Clinton, Obama More Acidic in '08 Race

Jan. 31, 2008 — -- With the Democratic field narrowed to only two, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are poised to shatter more than 200 years of American history by either becoming the first black man or the first woman to win the party's presidential nomination.

The fight for first place has become increasingly acidic between Obama and Clinton, sometimes even becoming personal.

Obama has pressed even harder in the run up to tonight's debate.

"It is time for a new generation of leadership," he said on the trail. "I know it is tempting," he said in his toughest speech yet, "to simply turn back the clock, and to build a bridge back to the 20th century."

Clinton hasn't pulled any punches either and used Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" to swipe back after a recent verbal attack from Obama.

"That certainly sounds audacious, but not hopeful," she told The Associated Press. "It's not hopeful and it's not what we should be talking about in this campaign."

Political watchers said the relationship between the two has gotten so testy, in part, because Clinton feels she's earned the nomination and resents the relative newcomer standing in her way.

"That sort of, 'I've worked all my life. I've done all this, so I've got it all and it's my time' versus this sort of new person on the block who's there. He's popular, who things have come easy for," said political analyst Matthew Dowd.

Dowd said the race is a bit like the movie "Election," where Reese Witherspoon's good-girl character is challenged for class president by a popular jock.

The clash between Obama and Clinton can be revealing.

"It's those human insights, whether it's somebody tearing up or somebody raising their voice or getting angry or how they respond that really tells the American public what kind of person they'll be as president," Dowd said.

For instance, Obama's reported snub of Clinton at the State of the Union address Monday may have shown she has gotten under his skin. Obama, however, denies a snub ever occurred.

Part of what's been revealed is these two candidates have very different views on politics and the presidency.