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One was her "that hurts my feelings" line when asked about New Hampshire voters liking her experience but thinking that Obama is more likable. It got a big laugh out of the audience, and she followed it with a sardonic "but I'll try to go on" in an effort to make a reverse-sexist joke about the whole thing, but I don't know that it worked particularly well. She came across at first as a hurt schoolgirl, as too vulnerable. She revealed a bit too much in her response. Americans, by and large, don't want a leader whose feelings get hurt and who shows it. I know she was trying to humanize herself, but the "I'm just a girl" routine could really backfire on her. Unfair as it is, a female candidate for president is going to be under additional scrutiny as to toughness, and a small concession to sexist stereotypes--even if lighthearted and joking--could be a mistake. Case in point: her comment after a previous debate about all the "boys" ganging up on her. It got a lot of play in the press but I can't say that it helped her at all, and may have hurt her with some wavering undecided Democratic primary voters.
Her second misstep of the evening was her robust, indeed agitated lashing out at Obama and Edwards when change versus experience was being discussed, when she nearly bellowed that she wants change and fights for change and has 35 years of experience bringing change and blah blah. She was sitting at the edge of her seat, waving her arms in wide circles, with wide angry eyes and a voice that was too strained, too pinched, and in too high a register for the moment. To put it simply, she looked shrill and like she'd lost her cool. Not to overstress the point, but given her negatives among voters and the media (unlikable, cold, etc.) such moments will not help her at all. It's like she wanted to stand up center stage and berate all of America for making her fight hard for the nomination rather than allowing her to coast to a coronation instead. Looking back, I have no doubt that she'll regret that moment.
Aside from those two somewhat cringe-inducing moments for me, I thought she did well, but not so well as to separate her from Obama and Edwards in the minds of voters. Being one of three competent, capable, and successful performers in a debate is not where she needs to be right now. In fact, given that her strategy going into last night was almost certainly to score some major points against Obama and knock him down in the polls, while holding steady in a rearguard action against Edwards, one could argue that her debate performance was a failure, as Obama emerged essentially unscathed and Edwards successfully fought for more attention and press coverage. Now she finds herself in a very tight spot, with Obama taking the lead in NH in the newest MSNBC poll released today. She'll be forced to go negative between now and Tuesday and that will merely confirm the feelings about her in the minds of many voters. I wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now.
