Kos wants a war? ...

... political war, ala Republican, that is.

On the substance of the debate, Obama might've squeezed out a narrow "victory". Hillary owned him on health care, but he owned her on Iraq, and Iraq was toward the tail end of the debate.

But on the politics, Hillary won.

Here's the bottom line: Hillary has the lead in most February 5th states. Despite the frothings of the anti-Hillary crowd, most Democrats like her and are comfortable with her. Therefore, Obama has to give them a reason NOT to vote for her, but for him instead.

Did he do that last night? Not that I saw. I noticed him agreeing with her a lot. And even when there were points of distinction, like drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants, he let Clinton off the hook instead of pressing the advantage. The two candidates seemed to be going out of their way to find common ground. That's great if people already like you and plan on voting for you (Hillary), not so great if you're trying to make up ground (Barack).

In fact, as many people commented, the two looked like a ticket. And it's hard for Obama to win many crossover votes if people think Obama is part of the package if they vote for Clinton.

Obama won big in South Carolina after establishing clear distinctions between himself and Clinton in their South Carolina debate. Obama may be be gaining ground nationwide, but he lost an opportunity to bolster those efforts last night.

The only time I see Obama really differentiate himself (in the manner I take Kos to mean) is when he acts like a Republican. IF he wins that way then I don't know how I will be able to vote for him. If, however, he is able to win while still being human, then I will not have to overcome the gag reflex to vote for him.

Clinton and Obama's voting records may be similar but their approaches to governing are very different. They are differentiated in many obvious ways. If Obama can't win at this stage just because he is different than Clinton, then what Kos must want is a Republican type war with scary ads about what 'the other' is going to do to you. That is the other way, after all. The Republican way.

I don't think Obama lost the debate. I think he made himself acceptable to a much bigger group of people. I would have voted for Edwards. I will vote for Clinton. But I will accept Obama as the Democratic nominee, which I half-way expect to be the case.