a poll out Monday found.

Fully 50% of U.S. voters polled say that when it comes to Clinton, she can campaign all she likes, but there is no way in the world she can win their support, with her negative rating up slightly from 46% in March, the Zogby poll said.

By contrast, Obama had 37% who would never vote for him. It would seem a majority of the public think a Hillary Presidency is a scary prospect:

Once again, Hillary Rodham Clinton leads in a poll. This time, she was top choice when people were asked which major 2008 presidential candidate would make the scariest Halloween costume.

Asked about costume choices, 37 percent in an Associated Press-Ipsos survey this month chose New York Sen. Clinton, the front-runner among Democratic presidential contenders. Fourteen percent selected former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who leads Republicans in national polls.

No other candidate exceeded 6 percent.